Toddlers Wake Up Before the Nap Schedule Makes Sense

“My little dude is almost 13 mos and has been going to sleep independently since about 10 mos. My husband lays with him in bed and he has a little routine and then he goes to sleep without being rocked or milk. But for naps, I still needs to rock him and give him milk. When I try to replicate it the bedtime routine for naps, my LO pops up like a groundhog and thinks its playtime. Has anyone else experienced something like this? What did you do? How do I help my LO go to sleep independently for na”

“I’m a FTM. Am I doing something wrong, or is this still normal and okay at this age? Baby turns 10 months old next week, and we are still struggling with sleep. Every day, we wake up around 4:30 AM. She takes one good nap from 8 AM - 9:30 AM(ish) and another nap from 2 PM - 3:30 PM(ish). We start bedtime at 6:30, and she’s typically asleep in her crib around 7:15. Most nights, she will wake once to eat around midnight and that’s it. Occasionally she will sleep through the night entirely (has hap”

“I’ve always supported my son to sleep. As a newborn that was nursing and rocking, and now that he’s older I lay with him until he falls asleep. He is a little over 2. The problem is it takes almost an hour at nap time and bedtime. If I get up when he’s 90% asleep, he will wake up and immediately cry for me to lay down. I didn’t mind the cuddles so much before, but now we have a newborn I need to tend to and I can’t leave her alone or not able to attend to her for 2 hours out of the day. It would”

“I’m wondering if she’s ready to drop naps. On days she skips her nap, she’s generally happy and sleeps around 8:45 PM to 8:15- 8:30 AM. When she naps, even for 30 mins or 1.5 hours, bedtime gets pushed past 10 PM. My only concern is that she sometimes gets cranky around 7–8 PM on no-nap days, and I can’t tell if she’s overtired or if it’s just normal toddler behavior. Mixed bag. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Did your toddlers drop naps around this age? Did you stop offering naps completely or let them nap when they s”

“Hi everyone, im not typically the type to turn to the strangers for advice but im kinda whooped and need some advice. I have twin 3 year old boys. They sleep in their own room right next door to mine but did spend a stint from 1.5-2.25yo where they slept on their bed in my room. They have no problem sleeping in their room, so long as im in there. Our routine is this : bath, tv/snack time, brush teeth, go potty, then were off to bed, story time as they go to sleep. Problem arrises while they are”

“I heard of the 4 month regression - is that it? He was sleeping so well just 2 days ago. From 8pm-4am-ish and consistent naps. Then suddenly the next day: I lay him down and he wakes up about 20 minutes later. I even let him contact nap which usually results in a 2-3 hour nap and he wakes up maybe 45 minutes later MAX, usually more like 20-30. Now also at night he started waking like in his newborn days: if I'm lucky I get a 3 hour stretch at the beginning, getting shorter as the night goes”

“Baby is 12 months. She’s been on two naps for a long time now. 10-12 and 3-5. 10-12 is always consistently 2 hours. When did your baby go down to one nap? What made you switch? I can’t tell if I am going to like the one nap schedule better or mourn two naps. She’s a great sleeper so I enjoy those two blocks I get during the day! submitted by /u/Common-Surround-9841 [link] [comments]”

“I have a very active 18 mo. She really struggles to power down for nap time. I've tried everything such as reading books, singing lullabies, making the room as calm as possible, giving her a stuffie. Everything seems to stimulate and excite her more. For example, if I choose to sing songs to her it just excites her and she starts singing with me, getting up and dancing and kicking her legs like a crazy girl. I don't think it's a timing issue as I can tell she's tired, she's r”

“Hi dads, My 4yo has sleep patterns that I find a bit concerning, looking for your take. I give him a bath from like 6:30-6:45. Read him a story, hug, and lights out around 7:15pm. Wife gets him up around 7am. Sounds normal, ideal even? Here's the thing: the guy has a Yoto player and seems to listen to it at least half the night. Almost any time I get up to pee at 2am-4am I hear it going in his room. When I leave for the gym at 5am it's going. We have a camera and when we review the foota”

