what time should a nearly 2yr old go to bed

[griffintribe]

My DD is 21 months old and goes to bed at 6.30pm and falls asleep somewhere between 6.45pm and 7pm.

Trouble is she wakes between 4.40 and 5.00am every day.

Is she going to bed too early.

What time do yours go to bed?

Apparently I used to go to bed at the same time your dd does. Mine go to bed at 7.00 (and always have - now 2 and 4) - by the time we have done various goodnight things that means we leave them at 7.15.

Different for every child but if you can't cope with the early mornings, you could try putting her to bed a little later and see what happens. Mine get up at 7.00 (on the dot - never later - I dream of a long lie in).

at that age, my 2.6 year old was in bed by 7, usually asleep by 730 - afternoon nap of about 2 hours - got up at 630ish

Oh what a nightmare waking up at 4.40. Anything before 5.45 is far too early. You must be exhausted. Does she have a daytime nap still? If not is that why she goes to bed at 6.30 because she is so tired?

Try putting her to bed at 7.30 and see if it makes any difference. My 24 month old goes to sleep about 8.00 and wakes at 7-ish. If she has a daytime nap it takes longer for her to settle to sleep.

it really depends on the child

does she SEEM tired, thats the important question (remember hyper behaviour = tiredness)

some kids don't need much sleep

She has about 2 hours of sleep at about 11am, if i wake her before she is ready she is VERY GRUMPY for ages.

She does seem tired and goes all hyper and silly at bathtime.

Think i will try putting her down later tomorrow.

Thanks everyone

Cutting lunchtime sleep worked for me and my twin girls. They are 2.4 and now go to bed at 7.15pm (settle to sleep by 8) and have 45 mins sleep at lunctime. they can sleep in until 7.30 now - major lie in!!!

They were having 1hour (strict) at your daughters age and then going up at 7pm - waking at 6.20 - 6.50am usually.
Before cutting lunchtime sleep I had 9 months of them waking at 5am. aggghhhh! nightmare.

good luck. It really worked for me - try it gradually - but cut back in the day and put up with the grumpiness. It doesn't last, they soon get accustomed to it.

Yesterday i tried cutting out the afternoon nap, my DD only had 15 minutes sleep in the car.

She went to bed at the normal time and woke at 4.30am. I settled her back down and then she slept till 7.00am YIPPEE.

Any ideas on how to keep her entertained all day

Hurray!! Hope it lasts.

I try to do something in the mornings with my dd like a toddler group/swimming, then she is quite relaxed in the afternoon and I can sit on MN