If your DCs don't require much sleep...

[LuckyMommaToo]

...will you please chime in here and make me feel better? I swear that all my IRL friends have kids who are 3 and still sleeping 12 hours at night and two in the afternoon. I don't think mine did that even as babies.

And I've read Sleepless in America. Tried routines, black-out shades, noise machines, etc. Now I mostly just try to accept it.

For the record, my just-four sleeps about ten hours a night. Last night he went to bed at 8, was up at 5:15 this morning. Ouch. My sixteen-month-old usually only naps an hour a day, and she's nowhere near sleeping through the night.

But you know what? They're fine. Bright, happy, energetic. Don't have those tired meltdowns I see other kids having. THey just don't need a lot of sleep. It's hard for me sometimes, though!

Anyone else?
-Erin

p.s. The funniest sleep advice for my kids: Sleep begets sleep. Really? Tell that to my son, who, after the age of two, if he dozed off for ten minutes in the car, would resist bedtime for two hours!

[Summerland]

I know how you feel, my son is almost 5 and has barely ever slept more than 10 hours. He dropped his nap when he was one, and is doing good if he is sleeping before 11pm, I tried so hard to get him to go to sleep at 8 or 9 but it just doesnt work for him. He usually wakes up at 8 or 9 ish, every week or so he will sleep 11 or 12 hours, to catch up i guess

[AmyLaz]

I'm right there with you, Mama! Since they started sleeping through the night, my kids have always gotten up between 5 and 6am. And putting them to bed later doesn't change the situation one bit! We get them in bed by 8pm most nights. Naps at this point don't happen unless they doze off in the car. My DD usually ends up in our room before morning, too - I keep a pillow and blanket in my rocker, and she just makes herself a pallet on the floor. Honestly, I think just going with it is the best thing you can do. They won't do this when they're 16 (I hope)!

[J-Max]

One of my 3 is this way (as is my dh) the other 2 take after their momma and need lots of sleep

My 2 year old will routinely go to sleep around 9:30 and is up for the day by 7 and no nap. No melt downs, no tired-ness, she just needs very little sleep. This has been her routine since about 18 months. It killed me for a while after 2 good sleepers and nappers, but I am mostly adjusted now

Dh regualarly gets 5 hours of sleep /night and he has always been like this - never napped or needed much sleep.

[Spirit Dancer]

Originally Posted by LuckyMommaToo

...will you please chime in here and make me feel better? I swear that all my IRL friends have kids who are 3 and still sleeping 12 hours at night and two in the afternoon. I don't think mine did that even as babies.

And I've read Sleepless in America. Tried routines, black-out shades, noise machines, etc. Now I mostly just try to accept it.

For the record, my just-four sleeps about ten hours a night. Last night he went to bed at 8, was up at 5:15 this morning. Ouch. My sixteen-month-old usually only naps an hour a day, and she's nowhere near sleeping through the night.

But you know what? They're fine. Bright, happy, energetic. Don't have those tired meltdowns I see other kids having. THey just don't need a lot of sleep. It's hard for me sometimes, though!

Anyone else?
-Erin

p.s. The funniest sleep advice for my kids: Sleep begets sleep. Really? Tell that to my son, who, after the age of two, if he dozed off for ten minutes in the car, would resist bedtime for two hours!

Well my son is the same way. He is 17 mos and sleep about 11 hours at night and one - one hour nap. All his little friends seem to sleep 15-16 hours. Oh well he is happy .

[sunnmama]

Neither of my kids are big sleepers. Dd did have the meltdowns...and I often attributed that to no enough sleep....but ds doesn't sleep much and is a much more laid-back personality. I think her meltdowns (which she still has at 6.5!) are personality related....not sleep related.

Dd would sleep about 10 hours a night as an infant, and a couple quick naps. She stopped napping entirely at 20 months. And, yep! One 10 minute catnap in the car would have her up for HOURS and HOURS as a toddler. Sometimes until the middle of the night Now, at 6 yrs, she is sleeping better actually. She sleeps about 10 hours a night, but is finally falling asleep a bit easier (some of the time). She sleeps from about 10:30-8:30 usually. She has been sleeping 10 hours a day (max) since she was 2.

Ds sleeps great at night, from about 9 pm until about 7 am. He usually takes a couple catnaps on me during the day, and rarely takes a nap laying down on a bed. Today was a huge exception....he actually took a nearly 3 hour nap!!! That was huge. Awesome. And so, so rare.

[alegna]

Dd has never, NEVER slept 12 hours at night. And she's gone through several stretches where she doesn't nap at all...

-Angela

[Peony]

Yep, my DD1. She stopped cat-napping regularly at age 2, stopped naps all together right when she turned 3. A good night for her is 10 hours.

My DD2 on the other hand would sleep all day long id her big sister didn't exist.

[lovesdaffodils]

I have one of those kids who doesnt need much sleep too. He's 3 and sleeps an average of 10 hours at night, no naps. All my friends are usually baffled, but he's just never slept a whole lot.

[Jessy1019]

My kids are the same as your, OP.

Then again, I've not slept through the night in five years (maybe more) and I am still functioning just fine. I don't need much sleep either. Their dad, on the other hand, requires a lot.

