Naps at 2

[Lea_photo]

As the title suggests, how long does your 2yr old nap for at when?

Our Son is two at the end of March and goes to bed around 7pm. He goes to bed awake and self settles chattering away to himself. He will wake up about 6-6:30am typically.

He goes for a nap when he shows signs of tiredness, sometimes late morning or around lunchtime. He can sleep anywhere between 1-2hrs. I'm not sure if I need to start cutting this down. My Husband is of the opinion that he must need it but I dodnt want him to reply on a long sleep in the day then start playing up at bed time.

His childminder reckons kids have around 30min sleep at this age in the afternoon and that's enough as anything over they go into a deep sleep and take a lot of waking up

Any thoughts please ? :

 

[MrsS143]

Less than 30 or 90 mins is best if its the same as adults and REM
We sleep in cycles and have optimum wake up times
Anything more than 30 or less than about 90 means youre forcing them to wake too soon and can take a while to come round i think

 

[Lea_photo]

That's interesting thanks x

 

[Baby2sky]

My daughter just turned 2. She wakes around 6.30am and naps at 11 for approx an hour. I wouldn't let her sleep much longer than an hour tbh and not past 1. She goes to bed at 7.30ish xxx

 

[Lea_photo]

Thank you xx

 

[Rooster30]

Totally depends on your LO, and go by him. My son naps for 2 hours approximately between 12-2pm with bed time at 7pm. We let him sleep until 3pm if needs be as luckily for us it doesn't have a ripple effect on bedtime.

Personally I'd let him be. If he's doing okay, why change it?

 

[HL28]

I'd follow your Los lead. I think they're all different. My eldest needed a nap during the day until probably around 3, my 2nd stopped napping earlier and my 2 year old could probably have the occasional day when we miss a nap but over all still needs a sleep. I don't wake I let her sleep however long she needs. Roughly around an hour. And goes to bed 6.30/7. If she hadn't slept by 3 I wouldn't put her down for a nap maybe just an early night. X

 

[littlemonkey]

My LO is about the same age as yours with similar bed and wake times.

He's at the stage where he's showing signs of dropping his nap, but isn't quite ready to yet. He tends to nap less with the childminder because of how much is going on there. At home he naps in the cot where it's obviously comfier and quieter so naps longer. If he's been up early and wants a nap in the morning, I'll generally let him have an hour or two. I try not to let him have longer than an hour into the afternoon, and if it's after 3, I'll try to keep him up and put him down for the night earlier.

With the childminder he's lucky if he has half an hour these days, he just fights it so much there's. But the days he doesn't nap he is grouchy and hard work by home time, so he obviously still needs it even though he can manage without it.

 

[J_Anne]

My daughter is 2 in March. She goes to bed around 7.30pm, wakes anywhere between 7 & 8.30am then naps for about 2 hours, sometimes 3 from around 1pm. I we need her to stay awake, she will do but she'd be mega tired then. She loves her bed, always has done so I just follow her lead.

 

[Ella1979]

We just went with what my daughter needed. Sleep is so important when they're little. This: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Childrenssleep/Pages/howmuchsleep.aspx gives you an idea of how much sleep in total. Suggests daytime sleep of 1.25 hours and night time sleep of 11.75 hours for children of 2 years old. Obviously only a rough guide as LOs tend to know what their bodies need. My daughter would sleep for 1-2hrs after lunch at 2 years old, with a bedtime of 6pm and wake time of 6-6.30am.

 

[clairebear22]

My youngest is 2 in 9 days. For months now he has had an hours nap (i wake him) at 12.30ish after lunch. Any longer than an hour and he takes ages to fall asleep at night. Today I only gave him 40mins and he's been absolutely fine this afternoon so I'll keep him at 40 mins for now. However he starts pre-school on Monday afternoons after Easter from 12.30-3pm so I'm thinking of leaving him awake all day to see what he does. He sleeps 8-7 at night so if he can last without a nap all day I could bring bedtime forwards to 7pm? My eldest is 3 years 7 months and still needs a half hour nap every 3-4 days but he is special needs x

 

[Lea_photo]

Thanks ladies, really helpful xx

 

[Emily0505]

My lo turned two in August and does not nap in the day.

I think he still needs one myself, but he seems to think otherwise and just continually gets out of bed if I try and put him down.

I wish he would nap, even if it was just half and hour or so but nope!

He goes to bed between seven and eight and up between seven and eight the following morning.

XX