Would you just stop trying to fix 2 yo sleep? Should I accept and give up?

[Madallie]

I've constantly tried to 'fix' my dd's sleep since birth. She's been very inconsistent buti've tried everything I could to be consistent, keep a routine, put her to bed at a reasonable time but have become so frustrated over and over when she still either wakes early, won't nap, wakes at night for no apparent reason etc.

Just now she is sleeping the least she ever has which and more or less been happening for 3 months. She will only sleep 10 hours at night regaRdless of beD time or length of nap. So generally her routine right now is - wake 6am, nap 12.30-1.45/2 if at home or only 45 mins if out and about in buggy, in bed 7.15, asleep by 8.

Before this period her routine was - wake 6.30/45. Nap 12.30-2.00 bed and asleep by 7.30.

Wwyd, just accept this is how little sleep she needs or continue to try to 'fix' it. It just seems like so little sleep and a big decrease in sleep than just a few months ago.

Yesterday for example she was up at 6am, had a 45 min nap at 1pm in the buggy as we were out. She went to sleep a little earlier last night at 7.40 but then still only slept 10 hours so was awake at 5.40am.

Any thoughts?

Have you tried dropping the nap? My DS2, aged 2.8, has not napped in the day for a month or so now, unless poorly. I find that if he falls asleep in the car, he won't go to sleep as easily at night & won't sleep for so long.

I think it's quite normal for a 2 year old to have 10 hours at night plus a short nap. Both my 2 did.

My DS is just 2 and sleeps from around 8-6 but wakes regularly during the night. He also has a short daytime sleep of anything from 10 mins to an hour.

I would just go with it TBH.

i think 10 ish hours at night plus a nap is quite normal for a toddler?? is it not??!
that's what i have been telling myself. my dd.wakes about 5.30am and that seems the norm with most toddlers i.know!!

my advice (which I've only taken in the last few months) is stop trying to fix it. I think babies and children benefit from a predictable routine (DS in particular is a hyperactive, tantrumming mess without one) but I also think they naturally go through stages of needing more or less sleep. we have had success with a gro-clock (it took quite a while) but really only to ensure that DS (2.10) stays in bed rather than stays asleep when he wakes early. a few months ago he was sleeping 7.30-6 and I was lucky to get an hour's nap out of him so I thought he might be getting ready to drop it..now he goes to bed around 7, can take anything from 10 minutes to an hour to fall asleep (but miraculously he's quiet and stays in bed) and generally sleeps until 6.30/7, he more often than not is taking a nap of more than 1.5 hours, often 2. this is a child who would charge about (and meltdown) 24 hours a day if I let him and was impossibly difficult to get to sleep or nap for the first 2 years, I think the best thing to do is gently guide and let them do the rest