Posts Tagged ‘sleep problems’

This article outlines the average toddler schedule, including feedings, naps and night sleep. If your toddler is having trouble napping, you may be interested in my toddler nap tips. And, for good ideas on feeding your toddler, check out Wholesome Toddler Food. You may also want to encourage your toddler to get involved in his routine by teaching him to tell time with this Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock.

 
 
Two Nap Schedule | One Nap Schedule | No Nap Schedule

Toddler Schedules - General Info

At this age, your toddler should be sleeping through the night, with no night feedings. Obviously, all babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.

I think of a “toddler” as a 1-3 year old, which is a wide range. Sleep needs change in that time-frame. While your one year old may be sleeping 12 hours at night and 2-3 hours during the day made up of 2 naps, on average, your three year old is likely starting to transition into not napping all together and will do so most likely before the age of four. At 2 years old, the average amount of sleep drops to between 12 and 12 1/2 hours in 24 hours, including just one afternoon nap. The average age for a toddler to transition to just one nap is 15-18 months. Transitioning too soon can have disastrous results with a very cranky toddler.

This article will give an example of 3 different types of schedules, 2 naps, 1 nap and no naps.

Toddler Schedule - Two Naps

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:30 - Light snack if she needs it
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:30/12:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

Toddler Schedule - One Nap

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:00 - Light snack if she needs it
11:00 - Lunch
12:00 - Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

Toddler Schedule - No Naps

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:30 - Light snack if she needs it
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Quiet/Rest time (45 minutes to 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

If your toddler is waking too early or going to bed too late, you may be interested in shifting his schedule. If you need help for your specific situation, you may be interested in our sleep consultation services.

Share your toddler’s schedule

I thought I should first talk about my philosophy on helping your child learn healthy sleep habits.

Sleep Training

I don’t define "sleep training " as cry-it-out (CIO) and you don’t have to let your child cry to teach healthy sleep habits . Some people seem to think they are synonymous and I disagree. Sleep training starts with respecting your child’s need for sleep (Weissbluth) and doing your part to ensure he gets the sleep he needs. This does not mean throwing up your hands if they won’t nap and saying to yourself "I guess if (s)he won’t sleep, (s)he doesn’t need it." Babies, toddlers, and young children need a LOT of sleep . Adults don’t get as much sleep as they need either, but I won’t go there. Babies younger than 6 months need 11-12 hours at night and 3-4 hours each and every day, on average, for example. Some will be less, but not that much less. Sleep is important for their growth and development!

When my eldest son was a baby, several people told me to keep him up during the day, so that he will sleep more at night. Maybe that one night he would sleep more, I’m not sure, but crashing due to exhaustion is not what I call healthy sleep habits . And, I knew he needed more sleep than THAT! Over time, I determined that he almost always slept better at night, the better he slept during the day. After all, as Weissbluth says, "sleep begets sleep " and with my son, this was 100% true. The better he napped, the less overtired he was and the better he slept at night. I would say that is going to be almost always true for most challenging sleepers. After all, remember, these challenging sleepers are not those who just magically fall asleep when they are tired, these are the babies/toddlers who struggle and need help learning to become good sleepers.

Teaching Healthy Sleep Habits

I am not going to get into all of the sleep training methods just yet because that would make this article entirely too long. And, I don’t promote one sleep training method over another but take a unique situation, the child’s personality, and find a method that suits the family in question. What I am going to say , though, is teaching healthy sleep habits is done with consistency and persistence . It is putting your child’s need for sleep as a higher priority than other things you might have or want to do. Babies basically just eat, sleep and poop in those early months. You wouldn’t deprive them of food or a clean diaper, so I challenge you not to deprive them of their sleep, either . Whether you co-sleep with them or allow them to learn to self-soothe or anything in between, the main goal is for them to get the sleep they need. The #1 important aspect of how you do it, is that you are consistent . To nap with them only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for example, will only confuse them and set unrealistic expectations . This is unfair to them. So, whatever you do to get your child to sleep, do it the same way each time as much as possible. This is not to say that some days won’t need to be more flexible or that rules won’t be broken on vacation; I am only talking on the whole.

You may also be interested in reading my article on sleep associations.

What did you think of this article?