“Our 2.5yo has been a great napper up till about 2 weeks ago. He would consistently nap from about 1pm to between 3&4pm. 2 weeks ago he suddenly had two days where he didn't ever fall asleep during his nap time. He sang, talked to himself, and played with his stuffies. We took all the stuffies but his one very special stuffy out of his bed and made a point to make sure he gets some really active play during the morning. We also shifted nap time 30m later and made 1pm quiet wind down time”

“I have a 15 week old baby girl. Her bed time has been around 10 pm but I have been trying to move it up to 7-8 pm. So instead of a last nap I start the bedtime routine. It’s not going well at all. She’s having trouble falling asleep, waking up after falling asleep before we even get near the bassinet, and if we do get her down into the bassinet she wakes up and it takes up to 4 tries to successfully get her down. And it ends up taking until 10 pm anyway. FYI- in the day she only contact naps but”

“Since my son was 13 months hes been doing one nap for about 1.5 hours at 11am ish. He used to be in bed asleep by 7pm and up at 6:30am (11.5hours), broken though since we cosleep and is still breastfed although I know he's doing it more for comfort now. Often times he stirs and doesn't even want boob for comfort. I don't know why he wakes up so often (e.g. 10pm sooking crying or feed, 1am, 3am, 4am). Recently he's been more tired and napping for 2.5hours in the day (both of us lo”

“I have an 8mo who is taking a 1.5hr+ (I cap it if it goes much over 1.5hrs) first nap & only 20m second nap. Problem is that he is very cranky in that last wake window before bed and I feel like a longer nap there would help. My baby’s schedule is roughly: 2.75/3.25/4.5 7:30am - Wake 10:15am - ~11:45 - Nap 1 3pm - ~3:20 - Nap 2 8pm - Asleep for Night I have tried playing with the nap times, but nothing seems to work. Ideally, I feel like he should nap 1hr in the AM and 1hr in PM. Roughly? Ho”

“My 11 month old (just turned 11 months) seems to nap a LOT better with a 4 hr wake window before their first nap recently. Over the weekend, naps were 1.25-1.5 hrs long with that set up. The second wake window was actually shorter than the first one, maybe 3.5 hrs? And third was about 3.5-4 as well. Has anyone experienced this? submitted by /u/SmellTheCreosote [link] [comments]”

“My 7M baby boy is still on three naps, total daytime sleep of 2.5 hrs. He can only happily stay awake for about an hour before he starts getting fussy and rubbing his eyes. When hour 2 starts, he will whine and eventually cry if I leave him to play independently. When I play with him, he will giggle and pout, giggle and pout, I'll give him toys but he gets bored every 2-3 minutes and start crying. It will keep going on like this until I pick him up and hold him. I've tried going outside”

“Title. He typically wakes up a little bit after we do, but usually he's still a little sleepy when he wakes, so we'll make him some breakfast and then he'll take his morning nap around 10 Then, religiously, he takes a nap around 4:30pm, eats dinner, plays for a couple hours, then is out around 9pm. This is pretty religious for him but it's starting to worry me because I feel like many other toddlers at his age are down to one nap long before this age. We got his hb checked at his”

“I’m SO exhausted from my toddler’s (2 year old) sleep. 😭 She has always been a terrible sleeper, but I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. Bedtime can take 1–2 hours (same for nap) and she fights sleep like it’s her full-time job. 😭Her total sleep is often only 9–10 hours in 24 hours, and she can stay awake for ridiculously long periods if I don’t actively make her sleep like 18 hours! The problem is, she can stay awake… but she becomes extremely miserable, whiny and irritable. I can’t ju”

“My daughter is 27 months old and has always napped great, usually naps for about 1.5-2 hours. She would typically fall asleep for a nap around 12:30-1:30. This past week has been terrible. She either won't nap or takes forever to fall asleep for a nap. Now if we're lucky to get her to fall asleep it's around 3 or 4pm. She's either really cranky because she doesn't get a nap or she struggles to fall asleep at night because she naps so close to bed time. I read that usually kid”

