My oldest daughter is two and a half years old. We don’t enforce a bed time for either of our girls, but we start the bedtime routine with potty, jammies, brushing teeth, and reading stories around 7:30-8pm. Then we do gentle, quiet play with books, puzzles, movies, etc. until the girls are tired. Our youngest likes to snuggle and is usually down by 8:30pm at the latest. Our oldest follows suit shortly after. Sometimes she watches a movie in her room, but we make a point to start the movie at 8pm so she doesn’t stay up too late and she almost always falls asleep before the move is over (she is most likely sleeping by 9pm).
Lately, my oldest has been asking for more sleep in the mornings (we wake them up around 7am on weekdays). She’s not really a morning person and never has been. When she wakes on her own, she is fine but when we wake her she is kind of a grouch. She’s been saying, “No, I want more sleep,” or “No, I want dark,” or “the light too bright,” or “I want more covers.” It reminds me of a teenager!! I can usually redirect her with talk of eggos for breakfast or friends at daycare. I hadn’t thought anything of it until our daycare lady asked how late she stays up because she sleeps really hard and long at naptime. I told her about our bedtime routine and I still don’t think that 9pm is that late of a bedtime for a two year old.
Do you think she’s getting enough sleep at night? Do you have grouchy toddlers in the mornings?
No way 9 is bedtime in my house 7:30 is books 7:45 hugs and kisses bed is no later than 8.We do have routine dinner 5 or 5:45 snack before or after showers playtime movie etc.They get up @ 7 not grouchy at all they do get grouchy if we happen to be out late bed after 9 but very rare unless it's Christmas or an emergency.Change bedtime you'll notice a huge difference
Increases in sleep and appetite were signs my son was having a growth spurt. He got up at pretty regular times in the mornings. I tended to start bedtime routine earlier - between 7 and 8 pm. A warm bath would sometimes help with growing pains and he'd get sleepy during story time.
My daughter is almost 3 now, and she will sleep 12 hours a night, AND take a nap during the day. 1-3 hours for the nap. If I wake my daughter up early, like on school days, more often than not, she will say she wants to go back to sleep, hehe, so we have been adjusting her bedtime to earlier lately.
My daughter will be 4 in a few weeks and still sleeps 12-13 hours a night and takes a mini nap/rest during the day. SOme kids just need more sleep than others. Maybe the movie thing is kepping her up. If my daughter is allowed to watch tv to go to sleep she will keep herself awake longer than normal and sleeps later the next day. Hopefully you get it fixed soon, I know what its like to have a tired cranky child:)
More sleep is in order! My girls used to go to bed at 6:30PM or 7PM and sleep until 6:30AM, plus take a couple hour nap--when naps were done, we backed bedtime up to 6-6:30PM and they would sleep until 7AM. Try an earlier bedtime! My girls would wake much easier in the morning (on their own) and be happier throughout the day.
sleep depends a lot on the child. my son never goes to bed later than 8, but he is up by 6 and still takes a 1 1/2-2 hour nap as well. (generally about 12 hours per day which is recommended) i would definitely not let her go to bed later than 8. try putting her down earlier (both of them, as younger sis will actually need more sleep than big sis) and see if that helps.
also have to add, my 3 year old gets all this sleep, and still doesn't want to get up in the morning. i'm not sure any kid does! i know my sister fought it her entire life. some kids are just not morning people!
In my experience, they're only grouchy in the mornings when they need more sleep. Is she napping at all? If not, you might want to try moving the start of your bedtime routine up an hour or so.
Each child is completely different - just like we are as adults, the requirements are really based upon the child.
The major recommendation I would make if she were my child is to take the TV out of her room. We let our son watch TV/movies in the evenings, too, most nights, but that's in our room where we can control how much and when to turn it off.
Our son has always been a night owl but will wake-up early each morning (almost the same time regardless of when he went to bed). Some mornings he's a treat, others he's a grouch - it has no rhyme or reason. He's just now beginning to wean away from an afternoon nap and will be 4 in June.
Is it possible she has some kind of illness you may not have yet recognized that is causing her to sleep more. You'd think after 7 ear infections, we'd be able to recognize the symptoms better. But, last week, our soon-to-be 2 year old, was diagnosed with her 7th ear infection (3rd after tubes last year). The only symptoms - nose drainage, grumpiness and needing more sleep.
K.-
When my son was 2 1/2 he was still napping during the day. Is your daughter too? He would sleep about 3 hours at naptime and 11 hours or so at night. So he was needing 14 hours of sleep. He is now 11 and goes to bed an hour before your daughter and gets up at the same time. She might be going through a growth spurt and need the extra sleep. My pediatrician says that the body does its growing during the sleep cycle. If I were you I would consider adding more naptime and a much earlier bedtime. I know that gives you very little time with your babies, but the quality of the time will be better.
S.
Of course, every child is different, but your daughter's behavior sounds completely normal to me. In my experience, 9 PM is on the late side for a two-year-old's bedtime. I think you should try to get her down a little earlier if you can't be flexible with what time she wakes up.
Also, I know you're trying to have "gentle play" before they go to bed, but honestly, the activities you are doing sound a little too stimulating to me. Books are fine, but I think puzzles and especially movies are too stimulating to be included in a bedtime routine. If your oldest is falling asleep in the middle of the movie, it mostly sounds like you are just wearing her out instead of teaching her how to relax and find a way to fall asleep on her own. My sense is that sleep when it is accompanied by TV isn't as deep and restful as it ought to be.
Hi K.,
My two year old goes to bed at 7PM, and sleeps until 6:30 AM at least--today he slept until 7:45, and he usually wakes up happy too. He also takes at least a 2 hour nap everyday. It could be that your little girl just needs more sleep than you thought. I don't know if you are into childcare books or not but the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth is an awesome reference for sleep from infant on up. If she wants to sleep more it's totally normal!
