If your toddler naps once a day... (couple quick questions)

[beckington]

If your toddler naps once a day, what time is it normally at and how long is it for? What time does he/she wake up for the day and go to bed for the night?

My answer: Ds2 is 18 months old. He normally naps once a day, around 11ish for about an hour, 1.5 hours if we are lucky. He gets up between 7-7:30am for the day and goes to sleep for the night around 8-8:30pm, waking up many times during the night but usually nurses back to sleep easily.

Background: I'm just curious about other toddlers because someone commented to me today that ds2 naps every early in the day to just have one nap. I have often heard of the one nap a day happening after lunch as a more traditional schedule, but ds2 is normally way tired and cranky at 11am! So anyhow I'm curious what other toddlers are doing... :)

[Honey693]

DD2 is 22 months and wakes up between 9/10am, goes down around 130pm, wakes up between 300-5 and then goes to sleep at 1030/11.  Her naps were a pretty consistent 2-2.5 hours until two weeks ago and now they're closer to 1.5 unless we've been insanely active.

[luckiest]

DS is 19 months. His whole schedule varies quite a bit, but in general he's up around 7:30-8am, naps roughly from 1-3pm. Then back down around 10:30pm. Until very recently his schedule was almost identical to yours - he napped really early in the day and for only 45min to an hour. We didn't do anything to try to change it, but I have to say I love this later nap. He's in a much better mood through dinner time, DH actually gets to spend time with him before he's overtired and cranky.

[mamapigeon]

DS is 14 months. He wakes up at around 7am for the day, takes a nap around 1pm for 1-2 hours, and then falls asleep for the night around 8 or 8:30.

[expat_canuck]

My DD is 17 months old. She is generally up between 730 -8, naps from 1-3ish, and is down for the night between 730 and 8, although usually closer to 8. She wakes once or twice in the night to nurse but doesn't wake fully and falls back asleep quickly.

[chel]

Dd is 2.5yrs.
Up by 7am
Nap 12:30-2:30pm
Bed 9-10pm

[katelove]

My LO is 2yo. She wakes up in the morning between 5:30 & 6am. Goes back to sleep at 11-11:30am for 45mins to an hour and a half (usually the longer sleeps are when I stay in bed with her) and goes down for the night at 8-8:30pm. She usually has one feed in the middle of the night and another one just before she wakes up in the morning.

She is unusual amongst all our friends though. Most of them sleep from 1-3pm or a similar time. It's a real pain for activities :-)

[skycheattraffic]

I have a morning napper too.
15 month old DD wakes up around 6 or 7, napping for an hour to an hour and a half starting anywhere from 9:30 to 11 and is sleeping by 7:30 or 8 pm. I'd love a later naptime too but by three hours after wake up if I don't take her to her room, she nurses on me and passes out wherever we are. She had a short afternoon nap too for a couple of weeks but was really hard to put down. I dropped it and moved up her bedtime a little and that seems to be working. The early nap is a pain when every other kiddo we know is an afternoon napper, but I gotta go with what works for her. lately she's been very cranky but she just cut two molars and two canines so I'm not surprised.

[C is for Cookie]

 DS  LOVES sleep... I think if I let him, he would sleep all day. lol. Anyways, DS is 20 months old. His schedule as follows:

Wake up- Between 7-8 am

Nap- 11:00 am-3pm (He will get cranky if I wake him up before that)

Bedtime-10pm *I have class from 6:30pm-9:15pm so he gets a late bedtime*

All in all, he gets 13-14 hours of sleep in total. That hits the high end of the recommended amount of sleep.

[MakingHome]

He's 23 months, and naps from about 1:30-4 every day.  Usually about 2 & 1/2 hours unless something wakes him up early.   He goes to bed around 7:30 & falls asleep by 8, and sleeps until usually 6:30 or 7.  That would make for 13 hours total.  This is pretty much representative to what all 5 of our kiddos have been like at this age.

[mamazee]

My toddler is giving up her nap (she's 3) but when it was a regular thing, she'd fall asleep around 1 to 1:30 pm.

