When should I put my 18 month old to bed

[WhiteBow2223]

Hi I have an 18 month old DS. For months his sleep was pretty consistent. Wake between 6 and 7am. Nap around 12 or 1 for two hours approx. Dinner at 6 and then Bedtime routine bath & bottle. In bed at 7 asleep at 7.30. I sit beside him till he falls asleep. The last week or so he's fighting sleep sometimes taking an hour or 2 to fall asleep. He used to lay for about 20 or 30 minutes babbling and cuddling my arm before he would nod off. but now he seems more upset and doesn't want to lay down easily and can take me ages to get him to relax. He gets alot of attention play fun and love throughout the day. Eats well. I'm not sure if I a putting him to sleep too early perhaps I should put him in the bed at 8? Or if he could be over tired and I should try an earlier bedtime?

I’d say you’re putting him to bed too late he sounds overtired. Mine would be in bed by 6.30 at that age. Aim for a 12 hour day including a nap.

Last night he didn't sleep till 9.30pm. He woke at 6.30am. He Was exhausted and fell asleep in the pram at 10.am for 2 hours. And I just had to put him to bed at 6pm becuase he was beyond tired and he nodded off to sleep straight away after a bottle poor fella.

A wakeful window for 18 months is 5-6 hours so I’d aim to have them in bed for stories about 5.5 hours after they wake from their last nap and lights off 6 hours after.

if he’s gone down earlier tonight it’s a good opportunity to make it into a routine.

@Hollyhead thank you yes maybe you're right. His average wake time Is 6.30 am. I had thought 6.30 would be a too early bedtime but it seems not. And would your baby be asleep at 6.30 or just in bed at that time. What did your bed routine look like at that age?

@Hollyhead yes, I hope he sleeps through tonight and doesn't wake in the night after having an off day!

I have a 17m old DD. She wakes any time between 5-6 (normally more like 5-5:30), naps for 90mins- 2.5hrs somewhere between 11am-1pm depending on the days activities. She has bath around 6:30 most days and in bed by 7. Normally falls asleep pretty well.

They are all different but you could try earlier and then try later if that doesn’t work.

At that age we were having similar issues of no sleep until 9/10pm a few nights a week, and lots of night wakes/early rising. We cut the nap to no more than 1hr and bed at 8pm. Took about a week before he started sleeping better stretches and waking at 7am. At nearly 2 we now still have an 8pm bedtime on nap days and 7pm on no nap days, which are unfortunately becoming more and more frequent 😔

@Pastaf0rbreakfast yeah it's difficult to figure it out when they're all different. He's changing so fast that it's becoming harder to read him! I haven't heard much about cutting naps before. I had thought about it but I'm worried it might make him more cranky in the evenings. If left undisturbed he will sleep more then 2 hours sometimes 3. Will try earlier bedtime for a few nights at 6.30. If it doesn't work I'll try 8pm.

I'd also try putting him down and leaving the room. As they get older and more aware it sometimes keeps them awake/stops them from settling to have someone in the room.

That's a good point. DD would never settle with us in the room

Yes my DS1 who needed sleep would generally conk out 6.30-45 until he was about 3/4 then it got slowly later. He’s 11 now and stays up until 10pm!

Yeah another one with an 18 month old in bed by 6:30. I did a bedtime routine with Dd and then left the room. She used to babble and play with her stuffies for half an hour or so and then conk out. Woke up at 6:30ish.

I’d try leaving the room, as long as not crying, to reduce distractions

I agree with leaving the room - my almost-2 year old definitely needs time to relax alone in the dark, chatting to her toys to get to sleep... 'mummy out, shut door' 😆

It really depends on each child. It doesn’t hurt to play around a bit and figure out what works.

My 15 month old wakes at 7:30/8am. He has a nap from 2-4 then goes to bed at 8:30pm. I’ve put him in his cot and left him since he was roughly 4/5 months old

okay thanks everyone, I've tried leaving him sometimes to sleep sometimes to sleep alone. Sometimes he settles and sleeps, other times he screams for me to come back. I think it depends on the tiredness/day but I'll try keep him going to bed earlier/leaving the room and see how we get on. Thanks everyone I was really at a loss trying to figure out what to do!!

Don't stay with them just leave the room.