Just looked at a 'Sleep book' and am now terrified! DD only has 10 hours sleep - damaging?!

[EggsOvaryZee]

Advice anyone?! Please bear with me!

DD is 2.5, sometimes can go without nap - though her behaviour is horrendous. If she naps in the car then it?s OK, 15-20 mins doesn?t massively affect bedtime, though she can cry as long as she?s been asleep but there you go.

If she naps at home, just drops off on the sofa ? I have to be Mr Tumble for about 5 hours if I want to ensure she doesn?t sleep at all. If she does then it?s always way too late ? after 4pm say, last week she fell asleep at 4pm and I gave her an hour but she didn?t settle til 11pm. OH settled her while I sobbed in the other room!

So, if she doesn?t nap, then she?ll go down about 8pm ? she?s in her cot before then but takes ages to settle etc?normally drops off at 8pm, then wakes promptly 10 hrs later.
ALWAYS wakes crying/upset?.always (anyone else's DCs do this?!). We rush in and get her cos she?s so loud it?ll wake other DC (thin walls).

After looking at a sleep book (first ever one I've opened, felt I had too), I am now terrified and paranoid ? it was saying at that age they should be having 13 hours and that anything less is really damaging to them, she?ll grow up to be a criminal etc?I am worried since she is hard work?though I just thought that was her personality and her age, not cos she?s chronically over tired?..Other DC does 12 hrs but also dropped day nap at same sort of age so this is a bit new to me.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi OP. I only have 1 DD who is 15 months. She doesn't usually manage 13 hours and she is much younger! At your DD's I went to bed when my parents did - 10ish and got up when they did - 7ish? I also had a nap before lunch I think - about an hour. So I was getting 10-11 hours. As a newborn I got even less due a condition I had. Anyway I'm no criminal and to this day I don't need much sleep - 7 hours is plenty for me. Some of us just need less sleep.

So whilst I think it is ridiculous to suggest she is being damaged it does sound like she could do with a bit more sleep from what you say/ Would a morning nap be an option?

Oh the evil books! I keep reading them and they keep making me feel guilty.. OP my DS sounds very much like your DD (screams himself awake too!) but I did read this in a sleep book (and ignored the rest cos it said I was a bad mum) which surprisingly worked. Please don't laugh me off the thread but I decided to completely drop the day nap as he was the same and a nightmare to settle but put him to bed at 6.30pm (usual bedtime 8pm). I tried it for a few days and he sometime now sleeps 12-13 hours whereas before 10-11 was normal.

I never thought for a million years that he'd actually go to sleep but starting the winding down process much earlier meant he dropped off earlier. We eat earlier (about 4.45pm) and are out the bath by 6pm and tbh it's a total nightmare trying to fit everything in before bed. It might not be possible for you but might be worth a shot for a few days? Wine o'clock comes earlier too then, bonus! Good luck!

Second the early bed suggestion - DD will sometimes need to go to bed at 6pm but wakes up at 6am regardless - so sometimes I actually get a 12 hour stretch this way. Mist nights it's about 6.40pm to 5.50am though....

I don't think your DD read the book, OP.
Now, gently throw the book on the FIRE & decide if YOUR DD might benefit from a different amount of time in bed, opportunity to get more sleep.
Then see if you can do anything to enable that.
And if anyone has a sure fire way to get a 2yo to sleep more, let me know.

There is a range of how much sleep children need at each age that depends on the individual, just like for adults. PErhaps your child is naturally on the lower end of the range?

For my dd, she ALWAYS wakes at the same time in the morning so the only way to get her to sleep f rlonger was to put her to bed earlier.

Can't help on the amount of sleep but my sister's two dcs (3.5 years and 15 months) both wake crying/screaming from naps and in the morning and pretty much always have. I read in one of the sleep books that it can be because some babies and young children naturally wake directly from a deep sleep rather than gradually entering a lighter sleep before waking. The book said it's not something to worry about and that there's not much you can do about it if it is a regular thing - it's just their natural pattern. No idea if this is scientific but sounded reasonable!

Nonsense IMO. SHE's fine don't stress about it. If you help her to sleep when she is tired, she's getting enough. Not all people are the same and not all toddlers/children are the same either.

Relax.

It's possible that she only needs that much sleep, but it's also very possible that she needs more and will benefit from it. I'd try the earlier bedtime for a week or so - if she wakes up at 5am every morning then you'll have learnt that she really doesn't need much sleep, but she may sleep through for longer and be happier for it.

Hey there, no advice but my DD is 7 months old and over 24 hours normally will only do 12- 13 hours. Just think they are all different. Sorry to be brief, just wanted to let you know we don't have a "textbook" baby either.