“Basically what the title says. My 12mo won’t let me put her to sleep. She will fight it for an hour and some change. Literally just babbles and rolls around and doesn’t want to go to bed even if she’s tired. If I put her down in her crib awake or drowsy, she’ll wake and start screaming. Literally inconsolable. On the other hand, dad can get her down no problem. 15 min and done. I’m honestly heartbroken. This has coincided with a return to busier work where I’m sometimes traveling or at the offic”

“My 11 month old has been on a two nap schedule since about 8 months old. His first nap has reliably been at least an hour. Suddenly this last week he is waking after half an hour and refusing to go back to sleep. His first wake window was 3 hours, so I’ve tried lengthening it to 3:30 and 3:45 and still, he’s waking after half an hour. And he still seems tired, but he mostly just screams at me when I try to resettle him. Second nap has always only been 30 minutes. Is it maybe just time to move to”

“Hi, we have an allmost 18 month old, and sleep is still a challege… She has a sleep schedule where she does a 2 hour nap (max, usually a bit less), and then we put her in bed around 8 in the evening. we wake her up at 7am. she falls asleep independently, without crying. Most of the time. We’ve limited her sleep time, and almost always wake her up. Not doing so results in loooong stretches awake time at night. However, almost every night she wakes up once or twice, needing help. And on top of tha”

“Low sleep needs 18 month old. We spend SO much time outdoors. Which has been easy with summertime. He has so much energy to burn off and we still only average about 10.25-10.5H of total sleep in 24H. I am truly worried about what we will do now that it’s dark earlier in the morning and night with fall/winter season. So curious what unique or novel things other parents are doing to keep their kiddos occupied. We have a great pool nearby, we have a gymnastics space but they no longer offer evening”

“Hello! I have 2 boys, a 2 year old and a 1 year old (24 months). With my first, I sleep trained him and It went decently well. Mostly because he had a sibling on the way so I didn’t have much choice. With my second one though, I haven’t sleep trained him at all. He’s exclusively breastfeeding and cosleeping. He’s always been put to sleep and 90% of the time he’s held by me when he sleeps. He can be put down in the crib but only really lasts for a 30 minute nap and then freaks out. I tried a coup”

“Google says most kids stop napping between 3-4 years old, but I’m nearly at my wits end with my 2.5 year old. Most nights it’s a battle to get her to sleep- on average about an hour after story time and lights out. She sleeps well once she’s out- average 12 hours per night (8ish to 8ish) I’ve tried moving naps earlier in the day, but even then sometimes it takes forever to get her to sleep. We’ve had a lot of upheaval in the family lately- we have a new baby (2 month old) and my dad is having he”

“My son recently turned 12 months and he stopped taking his naps becoming extra fussy and crying constantly unless we hold him. He usually had a daytime nap after his breakfast, and a mid afternoon nap. He’s a great sleeper at night from 7 pm-7 am. I’m at a loss for what to do. The only thing thats changed since is my husband’s parents are staying with us to visit and help with baby #2 due next month. It’s been a little over a week since the naps have stopped. submitted by /u/nydelite”

Yall please. Why won’t this freaking kid take a freaking nap? it’s freaking 2:30 in the afternoon and he freaking woke up at 6:30 in the freaking morning and he’s not even…

“My 3 year old wakes up at 530. What age can we let him be unsupervised in the house in the AM so we can sleep? Fully baby proofed. I know it’s not now but I’m just wondering submitted by /u/Happy-Appearance-252 [link] [comments]”

“We are currently following two 1 hour naps and 11 hours night sleep. Sometimes it will be one 2 hour nap since she wakes up in the middle of the night to play and gets up late in the morning and there isn’t much time in between naps. From last few days she is waking up very frequently during the night, like once every hour. Need to breastfeed her and sometimes rock to put her back to sleep. Sometimes she becomes active and plays for 1-2 hours before going back to sleep. Yesterday she woke up at”

“signed, a tired pregnant toddler mom who is dreaming of the day I’ll get to sleep in past 6:30 again (I know when they start school they have to wake up early anyway but even an occasional weekend lie in sounds amazing) edit: thanks everyone I now have no hope submitted by /u/No_Hamster880 [link] [comments]”

