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Parenting

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Original poster

Curious about 2 year old bedtime - when do you put your kids to sleep?

29 replies

Mamabear12 · 28/01/2014 21:47

My daughter is turning two next month and we put her down at 7:30pm. She never fusses and its quite easy to put her in her crib at night (we always put her in the crib with her baby doll, stuffed animals and a book). She asks for those things and then we turn off the light and she says goodbye or night night. Anyway, last night we wanted to see what she was up to after we put her down and I saw that she hugged her toys, then after a little she would lie down and sit up, toss and touch the crib rail etc. After an hour she was still awake!!!!! In the morning we go into her room as soon as we hear her talking around 7:30am. she seems happy etc. But I felt bad that after an hour of putting her to bed she was still awake and sitting in the dark!

What time do u put ur young kids to bed? Do I keep putting her to bed at 7:30pm and let her do her thing at night?

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JoinYourPlayfellows · 28/01/2014 21:48

My 18 month old goes to bed and pretty much straight to sleep at 7.

Wakes up about 7am.

Debs75 · 28/01/2014 21:50

Not sure here as I don't think my four have ever done this. In fact DS was the only one who would go to sleep by himself and he was almost always asleep within minutes.

I would say if she is happy and not fussing then she is happy.

teacher123 · 28/01/2014 21:50

DS is nearly 2 and he plays happily in his cot for about 30-45 minutes before dropping off unless he's absolutely knackered (or at grandma's house-Grrr!) it makes no difference what time he goes to bed, but the more overtired he is the more he cries, so I put him down at 6.30 and he's usually asleep just after 7pm.

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Beanymonster · 28/01/2014 21:55

My dd goes to bed at 7, asleep normally by 7.30, I think they finish unwinding in their cots, we don't get into bed and immediately fall asleep?!

Original poster

Mamabear12 · 28/01/2014 21:57

Yes, that is true that we dont immediately fall asleep. I wonder if I should put a night light so she can at least see her toys in the crib? Or would that keep her up longer?

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CurlyhairedAssassin · 28/01/2014 21:59

It could have been a one off.

TheGreatHunt · 28/01/2014 21:59

How could you see what she was doing? Maybe she was distracted by you watching?

Original poster

Mamabear12 · 28/01/2014 22:10

Thegreathunt - LOL, I did not stay in the room watching! I decided to take a look using the video monitor we used to use when she was younger. I decided to use it because I was curious what she would do in her bed with her stuffed animals, baby, baby bottle, book etc. Bc every night she asks for them...I was curious what she would do with the book in the dark!

It could have been a one off. Maybe ill check again in the next few days to see. But I guess if she is happy, then I will just keep her bed time at 7:30am.

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breatheslowly · 28/01/2014 22:11

Maybe she enjoys having some "me-time".

breatheslowly · 28/01/2014 22:12

You could move her to a bed so that she could come and bug you if she didn't want to be there.

bouncysmiley · 28/01/2014 22:12

7pm for us and she'll sleep until 7am.

Original poster

Mamabear12 · 28/01/2014 23:15

breatheslowly, no thanks about moving her to a bed lol. I need my me time as well ;) esp bc i have a 3 month old baby, who i have to dream feed at 11pm and night feed at 3am :) so once I get both kiddies in bed I need to relax. Also, my daughter is the type who gets really excited when she is around people and would always get out of bed if she had that option I think. I have tried a few times to have her sleep in our bed. My husband and I love the idea of having her in bed with us for cuddles etc. But it always ends up with her moving around in our bed looking at us, tapping us etc for 1-2 hours before we all give up and she decides time to go to her room bc she isnt getting sleep in our room. Then they next morning she extra tired. But I guess, its better she sleeps in her own room anyway! So now we dont try to have her sleep w us anymore (esp after the second baby arrived!!!!)

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breatheslowly · 28/01/2014 23:28

She sounds really contented and secure - which is great, particularly with the upheaval of a new baby.

