Bedtime for 2.5 yr old

Cunning Stunt

Hi all,
What would you consider to be a suitable bedtime for a 2.5 year old, who gets up at 6-ish and also naps 2 hours from noon til 2 pm...? Thanks

LegacyUser

My two year old currently goes to bed about 7:45. She wakes at 6:30 and has the same nap as yours. I'm also pondering this, as anything I read suggests that they should actually be in bed by 8 at the latest. I'd love her to sleep later in the morning but so far nothing I have tried makes that happen (including a later bedtime).

dori_dormer

Depends how much sleep you think he needs? What time is he going down at now?

My 2.5 yr old goes up at 7.30, falls asleep anywhere between 8-9. Mostly closer to 8. Up usually between 6.45 and 7.30. But once a week could sleep til 8.30. So average 11 hrs at night. Naps 2-3 hrs during the afternoon.

I think it's recomended for them to get around 14 hrs total at that age but each child is different.
He'll be starting a new playschool in a few weeks which will mean he'll have to be up at 7.30 sharp and have a strict 1.5 HR nap, so I think he may need an earlier bed time.

cyning

My almost 2.5 year old if she gets no nap wakes at 7/730 and goes to bed at 7. If she naps for ten minutes it will be 9/10 o clock going to sleep... She slept for an hour from 1030 to 1130 in childminders yesterday... And didn't go to sleep until 1130. And woke at 715 this morn. It's a really tough age I think...

Roesy

My 2.5 year old doesn't nap. She gets up at 7.15/30 and goes to bed at 7/7.15. Usually asleep by 7.30.

John Mason

my 2.5 goes asleep at 730pm and is up at 6am on the button.

he sleeps for 1.5 - 2 hours in creche.

i notice h is exhausted in the mornings, so am going to try to push his bed time back to 630pm

Cunning Stunt

Thanks for the replies. He goes up between 7 and 8, and judging by the responses this seems normal enough - but no matter how tired he looks, something just switches on in his head when he gets into his bed, and he can take an hour or more to go to sleep.

holding

My just gone 3 year old goes to sleep at 8pm and wakes at 7am, he hasn't napped in daytime since about 18 months old I think.

plopflop

About 7.30pm

ShaShaBear

My wee girl is 2 so a bit younger but she goes to bed at 6pm, 6.30pm if she needs a bath, and sleeps until 9am. No naps during the day. I used to nap her from about 2 until 4 and put her to bed at 8pm but she was like an unmerciful weasel after her nap so I cut it out completely. Her head barely sees her pillow before she conks now

Cunning Stunt

Yeah perhaos we need to cut down or cut out the nap, but the days that he has gone without a nap have seen him turn into a little monster by late afternoon and it doesnt help him get to sleep any faster at bedtime

holding

If our guy falls asleep during the day, he wouldn't go to bed at night til 11 or so. At the start we mitigated 'monster time' by having quiet time, crafty things or stories etc that absorbed him until dinner. After dinner, it took so long to do 'the bedtime machine' (bath, stories, all the tiny things he suddenly wanted because it was nearly bedtime) that that took up at least another hour, hour and a half then.

Coopaloop

My almost two and a half year old goes up to bed between seven and half seven, sleeps through till about half seven or eight in the morning, and goes for a nap around half eleven or twelve till around two. I find that when he doesn't get his nap during the day it's harder for him to sleep at night, and usually has quite j restless sleep because of it.
But every child is different, yours seems to be getting the right amount.

livinsane

Mine is 2yrs 8mths. Bedtime 7-7.30 and waking anytime from 6.30-7.30. Currently wakes once during the night, around 2.30am. Even a two minute nap during the day means he's not going to sleep before 10pm.
At the moment, I could put him down for the night at 6.30pm as he is wrecked from the heat but I suppose a child napping wouldn't be as tired at that time.

moving_home

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. He goes up between 7 and 8, and judging by the responses this seems normal enough - but no matter how tired he looks, something just switches on in his head when he gets into his bed, and he can take an hour or more to go to sleep.

Sounds like he's overtired. Overtiredness causes the brain to create cortisol which inhibits the production of melatonin (sleep hormone). I'd try putting him up earlier and see.

dori_dormer

It may be more to do with your routine rather than the timing perhaps?

We only bath twice a week as it makes him hyper before bed. We do the same thing every night too. Teeth, milk, 2 stories, lights out. I sing two nursery rhymes and leave him to it.

The nights he picks a non noisey car to bring to bed with him the faster he goes asleep funnily enough.