“My daughter is 13 months old so we are starting to get to the stage where we want to go out and do fun things. She is on 1 nap a day which is usually 12-2pm. We’ve found that a lot of activities that would be fun to do, either start too late before her naptime, are during her nap time or we would want to spend more time there rather than rushing back for 12pm. She RARELY sleeps in the pushchair now, she is far too interested in what else is going on, so her napping while we are out is not really”

“We have always had trouble with our eldest child and bedtime. When she was 6 months old we did sleep training which was excruciating but worked eventually. At 2 years old she started to have trouble falling asleep alone again and we’ve tried various things over the years, none of which have worked. Rewards, check ins, walking her back every time, the chair shuffle, you name it. She’s now almost 8. After our youngest child goes to bed (swiftly and easily!) our entire evening is dedicated to getti”

“I feel like I'm fighting for my life every day just to get an hour nap. I've tried so many things. Increased wake windows- giving her 4 or 5 hours after she wakes up to try for a nap thinking she might be transitioning to one nap. Increased morning and afternoon activity- we go outside, we go to the museum and aquarium to run around, story times etc etc. Given tylenol in case it's teething. Car rides- she fights it and fights it. She won't even let me rock her to sleep. I've”

“I have a 10 month old who goes to bed decently at her first nap but is starting to take a while in her second, even after pushing it back 15 mins. She’s is already a low sleep needs baby at night. I’m wonder if I should try the shift and if so what were your wake windows and how long was the nap?? SOS🙃 submitted by /u/Sahdealmbsy [link] [comments]”

“I have a 2 year old who takes a nap from 12:30-2:45 and a 6 month old baby who is probably close to dropping to 2 naps, likely from 10-11:30 and 2:30-4. Which puts us at basically 6 straight hours where at least one of them is sleeping. From those who experienced that, does it suck? I’m not sure how we’re going to do anything on the weekends. submitted by /u/ElectronicYoghurt258 [link] [comments]”

“Can someone please give me a general guideline of a good nap/eat schedule for a 9-10 month old? I'm so confused because I read wake windows are supposed to be around 3-3.5 hours now but he's also supposed to have milk every 4 hours. How is this possible when the times overlap? He's always been a terrible napper and we dont have a consistent schedule, which I think is part to blame. Currently he wakes up around 7:45am every morning and has his last milk feed around 7:45pm (asleep by 8”

“What are we doing for naps? Are we following a schedule? Wake windows? Sleep cues? How strict are you about it capping the nap? submitted by /u/Melodic_Debt_8034 [link] [comments]”

“We are night owls and my LO started out going to bed at 11 pm - 12 am each night. She now goes to bed at 10:30 pm at 15 weeks old. I work from home and prefer she doesn't wake up for the day before 9:30 am. I generally have to wake her up each day at 9:30 am (2-4 nighttime wakes) she would sleep as long as I let her though as she will generally always go back to bed as long as we feed her. I think she may be going to the regression because she recently jumped from 2 nighttime wake ups to 3/4”

“We’re in a pretty good spot with my four year where our bedtime routine is only about 15 minutes. But, it’s still stressful that I’m going to take one wrong step and screw it up. So, what age do bedtime routines fade and they just do it themself? I have no memory of when that started when I was a kid. submitted by /u/BGG498 [link] [comments]”

“If I let him sleep however long he wants in the morning, then he usually puts up a fight for me for his afternoon nap. Takes a really long time for him to fall asleep. So long that he eventually starts getting into the timing territory where I don’t let him sleep any longer or else bedtime will be pushed back a bunch. He’s only 9 months old so I know he’s not ready for one nap a day. submitted by /u/throwaway84583077 [link] [comments]”

“I swear everytime I try to wake up before my kids they can sense me!! I woke up at 5 to get some alone time before my kids (2.5 & 5m) woke up and low & behold my toddler was downstairs ready to party at 5:30am! Then my baby minutes after. How are you getting ANY time to yourself?? submitted by /u/Normal-Mixture7290 [link] [comments]”

“We thought that it would be great if our four year old son stopped having a nap during daytime, but he really seems to need it. We tried to enforce non-nap-days, but he just falls asleep after lunch then. The few times he has no nap, he gets quite irritated. At the same time, he is the only child in his peer group of his age who still naps every single day. Anyway, if there are studies on optimal nap times for toddlers, I would be interested in getting to know more information about this topic.”

