Sleep

[Dov'sMom]

How much sleep do my 2 and 3 year olds need?

[Dov'sMom]

Nobody knows what the sleep recommendations are for toddlers?

My kids were napping 2 or so hours during hte day but then not falling asleep until 11-12 PM and waking up cranky and tired. So we cut out the nap and now they fall asleep between 7:45 and 8:15 and wake up much happier. They're still waking up around 7 am, though, so only 11 or so hours of sleep most nights. Is that enough?

[Baby_Cakes]

Are they happy? Not sleepy?
There's no 100% guaranteed X number of hours needed. 11 hours is plenty, IMO. If they're functioning well, happy, then I say that's enough! Many kids drop napping around that age. See how it goes for the next few weeks.

[Mrsboyko]

My DD (3 in Nov) gets about 11 hrs a day as well. Currently she still naps for 1.5-2 hrs, then gets about 9 hrs at night, sometimes less. That is as good as it has ever gotten for her, she just doesn't like/ need that much sleep.

[Dov'sMom]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

Are they happy? Not sleepy?
There's no 100% guaranteed X number of hours needed. 11 hours is plenty, IMO. If they're functioning well, happy, then I say that's enough! Many kids drop napping around that age. See how it goes for the next few weeks.

They both get really tired around 4 pm or so, but if we let them nap then they don't sleep all night and wake up miserable the next morning. I feel terrible forcing htem to stay awake when they're tired, though. The 2 yo can take a 1-1.5 hr nap earlier in the day and still be okay, but it's hard to get him that nap when his brother is not ready to sleep.

The other reason I feel guilty is that I don't get home from work until around 7 PM. Days I'm home my 3 yo can fall asleep 6:30-7:00 and wake up 12 hours later happy and rested. He gets very upset if he falls asleep before I get home, so the babysitter works hard to keep him up unti I get home on my work days, and then it's a minimum 30-45 minutes before they get to bed between excited greetings, reading a few stories and hearing about their day, toothbrushing -- that's assuming they didn't insist on waiting for me to eat dinner. They still wake up the same time though, so I feel like I'm shortchanging them of that extra hour.

[Rosebud1]

Fwiw

Every child's needs are different, but I have heard it recommended that 2 year olds need thirteen hours of total sleep (nap plus night sleep) and 3 year olds need at least twelve.