Also if his nap is too short, or doesn't happen hes bouncing around the place til 11 or later. It's a fine balance for each child!

Also there's absolutely no tv past 5 o clock, not even adult shows in the background. I've heard doing crafts, reading, jigsaws etc before bed helps wind down the mind too.

Could also be dinner, if he eats right before bed he may have trouble going to sleep before its digested, or too far from bedtime he might be hungry again?

tickingclock

Reading all the replies really shows how every baby and toddler are different and every family life is different.
We struggled for months to get bed time earlier than 10. Thankfully once she walked a year ago she exhausts herself!! She's 2 years 5 months and sleeps from 8.30pm-8.30am. She has a 45-60 min sleep about 1pm. She would be impossible to manage if she didn't have it. I find it recharges my energy and enthusiasm with her also.

The_Chap

Our girl must be a sleep monster reading some of these, in bed and asleep by 8-8.30, never awake before 8 and most mornings have to wake her, and she has at least 2 hours nap around 1pm

galah

We have the anti sleep monster here...2.5 as well, goes to bed around 7.30 but is up anytime between 5 and 6. we have tried absolutely everything, he just wakes up that early. Used to be 4.30 for a while, which nearly broke me.

Whereas our firstborn at that age would have slept from 6 to 6. (can't sleep longer than 6.30 anyway as we have to go to work...)

threescompany

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. He goes up between 7 and 8, and judging by the responses this seems normal enough - but no matter how tired he looks, something just switches on in his head when he gets into his bed, and he can take an hour or more to go to sleep.

Hi
We had two sleep consultants because of serious sleep problems with one of kids ( another story) . Anyway the rule of thumb at this age is: back in bed 4-5 hours after last nap. Therefore if your child is waking at 2pm. They should be ASLEEP by 7pm. He is probably overtired if he's going up the stairs anytime after 7pm. I'd aim to be putting on PJ's, teeth, stories etc for 6.30 & sleep by 7. I would think he'll settle quicker.

mirrorwall14

threescompany wrote: »

Hi
We had two sleep consultants because of serious sleep problems with one of kids ( another story) . Anyway the rule of thumb at this age is: back in bed 4-5 hours after last nap. Therefore if your child is waking at 2pm. They should be ASLEEP by 7pm. He is probably overtired if he's going up the stairs anytime after 7pm. I'd aim to be putting on PJ's, teeth, stories etc for 6.30 & sleep by 7. I would think he'll settle quicker.

Can I ask about a 16 month old if you know anything? He seems to be trying to transition to one epic 3hr nap but is very tired coming up to that and bed time so I'm confused. Bedtime is asleep by 7 up between 6-7 generally

mdwexford

22 month old

Wake up - 9.30am

Nap 1pm - 2.30pm

Bedtime - 8.30pm

Grand job

bp

The sleep consultant we used (brilliant) said anything after 6am is a person's natural wake up time - body clock, but since modern humans have different lifestyles but no one informed babies.

My 3 year old is in bed by 7.30 and asleep by 8 at the latest. 14 month old by 7. Anything after 6pm we were told could be bed time but no later than 7-30 (for baby) and if later move bed time by 5 minutes each night.

And a new routine can take up to 10 days so to be consistent and wait them out

uck51js9zml2yt

Mine sleeps just before lunch for a few hours . Is then up to bed by 630 and asleep by 730.
My 5 year old is in bed at 730 asleep by 8.

Weyhey

moving_home wrote: »

Sounds like he's overtired. Overtiredness causes the brain to create cortisol which inhibits the production of melatonin (sleep hormone). I'd try putting him up earlier and see.

My 16 month old is exactly like that. If I put him down late even by 40 mins he takes hours to get to sleep and may wake during the night.

My 4 year old at 2.5 was having a bath at 6.15 and bed straight after to be asleep 7ish, up 7ish the next morning, 2 hour nap during the day. At 4 she still goes to bed 7ish (doesn't have a bath every night) and is asleep in 10 mins but she no longer naps and can wake 6.30 - 7ish.

Moonbeam

My 2 year old has decided that she is "no not going to bed,it is not bedtime" despite all the siblings already being asleep!!
I think she likes to stay up to say Hi to daddy then insists it is my bedtime too.

brock92

We had to stop nap time when he was 2, was taking hours to get him asleep.
He is now 2.5 and goes to sleep around 7:30. Only takes a few minutes.
Usually sleeps until 6am or sometimes later.