How much does your two year old sleep?

[Ilana]

I'm having a conflict with the women on my crunchy mommy group because they ALL claim that their kids at age two only slept nine hours a night. My daughter wakes up all night long but needs to be in bed for 12 hours otherwise she's a mess during the day. She also has one nap, anywhere from 45min - 1 hour. She shows us when she's tired and we respond and put her to bed and occasionally after 12 hours we still need to wake her up. It's obvious when she's tired as she has meltdowns and becomes defiant. She never fights bedtime, submits willingly, and when she is asleep she is asleep and it is hard to wake her.

But somehow all these women are implying that maybe I'm keeping her in bed for too long and that's why she's such a bad sleeper and I can't get through to them that MY child (and most kids I know IRL) needs that much sleep! I couldn't force her to sleep more than she chooses to for all the money in the world. Believe me, I've tried.

Does anyone else have a two year old who needs that much sleep (and I never thought it was that much anyways becuase it's not like she does it solidly - she still wakes up from 3 - 10 times a night especially when she's sick or teething, which seems to be ALL THE TIME!)? If not, how much sleep does your kid get by on?

All the sleep studies I've read suggest that 10 - 12 hours a night is the norm for kids this age. obviously it's not a hard and fast rule but generally these are based on polls so real parents have responded to this question.

I'm kind of bewildered by the response I'm getting and can't understand it.
ILANA

[Jasmyn's Mum]

DD sleeps between 11-12 hrs/night and usually has a 2 hour nap in the day. I'm not sure what's "normal". I only know that this is normal for her. Your dc sounds totally normal to me.

[ETW]

DS usually sleeps 10 hours overnight (with several wake/nursings) and takes a 2-3 hour nap.

[Erin+babyAndrew]

my son is 2 years, 4 months and he sleeps solid about 12-13 hours every night. He does not nap and hasn't since about 22 months old. He's finally a good sleeper! He used to nurse alllll night long. But when he dropped his nap he weaned too and has had great sleep habits since then.

[EllasMummy]

Sounds normal to me.

My DD is 29 months and she sleeps 12 hours a night although she does wake up 3 or 4 times for a quick nurse. She hardly ever naps anymore although she does need some quiet time otherwise she gets very grumpy.

[veganf]

My son just turned 2 in January. He sleeps from 7:45-6:30 at night, and naps at noon for 45 minutes to 2 hours. My 3 year old sleeps about 1/2 hour to an hour less, and skips naps about half the time now.

- Krista

[bobica]

siobhan is almost 3 and typically sleeps 12 hours a night & 1 hour during the day.

[blessed]

My 24 month takes a two hour nap during the day and sleeps about 10 hours at night.

My friends' 20 month old and almost 3 yo both sleep about 12 hours on top of a nap :huh ! Her kids are like yours - very disjointed if they haven't had their full rest, and usually hard to wake up, even after long sleeps.

Everybody's different.

[Slackermom]

Ainsley goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps through until 6:15am or so. She also has an hour and a half nap per day...sometimes longer. So, probably close to 12 hours in total.

[IncaMama]

rowan's almost 3 (omg!!!) and he sleeps about 10hrs at night and 2 hr nap - or if he misses his nap then he sleeps 12 at night.

[lckrause]

My 7yo still sleeps about 10 hours at night, unless she has to get up "early" for something. It is totally normal for a 2yo to sleep 12 hours.

[HerthElde]

DD sleeps between 11-12 hrs/night and usually has a 2 hour nap in the day. I'm not sure what's "normal". I only know that this is normal for her. Your dc sounds totally normal to me.
:yeah:
I know I didn't write it on the group, but Katja also needs a LOT of sleep - I really think that toddlers fall into the rythm of sleep that suits them within the household. DH doesn't get home from work until 6 or 7, so we often eat late, and by the time they've had daddy-daughter time and wound down (or not - that's part of OUR problem) it's 10 or later. She then sleeps (not through the night, mind you) until sometime between 9 or 10 the next day, sometimes as late as 11 (rare, but it happens), then takes a nap around 3 (sometimes as early as 1 or as late as 4) that lasts from 1 to 2 hours. I've thought about ditching her nap to try and get her to sleep earlier, but she really still needs that much sleep.

