3 year olds: how long does yours sleep in total?

[Popparoo]

Calling all parents of 3 year olds, how long does yours sleep in total, and does he/she still have a daytime nap? Mine sleeps for around 10 hours which doesn't seem that much...

My DS1 who will be 4 in april sleeps from around 8:30pm to about 7am. He would sleep for a few hours during the day if he falls asleep in the car and we carry him in to the house but then it means he's still awake at 10:30 and knackered and moody the next day as he's still up by 7am.

My dd2, who will be 4 in June sleeps about 10/11 hours - 8 (ish) until 6 (ish) in school times. In holidays, going to bed later seems to result in a corresponding later waking time. She dropped her daytime nap a loooong time ago (too long, can you tell? ). Interestingly, dd1 (almost 6), tends to wake around the same time, no matter what time she goes to bed. But the waking time has got later as she's got older (bliss), so for example over Christmas, they weren't going to bed / sleep until 10-ish, and waking 8-ish. As soon as we got home, and bed-time got earlier, dd2 started waking earlier, dd1 carried on sleeping til 8-ish.
I bet you wish you'd never asked, now! Hope my ramblings are of use to someone!

My ds hasn't had a daytme nap for over a year (sigh it was useful to get things done in during the day). He generally sleeps about 11-12 hours, on nursery days he goes to bed at 7pm and wakes up at 7am, on non-nursery days we generally let him stay up to 7.30-8pm just to get a lie in on the morning. He's pretty regular on the hours he sleeps but obviously if he's got a snuffly nose it sometimes upsets his routine. HTH

Ds dropped his afternoon nap at about age 3 and 3 months. He will be 4 in March; he will have a nap in the afternoon about once a week or so if he has had a busy week/late night.

He goes to bed about 7.45pm and wakes about 6.45am. 10 hours sounds about right...some kids need more sleep than others, just like adults do. (Eg I need at least 8 hrs, dh can survive happily on 7.) As emsiewill and emmaTMG say, both ds and dd (6) will wake about the same time regardless of what time they went to bed! We had visitors last weekend and they went to bed at 9.30pm but stil woke by 7.30am...though it did mean a sleep-in for us! HTH!

Hi Popparoo, my ds dropped his nap at least 8 months ago, he is 3yrs 3months now. He sleeps for 12 hours at night, 8-8 or 7.30-7.30! Although I miss the time off during a nap I am liking the lie-ins more! 10 hours dosen't sound too bad, is that just for night times or including a daytime nap too?

my nearly three and a half year old sleeps approx 10 hours at night. He would like a daytime nap but if it's longer than half an hour it plays havoc with his night time sleep patten. HTH

Kids vary such a lot, don't they? My 3.5 yr old dropped his daytime nap over a year ago (can't remember when). Currently sleeps 12 - 13 hrs each night, but very recently was only 11 hrs (not enough for me).

DS1 slept only 9 hrs in 24 when he was 1-2 yrs old - drove me batty, now sleeps loads more than all his peers!

I think it depends on how active they are. My 3.5 year old is active to the point of being almost hyperative at times and as a result still often has a nap of 2 hours. If so he would sleep around 10 hours at night making 12 in total. He would sleep less when young and less mobile though.

dd only 8 monthns is not a big sleeper either and will manage on less than 12 hours some days.

My dd (4 in Feb) sleeps from about 8.45 pm to about 7.15 am, so about 10.5 hours. She does sometimes seem tired on this, but can't let her have a daytime nap as she never goes to sleep in the evening. I'd like her to go to bed a bit earlier ideally, but she is refusing at the moment!

DS is 3 in March and is usually asleep at 8pm, waking at 7/7.30am. He doesn't have a regular nap, but if we are on a car journey in the early afternoon he will nod off, and the same goes for if he is out in the buggy - which pushes bedtime back an hour or so.

Our ds averages 10.5 hours a night - I think it is looking like yours is pretty average, Popparoo. If he falls asleep in the car, we get the same scenario as others here - no sleep til midnight.

Stopped wanting/needing daytime nap about a year ago. Now 3 years 3 months. Goes to bed about 7.30pm (Dad doing bedtime stories as I write!) Wakes anytime after 6am, so averages about 11 hours in total.

Looks like someone is smiling on us (some of the time)...
Dd (3y3m) in bed by 18.45 (or 18.30 if the 'flags are flying' as mum used to say) and I go in to wake her around 7.45 at which point she usually has a 'teenage' moment and declares she will not get up etc blah blah
BUT, she has an inbuilt weekend detector and usually wakes up around 7 !
I've also found that if she gets really overtired she is more likely to wake through the night and want cuddles/tissues etc.
She dropped her nap herself at around 2y 9m to 3y 1m but would sometimes need a mummy enforced one.

While away recently she would have a 2-3 hour nap in early afternoon then have 10 hours at night.

My health visitor said 3 year olds need control over at least 1 aspect of their lives, usually one of toilet/sleep/food, so before you think 'lucky b***d' we have the eating problems !

Our 3 1/4 year old sleeps about 12 hrs in total per 24 hours. He has just about stopped a daytime nap, unless he is v tired. These days he goes to nursery all day tuesday, just started playschool wednesday mornings, so tending to nap on wednesday afternoon. the nap reduces the time needed overnight exactly. If no nap he goes to bed at 8 p.m., if napped then bed about 8:30 (ish).

He also has a weekend detector, and will invariably wake half an hour or even an hour earlier at weekends, desperate for a nap by midday (bu then so am I )

3 1/4 yr old ds sleeps for 11 hours per night. Dropped lunch time nap a couple of months ago, although will still drop off in the car and probably needs one lunch time sleep a week to catch up. He has a period of mummy enforced quiet time just after lunch - involves sitting on the sofa watching a favourite video as he does get very tired (and so do I!!) because he is so incredibly active for every other waking moment of the day.

My ds just turned 3, usually sleeps from 7.00 pm to 8.am, (13 hrs), sometimes he goes to bed earlier and wakes up later. We have always been lucky in this area. He hasn't had a lunchtime nap since to was about 18 months, but he goes to bed early enough so it was never a problem.

Dd is 3 yrs 3 mths, and dropped daytime naps of 2 1/2 hrs at about 3 - what a blow! She does however make up for it at night, and sleeps 13 to 14 hrs a night. She takes after her very sleepy parents.

Pamina - sorry, not idea why he suddenly increased his sleep time. He's physically very active now, but then he always has been, and he's mentally very activetoo - always on the go - never vegetates, even in front of TV - but he's always been like that too.

Hope your dd soon sleeps more for you too.