“We are striving hard for 8-8:30 but usually end up somewhere around 8:30 to 9. I’ve spoken to other parents and they are strict 6-7pm and I can’t fathom it. Between activities and WFH it just doesn’t feel possible. They are both up by 7:30, it will absolutely be earlier with school starting for the older one in a few days. I feel like a failure on that front. Trying to implement better routines but the day truly just gets away. I’d love to hear others bedtimes and your overall routine. sub”

“We dropped to one nap at around 11months as it really seemed like he was ready to drop the second nap. The first week was a complete success with him taking one 3 hour nap. After that, his sleep went to shit and I’m lost as to what to do. He was waking up around 4-5 am but then I would nurse him and he’d go down till7/7:30 sometimes. In the last few days I put him down for bed early at like 7 pm and that has seemed to fix the early wake ups. Now he sleeps till 6:30am, sometimes 7. I’ve been putt”

“Okay dads, I’ve got about 2.5 months to sleep train our son. We have a nearly 4-year-old who sleeps like an absolute angel. And then we have our 16-month-old, who wakes up basically every hour almost every night. Bedtime is around 7:30 PM, and he has one nap during the day. We’ve tried a few things, but somehow he keeps waking up every hour until we go to bed around 11 PM. The moment we put him between us, he sleeps like a rock for the rest of the night. Now here’s the important part: GTA VI rel”

“My 3 year old wakes up in the middle of the night, every night ADVICE NEEDED. I’m losing my mind. My son turned 3 in July. A couple months before that, we had transitioned him from a crib to a big boy bed-the transition was totally fine and he slept great still. He had always been a good sleeper. We also gave him a monster jam room instead of his Winnie the Pooh baby room, but we didn’t change the layout of his room. Just the decor. However, we did notice his bed time was getting later and later”

“From 13 months on my son was sleeping through the night and even putting himself to sleep for naps and bed time no issue. An hour nap, bed time at 9pm wake at 8-9 am. He hit 20 months and he WILL NOT go to sleep until 1am most nights, even waking in the middle of the night. He is now 23 months and nothing has changed. He sleeps in a twin floor bed (has since 18 months and was just fine the 2 months before this happened). We have the same bed time routine of bath and then bed. Same hour nap (he n”

“My kiddo turns 2 next in about two weeks. Lately she has been protesting her naps and is exhausted by the end of the day (7ish) and makes the bedtime routine harder. Out of a 7 day week she probably naps 3 days and it’s driving me crazy! Is this just a normal sleep regression! Anyone else deal with this? Any tips? Thank you!! Sincerely a tired momma 😂 submitted by /u/Every-Guard-8936 [link] [comments]”

“I’m looking for some advice from other parents because I’m struggling to figure this out. My son is 1 year old and he falls asleep just fine at his mom’s house and when he’s with his babysitter. But whenever he’s at my house, he absolutely fights sleep. He’ll be tired, rubbing his eyes, yawning, etc., but once I try to put him down, he wants nothing to do with it. Right now, the only reliable way I can get him to fall asleep is by taking him for a car ride , which obviously isn’t ideal every tim”

“17 month old woke up at 5 am after sleeping til 7:30/8/8:30 the last 4 days. She’s been on one nap, but what do I do now?? How do I still make this a one nap day? Or is that impossible? Her wake windows are 6/5 Bedtime was 8:20 Her naps are usually around 1hr 20/1.5hr Update: I got her to sleep at 7:40-8:40 so hopefully she can make it to her nap time This felt like a split night that happened early in the morning submitted by /u/Kaykers97W [link] [comments]”