Our DD is 3 and comes into our bed any time between about 1am and 7am. We have a massive bed and she has her own pillow between ours. I recently realised that this wouldn't work at all with more than 1 child. She also corrected me recently when I said something about "mummy and daddy's bed", she said "no, it's the family bed". It's fine, but not exactly how I planned it!

Mellowandfruitful · 28/01/2014 23:32

If you have not been aware she was awake before, then she must have been content, or surely she'd have been crying for you? I think it sounds fine. It would be different if she sobbed herself to sleep in the dark. If it ain't broken, don't fix it At 2 my DS had 7pm bedtime and was fine with that, and woke between 6-7am.

TheGreatHunt · 29/01/2014 06:53

That's quite a lot in her cot! Maybe it's distracting although I know they love their comforts (my 2 year old has a few cuddlies and 4 year old has loads too).

SpottyTeacakes · 29/01/2014 06:58

Dd goes to bed at seven, straight to sleep (3.5)
Ds goes at 6:30, usually straight to sleep but sometimes I hear him 'chatting' to himself for max of half an hour (14mo).

KatyN · 29/01/2014 07:21

My 2 year old goes to bed at 7. Some nights he plays and chats, the latest we've noticed is 8:30. Other nights he rolls over and goes to sleep by 7.01!

ceeveebee · 29/01/2014 07:27

My 2 yo twins go to bed around 7 on week nights (bit later at weekends) and often will both be awake 1 hr later but not standing up or playing, just lying there with eyes open trying to get to sleep - I think they take after me as it takes me ages to drop off. They don't have toys in their cots other than a comfort blanket each.

sharond101 · 29/01/2014 22:05

My 20mo goes to bed at 7.30 and is asleep by 7.32. He wakes around 7am.

chocolatebourbon · 30/01/2014 09:35

My 2 year old goes to bed at 8pm. She has a 1-2 hour nap quite late though (2-4pm most days). Often she stays awake chatting to her toys in bed, for up to an hour. I think it's brilliant that she can settle herself like this. My son never did this and still really struggles to settle himself to sleep aged 4. Much better to put them down still a bit awake and happy rather than doing it later when they are over-tired and screamy.

SuperDuperTrooper · 30/01/2014 14:24

My 2 year old goes to bed at 8pm and will usually be asleep by 8.30. He will spend the 30mins chatting away. I've never put toys in his cot though as I always felt that would keep him up. He has his teddy but that's it.

Recently, he started taking an hour or more to settle in bed so we tried reducing his afternoon nap and he is back to settling himself in about 30 minutes again.

Does your DD have a nap still? If so, perhaps she too doesn't need as much as she's getting.

Original poster

Mamabear12 · 30/01/2014 14:35

Yes, she naps at her daycare for about 1.5 hours. She def needs the nap cb daycare quite full on w activities etc. I suspect she just needs that time to settle. I spoke to the school and they said she takes time to settle for nap as well (ESP bc others in room!).

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Thurlow · 30/01/2014 14:38

Our 2yo goes up between 7.30 and 8. I can hear on the monitor that she is chatting to her toys and can take a while to fall asleep. But as long as she's not crying, and still happily gets in her cot when we put her there, that's all that matters to me. She's obviously content, and I'm sure she'd let you know if she didn't want to get into her cot

Original poster

Mamabear12 · 30/01/2014 14:46

Thurlow, yes true. She has no problem letting me know if she doesn't like something. I guess I should just be happy and enjoy that she is content going to bed at that time and playing before she sleeps.

I just hope my son gets better at his sleeping soon bc I can't take the frequen night waking much longer! Boo.

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CreditCardProblemS · 30/01/2014 14:49

My 2.5 year old does the same. I put her into bed with her books and leave the lamp on for half an hour. I can normally still hear her 'reading' even after I've turned the lamp off.

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