[chinaKat]

DD1 (3yo) has never slept past 7am a day in her life. It matters not if she goes to bed at 6pm or midnight. Typically she's up at 6, which is nice b/c she used to rise regularly at 5!

We try to get her in bed by 7, so she usually gets 11 hours. No nap... if she falls asleep in the car it's hell getting her to bed that night.

[VijayOwens]

My 4 y.o. sleeps from 10pm until 8am and hasn't napped since she was 2. My 2.25 y.o. also gave up naps right around 2 (a little before) and if she naps in car seat (maybe twice a month) or goes to bed before 9pm she is up at 11 and wants to party all night long. So she also goes to bed between 9pm and 11pm and rarely sleeps past 8am. If I let her sleep in past 9, she is up until 12 or 1 that night.

My 4 y.o. sleeps best with me (in a queen in her room) and my 2 y.o. sleeps best with DH (in a king in master bedroom) so that's what we do for now. <shrug> Otherwise with me in with DH and the baby (even in a crib at the foot of the bed) she was waking 4 or 5 times a night to nurse, and I was also having to run down the hall to comfort my older daughter when she had nightmares. Now we all sleep through the night.

If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy. So we do what gets me the most sleep. My older DD needed her own space from 18 months until around 3.5 and then suddenly enjoyed co-sleeping again and it has been nice for me too.

-V.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Mine aren't big on sleeping. Both gave up napping before they turned 2. My 5 year old sleeps about 10 hours a night. My 3 year old sleeps 8. And that's it.

I just remind myself that we get that much more time to have fun every day.

[Mom2Joseph]

Count us in. DD doesn't sleep through the night and if she goes to bed too early will get up around 2 or 3am to party for a while. I mean, the babe is just UP. Most days she gets up around 5am. Very rarely naps, at all. THIS IS A 15 MO. OLD HERE! I've given up and just go with it now. And I've done it all too, white noise, black out shades, routines...blah blah blah. The whole sleep begets sleep thing was a huge disaster! Up till Midnight or just up all night.

DS, though, needs so much more. He's like me!

[Yooper]

My 4 yo is this way. First off, she STILL has never slept through the night. She gave up naps right after her second birthday. Before that, her naps were only 30 minutes anyway. As a newborn....like 2 weeks old, she was only sleeping 12 hours a day including naps. I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with her and I was very resentful at everyone who told me babies sleep all of the time and I would be able to get enough sleep. Yeah right. Right now, she is sleeping more than she has in a long time. About 10 hours a night. We cannot let her take a nap at this point. If she naps for even 10 minutes, she will not go to sleep at night until after midnight. This is not cool as I need to go to bed at 10pm. I DO need lots of sleep. It is actually the lack of sleep around here that was the biggest factor in deciding not to have any more kids.

[Stella_luna]

My DD is not a sleeper either. She was a preemie, and slept almost constantly for about 2 months while she was in the NICU. I figured it would always be that way. But when she hit about 4 pounds, it was the exact opposite. That kid never slept. Even throughout her infancy, she would take 5 to 10 minute catnaps throughout the day, and sleep on and off for about 10 hours at night. Than at about 18 months, she startyed taking a 45-minute nap in the afternoon. It was great. But at 3 she gave that up. Since then (she's 5 now), she has pretty much fallen asleep around 10, and wakes up around 7.

It's a nightmare, isn't it? When she and I babysit my baby nephew, he sleeps all night until 8 am, napes from 10-12, naps from 2-4, and goes back to bed at 7! I'm so jealous! But all my friends tell me their babies were like that, so I guess it's normal for babies to sleep a lot. Not in my house!

FWIW, my mom says I was the same way. She said she never found a solution, and wound up just telling me not to come out of my room after 8 pm so she could get a break. She said that often, I'd sit up reading or playing records until midnight or so. Even now I need hardly any sleep and rarely get tired. Sigh. So I guess she got it from me . . .

[LuxPerpetua]

Originally Posted by Yooper

My 4 yo is this way. First off, she STILL has never slept through the night. She gave up naps right after her second birthday. Before that, her naps were only 30 minutes anyway. As a newborn....like 2 weeks old, she was only sleeping 12 hours a day including naps. I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with her and I was very resentful at everyone who told me babies sleep all of the time and I would be able to get enough sleep. Yeah right. Right now, she is sleeping more than she has in a long time. About 10 hours a night. We cannot let her take a nap at this point. If she naps for even 10 minutes, she will not go to sleep at night until after midnight. This is not cool as I need to go to bed at 10pm. I DO need lots of sleep. It is actually the lack of sleep around here that was the biggest factor in deciding not to have any more kids.

This is my life as well. Even as a newborn my child barely slept. Thankfully, she doesn't usually have melt-downs or seem too tired to function (although I do think she is more tired than she lets on). At nearly two, she sleeps 9 hours at night (waking frequently) and if I'm lucky 10. She'll get a 1 hour nap in the afternoon and she doesn't usually go to bed until 10 p.m. and even then she doesn't WANT to go to sleep. I've told dh that we are not having any more kids because I think I would die from sleep deprivation alone. I cannot do this again. And I get so irritated at books that say how my child is not developing properly because she doesn't sleep 15 hours a day. :