“I have an almost 3 year old and a 14 month old. I have noticed lately that the 3-5ish (from when they wake up from nap until dad gets home) window of time is consistently difficult for me as a SAHM. Those two hours feel like a full day 😅 Looking for any routines, tips, tricks, etc. submitted by /u/amw0526 [link] [comments]”

“What time do people try and get their 18 months olds to nap for? We usually aim for 11am and he sleeps for about an hour but just wanted to hear what other people do. He won’t nap for longer than an hour or so which is fine so he’s up by 12/12:30 and bedtime at 7 submitted by /u/AdDramatic3552 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone, just wanted to check, is a toddler at 20 months supposed to have a more or less fixated nap time (say around 12pm start and 2pm wake up) every day? I ask bcuz I’m trying to squeeze in 1 hour of zoom meetings daily for my job, when he’s having his nap! and I wonder if there’s a way to make his nap time happen at fixated times so I don’t have to pause my meetings to attend the baby. At the moment it looks very irregular… I wfh and husband needs to go on site to his company 4 days out”

“Hi everyone, just wanted to check, is a toddler at 20 months supposed to have a more or less fixated nap time (say around 12pm start and 2pm wake up) every day? I ask bcuz I’m trying to squeeze in 1 hour of zoom meetings daily for my job, when he’s having his nap! and I wonder if there’s a way to make his nap time happen at fixated times so I don’t have to pause my meetings to attend the baby. At the moment it looks very irregular… I wfh and husband needs to go on site to his company 4 days out”

“I’m an RECE and for a large part of my working career, putting kids down for naps from 0-4 was a big part of my job description. I was trained by people who laughed when parents asked for naps to be cut. “Every child deserves a right to nap-they’re putting them down to bed at night too early”. Or “they simply don’t want to parent after work, and they want them right to sleep. It’s awful.” This is a major mindset in the RECE/ECE field, the second they hear issues about cutting naps, and struggles”

“I’m an RECE and for a large part of my working career, putting kids down for naps from 0-4 was a big part of my job description. I was trained by people who laughed when parents asked for naps to be cut. “Every child deserves a right to nap-they’re putting them down to bed at night too early”. Or “they simply don’t want to parent after work, and they want them right to sleep. It’s awful.” This is a major mindset in the RECE/ECE field, the second they hear issues about cutting naps, and struggles”

“I'm setting here contemplating what I could do differently and would like some tips. Basic info: My LO 2 years old goes to bed at 19:30 (prep from 19:00 ish) and normally sleeps until 08:00 next morning. She sleeps about 1,5-2 hours at daycare. Sometimes it can take maximum an hors for her to sleep but usually 15-30 min. Today we woke up at normal time, slept 1 hour and 45 min at daycare from 12:00-13:45. Had a normal day without any change in our routine except her never falling asleep. She”

“Hey Everyone, I’m looking for some help. My son is 2 years and 9 months old. He’s wonderful, but when we try to get him to bed it’s something my wife and I dread every night. Typically, it’s a 1:30- 2 hour process starting with a bath at 7 - 7:30, then we read two books in his bedroom. We’ll give him a bottle of milk and then shut the lights off and sit in a chair by his bed. After a little bit, he’ll say he wants more milk or has to use the bathroom. Once we take him to the bathroom and he’ll r”

“My son is 6 months old and he is a decent night sleeper but he fights every single nap and will only sleep 30 mins at a time. He is still taking like 4 naps a day bc theyre so short somwtimes only 20 mins. The only way I can get him to sleep longer is on my and I have to put him back to sleep after 30 or 40 mins. I work from home so I need this time back. I try to put him down and it is instant wake up wont go back to sleep. Please dont say dark room and sound machine I understand how this shoul”

“My son is turning 6 months old on 2 days. Sleeps 10.5 hours through the night usually. Wakes around 5:30am. Anywhere from 26-30oz of formula during the day. Age appropriate wake windows (2 hrs or more first window, then 2 hrs 15-2 hrs 30 for rest of the day). Past 3 weeks he has been waking up SCREAMING bloody murder around 3:45am. I mean, losing his mind. It takes over an hour for him to conk back out. We tried teething drops, cold teether, a bottle, paci, everything. Nothing helps until he dec”