Toddler naps/bed time

[User008192]

Hi! I’m having some issues with my toddler’s bed time recently. She’s taking ages to fall asleep at bed time but is fine at nap time. I don’t think I need to cut the nap completely but probably should try to reduce it down.

So my question is, what is your almost 2 year old’s routine? What time do they nap and how long for and what time is bed time? We are currently doing nap at 12:30 for 1.5-2 hours and bed time 5 hours from the end of her nap.

My daughter is 2 years 3 months and since she turned 2 bedtimes have been more difficult! She's always been an excellent sleeper and she still naps really well - she'd sleep for 3 hours 12.30-3.30 if I let her but I've been waking her at 2.30 in the hope she'll go down more easily at bedtime. Hasn't really worked so far and it's still taking her between half an hour and an hour to go to sleep. We make sure she's in bed by 6.45 latest, read a story and we leave the room at 7 but it's often 8 before she falls asleep. I wondered if it was just a shift in them needing less sleep as they get older but I do feel like she's not sleeping enough as she still wakes very early too - around 5/5.30am - I was hoping this was a result of the light mornings in the summer months but it hasn't changed yet!

I did 2 hour nap, then 1.5 hours, then 1 hour and eventually a nap every couple of days with one DC. The other went from 1.5 hour nap to just dripping it altogether.
You could try a one hour nap.

Dropping it altogether.

Following - DD turned 2 last month and will happily nap 12.30 - 2 at home, but is taking 45 mins to go down in the evenings at 7.30 and then waking at 6. I’m not keen moving her bedtime as any earlier and she doesn’t see DH, but any later and we don’t have an evening (and we have a 4 month old to see too overnight!)

I’ve also been wondering about capping naptime to an hour but it feels bad to wake her when she clearly needs the sleep (she’s also the literal devil when woken rather than waking naturally so it’d make for a grumpy half hour at 1.30 😫)

For those saying drop it, isn’t 24 months quite early for dropping naps altogether?

DD is 2 in November.
she has a 1.5 hour nap (I wake her up) anytime from 12:30-2pm depending on how tired she is, usually down to what we’ve been doing in the morning. Bed time is 7pm.

They both dropped their nap or went to every other day as soon as they got to 2, we swapped the nap for a quiet hour with the TV on instead.

Mine wakes at 6/6.30, naps 12.30-2pm, then bedtime is 7.30pm and she's asleep by 8pm. She didn't start waking at 6ish until she was consistently going to bed at 8 for a few weeks rather than 7 which I was aiming for.

It's the nap it needs to go or be very short. My first born was no longer napping at 20months. She just didn't need it as slept 12-13 hrs a night. If she napped I paid for it at bedtime and wldnt get her down until the back of 9 sometimes 10pm. So I just stopped them and it solved the problem she was shattered by bedtime 😄

My DS is nearly 2 and a half. He naps from 1 until about 2.45pm and we tuck him in at 7pm and he's usually asleep by half past. My DD had dropped her naps by this point though. Every child is different. I have friends whose little ones napped at 4 and even 5 and some who dropped it before they were 2. All you can do is a bit of trial and error but I would only drop it if you really can't find another way as 2 is young to not be napping especially if they're still happily going for that nap every day. Good luck OP!

When I dropped the nap at that age for my girls they ended up getting more sleep. What are your current timings? It maybe that bedtime is too early.

DS is a little older, but has been on a similar routine since 2ish:

Awake 7-7:30am
Nap 1-2pm (we wake him)
Bedtime 8pm, asleep by 8:15.

So about 12-12.5h total, which seems to be good for him.

He naps for as long as he wants at nursery (often 1.5-2h) and bedtime is a total sh*t show on those days. Often not properly asleep at bedtime until more like 8:45 or 9pm

He doesn’t nap on one or two days a week now (often the days post nursery!) and on those days he’s in bed by 7:30 and asleep in seconds, sometimes in my arms before he hits the cot.

My two year old needs a gap of about six hours between nap and bed, so She usually sleeps from 1.00-2.30 in the afternoon and then bed at 8.30. Lately I have been making it shorter as I would like her to go to bed earlier.

Mine is very almost 2, down to a 45 min max nap during the day waking at half 1 latest - even then she won’t sleep till 8.30 some days. If she has a good night sleep the day before we don’t have much drama if missing a nap altogether but still try to get some day sleep in most days.

I am definitely phasing it out though!

Up at 7, nap at 11.30am for an hour or two. If it’s only an hour he’ll go asleep at 8, any more and it can be 9pm or even later. I can’t wait to drop his nap but he’s only 2.2 and I feel it’s too early. My other children needed naps until they were 3!

My youngest dropped naps completely at 18 months. Eldest stopped napping at 2. If an early bedtime is important for you, you need to cut the nap and/or have a busy and tiring afternoon. Keep the nap by all means, but accept it means a later bedtime at night.