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how much sleep does your 2 year old get?

  • less than 10 hours a day

    Votes: 2 2.1%
  • 10-10.75 hours a day

    Votes: 7 7.4%
  • 11-11.75 hours a day

    Votes: 25 26.6%
  • 12-12.5 hours a day

    Votes: 26 27.7%
  • 12.5-13 hours a day

    Votes: 25 26.6%
  • more than 13 hours a day

    Votes: 9 9.6%

how much sleep does your young 2 year old get in 24 hours?

7K views 24 replies 23 participants last post by  p.s 
#1 ·
How much total sleep (naps and nighttime) does your young 2 year old (in the 2-2.5 year old range I guess) get in an average 24 hour period? And do you feel that they're getting as much sleep as they need?

I'm at my wits end trying to get DD to get to sleep at night, and now she's sometimes refusing naps, too (is there a "pulls hair out" sticky somewhere?). DH insists she's just not tired, but I can tell when she's tired--I just can't convince anyone else because she'll act cranky for just a second, or get very slightly hyper, but otherwise she's still perfectly happy so no one believes me when I say she's tired.

Anyhow, I'm wondering how much other 2 to 2.5 year olds (DD is 25 months) sleep in 24 hours.
 
#4 ·
I'd say 12-13 hours--usually at night from 8:30-7:00ish, and then a 2-3 hour nap sometime around 1-3. He does occasionally nap later, like 2:30-5:00, but then he doesn't fall asleep at night until 9-9:30 which I feel is too late (he is in his bed by 8:00 regardless, and he just talks to himself and reads books until he goes to sleep).
 
#5 ·
I have the same kid as you. Perhaps they are soul mates. She turned 2 last week. We start the march to bed at 7:30. Put her in bed at 8, She usually falls asleep around 9. She wakes up between 5-7am. She takes a 45 minute to (usually 1.5) hour nap, but it is a battle to get her to take a nap despite her obvious exhaustion. Sometimes it requires 1.5 hours of "resting" in her room before she falls asleep. I've tried just about everything and I'd give up but then she's soooooo irritable.
 
#6 ·
It varies here too. Usually 11-13. We usually get a 2 hour nap and she sleeps 9-11 hours a night. Depends on when I get around to laying her down. (and the nap is most days. Somedays she refuses to nap and sometimes we have to be out and about during that time)
 
#7 ·
Typically about 11 hours. She's pretty much always up at 7:30. If she hasn't had a nap (most days) she's down by 8 pm. If she has a nap, she goes to bed that much later (eg. 1 hour nap = down by 9, 2 hour nap = down by 10).

Every once in a while (once a week maybe if that) she seems to really need to recharge and she'll just go to sleep at 5:30 or even earlier and stay in bed til 7 the next morning.

Trying to get her to nap is a battle no one will win so I don't go there. If she's tired enough to nap, she will nap. She's been fighting naps for about 5 months now and just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.
 
#9 ·
I think 11-12 hours is pretty typical these days. DS is 26 months, and he almost doesn't need a nap. Some days he only naps for 30 minutes or less while we're out in the car, some days it's an hour or two. If he barely naps, he goes to bed earlier, but still wakes up around the same time, so he gets about the same amount of sleep no matter what happens with the nap.
 
#10 ·
DS as 26 months and does between 8-10 hours at night and 1-2 hours for a nap.
 
#12 ·
DS is 19 mos and is probably a high needs baby (as Dr. Sears terms it); one aspect of this is that they don't sleep as much. He gets about 8-9 hours at night and will sometimes take a nap for 1-2 hours, but not always. Every once in awhile we both sleep in until ridiculously late, I savor those moments.
 
#13 ·
Ds is not *quite* two, at 22 months. He gets around 9.5 - 10.5 hours most nights, and up to 2 hours during the day for nap time. For the last few months, he has been averaging I would say, just a bit less than 12 hours per 24 hour period, so that's how I voted.

He has never ever slept a total of 12 hours at night like some babies do.
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by caedmyn View Post
How much total sleep (naps and nighttime) does your young 2 year old (in the 2-2.5 year old range I guess)
as opposed to an old two year old?

I have three girls, 8, 6 and 4. They all slept about 8 - 10 hours a night then.... and now.
 
#16 ·
Around 12 hours, with nap.
One thing I have learned with my kids is that once they are really tired, it is actually harder to get them to sleep - sounds crazy, but true. By my third, I had it pinned down - I had to be doing our sleep routine by her third yawn!! Also, if you still are dealing with molars, that makes it very hard for them to fall asleep, too. Sometimes Hyland's teething tablets or
: tylenol or motrin is needed if falling asleep is really difficult - if you know those molars are coming in!
Another paradox with my girls is that the later they go to sleep the earlier they wake. Nuts, but true. I know that is not always the case with everyone, though.
 
#18 ·
DD turned 3 in July, but at 2 she slept about 12 hours in 24. She quit napping after DS was born 5 months ago, so she sleeps about 12 hours at night now. (She does wake up and call for her daddy to come and cuddle with her, but she goes right back to sleep after he gets to her.)
 
#20 ·
About 10 hours at night and about 2-3 hour nap. My DS gets cranky when he is tired but DD becomes so hyper that no one believes that she will go to sleep but she will go from running around like a wild woman to sleep in 5 minutes. Her sleepy signal is acting hyper.
 
#23 ·
I have a 25 month old. She needs to sleep 10 hours at night and have a 1.5 hour nap during the day to really feel good, but she often gets only 11 hours total, and sometimes less. Today she slept 8 hours overnight (9 is average) and took a 2.5 hour nap.
 
#24 ·
I'm in a frustrating period, too. DS (26 mos) refuses to take naps (though he does have quiet time for about an hour in the afternoon where he'll lay down and watch a little TV) and I still have to fight to get him to sleep before 10pm. I have no advice and no idea what to do. He doesn't seem tired or cranky so I guess he's getting what he needs.
 
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