[CelticMomma]

DD slept about 12 hours a night at 2 years old and napped about 1.5 hours. She woke a multitude of times during the night though. I never counted. Fortunately, she night weaned while I was pregnant. DS who's not quite 2 yet sleeps about 13 hours at night, and takes about 1.5 hours of nap. He's a strange one though. I ask him if it's naptime and he nods and heads to the bedroom! LOL.

[angela&avery]

DD sleeps between 11-12 hrs/night and usually has a 2 hour nap in the day. I'm not sure what's "normal". I only know that this is normal for her. Your dc sounds totally normal to me.
mine too..

and she was two in October. My dd needs a nap about 2-3 times a week and those are usually 2+ hours, and then goes to bed between 730 and 8 and gets up between 6 and 7.. so roughly she gets 11-12 hours a night... and needs it!! She does just fine on naps a few times a week...... BUT, I do find that if we have a pattern of UNsleep, it continues and grows worse.... as in Less Sleep Begets Less Sleep iykwim...... I have to really encourage naps to keep her sleeping well at night bc when I let it go and dont nap her, her sleeping gets more restless and she wakes earlier, probably from being overtired. My ds is 4 and sleeps the same and sometimes more..... 730-8 to bed and up between 630-8am.... if dd doesnt wake him, that is.

[Amylcd]

My daughter sleeps 10-12 hours most nights

[hopesam]

My 2yr. old sleeps a ton. My family thinks its nuts that we let her sleep so much, but she seems to need it. She usually sleeps 10-11hrs. at night and has a 2-3hr. nap midday. It does seem like quite a lot of sleep to my husband and I as well. But i figure hey, this is her way and what suits her. She goes right down for bed and naptime. As I've found with most everything about raising my 2 girls, all children are so very different and they make sure they get what they need.

[Transitions]

My 24 month old son has always slept a lot. Right now he sleeps from 7pm to 6am, he does not get up at all in the night unless sick or teething. He sleeps 3-4 hours a day at naptime!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its kinda a pain in the butt cos when I want to go places I have to wait for him to wake up or either rush home from somewhere so he can nap or he is terrible.he needs his sleep!!!

[Cutie Patootie]

Ds is 2.6 years and sleeps 10-11 hours at night usually with one super brief waking or sometimes none and he takes a 1.5-2 hour nap at 11:30am. :D

[Leatherette]

My daughter turned 2 in November, and she sleeps about 11-12 hrs a night with two brief wake-ups, and 1-2 hours during the day.

It is wonderful - her older brother slept maybe nine hours at night then, with a wakeup or two, and was really hard to get down for naps, but when I did, he would sleep about an hour to one and a half hours. And he was always cheerful!! I was falling apart.....

L.

[mbhf]

my almost 3 year old sleeps 12 - 14 hours a night, every night. he is a total grump if he doesn't.

[mommamin]

DS usually sleeps 10 hours overnight (with several wake/nursings) and takes a 2-3 hour nap.

My DD does the same.

I think it is normal for them to sleep 12 hours still. If she doesn't get at least 12-14 hours of sleep total she breaks down terribly!

[MotheringHeart]

Oh yeah, we're the same way! DS turned 2 in September and he needs 12 hrs of sleep at night, or he's a mess. He was a terrible sleeper as an infant (wouldn't nap from the time he was about 3mths old) and has never really done napping well. He would nap during the day now, if I'd make him, but if he naps then he doesn't sleep at night, still wakes at seven the next morning and is a total mess! Sounds like your DD is doing what she needs to do and is getting the sleep she needs!