[beckington]

Thanks everyone! Looks like most kiddos do sleep in the afternoon, though it's nice to see my kid isn't the only morning napper around! Funnily enough, it's after 1pm here as I type and he hasn't napped yet today - and has been in a great mood all morning (which is bizarre for him!). His naps yesterday were off too - two short naps, one early, one late, then a late bedtime. It'll be interesting to see what he ends up doing today - I wish he'd go to sleep because I was planning on napping with him! :)

I do think he could do with more sleep. He's quite cranky a lot of the day. I guess he gets about 12 hours on average daily, which I think is pretty good, but it's that evil stretch of like 8 hours after his nap before bedtime that gets difficult with his mood! We can't seem to move bedtime earlier (just not organized enough with work schedules etc) so I might try pushing his nap a bit later each day to see if that helps.

Oh, he's asleep now. Off to nap! :)
 

[graciegal]

DD 22 months

Wakes at 7-8am

Nap at 11:30-12 noon

Awake 1-3 hours later

Bed at 8pm
 

[greenemami]

Ds is 28 months old.  He is usually up around 7, naps anywhere between 11-1 for 1.5-2 hours, then to bed around 8 (usually!)  Dd was dropping her nap around this age, so I am SO thankful that we don't seem to be approaching that with ds yet :)

[KellyandBean]

My DD was on almost that same schedule at that age, although she was up at 6 usually. 11 did feel strange to me too when i always read about how naps should be after lunch. You will likely discover over time that it will inch back to a more stereotypical time. Eventually he will have a hard time going down at 11 and you will try 11:30 and then 12:00 etc over time. Now my DD (27 months) does her 'quiet time' around 1:00 and usually doesn't nap at all anymore. So basically he is still young enough to need his morning rest and as long as he doesn't seem severely overtired in the evenings i wouldn't worry about it. I can say though that i like the after lunch nap better because nap at 11 meant it was hard to go to events/playdates in the morning and get back in time for nap.
 

[motherhendoula]

i have a morning napper too - it never dawned on me that it was weird until we started going to classes and meetings and i realized there is NOTHINg for my son to do around 1 PM !

wakes - between 5 - 6 AM   (often up by 4 AM for the day)

naps  usually between 9 - 10 AM for about 2 hours

Sleeps for the night 6 - 7:30 PM  - i let him stay up late if were visiting with grandparents or doing something interesting - but he will be up before 6 AM no matter what we do!

[Parker'smommy]

My dd ( 22 months)  seems to require more sleep than most kids her age. It might seem like a wonderful thing, but she has a 3 hour expiration date. seriously. She would still nap 2x a day if I let her, but it's just so hard. I have 2 older kids that don't want to be tied to the house all day long for naps. 

8-9 am - up for the day

around noon- nap for 2 1/2 - 3 hours

If we go out in the car anytime after 4/5 pm which is very often since I have two older kids that need to be picked up or taken places, she falls asleep in the car and you.can.not.wake.her. She usually sleeps another 1-2 hours then. I pick her up out of the car and everything. . She will sometimes nurse and fall asleep at this time too. 

Bed for the night- 8-9 pm. It varies .She sleeps all night, except for the occasional stirring where dh pats her back and she goes back to sleep. She then wakes up between 5- 6 am when dh has gotten up for work and I will nurse her and she goes back to sleep till at least 8 or 9 am. 

ALso, if my dd gets up around 7 am on a rare morning, she has to nap by 10 am. So, your dc is not unusual. I would continue to put him to sleep when he is tired. 

[andromedajulie]

Mine is 23 months. She naps once for about 2 hours usually going down around 12 or so. sometimes she can sleep 2 1/2 or 3 hours, but i wake her usually cause then she starts getting up at 5 am.

She wakes in the morning between 5:30-6:30

bedtime around 7:30pm.

[gemasita]

DS is 17 months old

Wakes at 8:30-9

Naps from 12-2 or 1-3

Bedtime is between 9-10:30

[SunRise]

My 2.4 year old naps once a day. Her naps start a bit later now, after lunch (12, 1ish) and she sleeps for 1.5 - 2 hours or rmore.

She wakes up around 7:30 - 8:00 and goes to bed around 9. She sleeps all night.

She used to nap starting between 10:30 - 11:00, before lunch. She would then sleep for 2-3 hrs and then would eat when she woke up. Her nap time extended to after lunch just recently; the past few months. And, in fact, she doesnt always want to eat lunch before her nap now, she just isn't as tired until a bit later.  (And I have never tried to keep her up to make the nap happen after lunch. I just help her to sleep when she seems tired)

Edited by SunRise - 7/6/12 at 4:48am