Hi all I have a toddler who is now two and a half and we have been trying to sort out / see what's best for their sleep.
We were capping the naps up until recently but was cranky after being woken up and wasn't particularly having long night sleeps so recently decided to free style the nap and just leave them for as long as they want. It has been a week now and the nap length ends up being 1 3/4 - 2 hours if left. This is around 1-3pm or up to an hour earlier (but still around 2hr length). The bed time (time they actually go to sleep) in the night then ends up being around 8.10-8.40pm to 5am. This is only totalling around 10 and a half hours of sleep every 24 hr period.
Before when we used to cap the nap at 1hr they were still getting the same amount of total sleep but going to sleep at 7.30. Bed time has always been 7.30 and we are in the bedroom just after 7pm, post bath, getting ready in either scenario.
I know they are all going to be different but I'm thinking 10 1/2 hrs of sleep is not quite enough. Saying that if the child wakes up naturally what can I do? It's more our problem to be honest as we need our 8hrs in the night and with going to bed at 9 it's not giving us much wind down time. Any tips or advice?
Thanks