What time is bedtime? 2.5 Year old

wilabeth · August 2013

Do you enforce a "bed time" for your 2.5 year old? DS has always required less sleep than any other toddler I know. It's not unusual for him to stay up until 9:30 (rarely 10:00) at night. He's usually up between 6 & 6:30 in the morning. He takes 1 nap a day at daycare.

I'm 16 weeks pregnant with #2, and his lack of sleep is wearing me out. I'm ready for bed before he is. DS isn't grumpy/moody, etc. We turn the living room light out no later than 8:00 and have quiet time with a side lamp on. Read books, count, sing, practice colors.

EDWHIP · August 2013

We have an 8PM bedtime, but it's not strictly enforced. It's more to keep mom and dad on a schedule. We don't go to bed much later so a later bedtime for LO means a later bedtime for mom and dad. It seems to work out well and DD wakes around 7AM.

boggs507 · August 2013

DS is 2.5 and goes to bed at 8 and is woken up at 6 to leave for the day. He also still takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

On the weekends we're a little more lax about bedtime, but it's still usually no later than 8:30-9 depending on if we were out or not.

chardonnay24 · August 2013

He usually goes down between 8 and 9 and is up between 7:30 and 8:30.

carolyn02 · August 2013

DD goes to bed at 9, but usually doesn't fall asleep until 9:30-10. She wakes up anytime between 7 and 7:45ish. She gets 1 nap per day, usually beginning around 12:30. She doesn't always sleep, but we still make her lay down for at least 2 hours in order to keep her on the same schedule with daycare.

fancynewbeesly · August 2013

During the summer her bedtime has been later---just because we are usually out in the evenings. She also gets up at 7:30--as opposed to 6:30. She will play in her crib in the evenings. We try to put her in between 8:00-8:30. Sometimes she falls asleep right away sometimes she plays until 9 or so in the crib.

If she doesn't nap during the day bedtime is 7pm.

erbear · August 2013

During the school year, she's in bed between 7-7:30. I've beef pretty flexible this summer - anywhere from 7:30-9:30 depending on what we're doing.

She gets up around 8:30-9 in the summer instead of 6:30 during the school year.

RayRay007 · August 2013

DD usually goes to bed between 7-7:30. She's up b/w 6:30-7 and doesn't nap during the week at daycare. We are flexible though and let her stay up late if there's something going on. Also, I make her nap on weekends because I need the break!

TiffanyBerry · August 2013

Now that she'd dropped her nap, it's start the routine by 6:45, in bed by 7:15 (usually nurses to sleep by 7:30, but if not, she's up 'til 8:00, at least). When she still had a nap, it was start the routine at 7:00, in bed by 7:30, didn't nurse to sleep and wouldn't fall asleep until 8:30 or 9pm.

jaxxx15 · August 2013

Start routine at 7...in crib by 7:30

kaydee77 · August 2013

Bedtime is, and has always been, around 9:30, give or take a half hour. She wakes up around 645-7:45 most mornings. Sometimes she naps for 1-2 hours, sometimes no nap at all. This works for us right now, she's not in preschool yet and I stay home with her.

Gingersnap_mama · August 2013

My two girls are in bed by 7:30. Most nights they are ready for bed by 7. We are pretty strict with bedtime unless there's something going on, and DD1 doesn't always fall asleep right away (she will read books or quietly talk to herself), sometimes not until 8 or later depending on if she took a nap or not. We put blackout curtains in their room and that seems to help, especially in the summer. Both usually take a 1-2 hr. nap and are up at 7 or 7:30am.

memali26 · August 2013

Both of mine are in bed by 7:30-7:45, 8 at the latest, on a normal day. We are flexible for special occasions/events, but on an average day we are pretty strict with bedtime. They tend to be early risers - up around 6:30, even 6, so if they aren't in bed on time they're ridiculously cranky the next day.

TriciaandSean · August 2013

Bedtime is around 8. He's up around 7-7:30 on school days and around 8 on the weekends. At school he naps 2-2.5 hours and on the weekends he naps 3-4 hours. My boy loves and needs his sleep or he's a bear. If he's up late for a special occasion he'll sleep in the next morning, so we only let him stay up late if we don't have a commitment the next morning.

AimeeL85 · August 2013

Yes, DS is 2.5 also and goes to bed at 8pm. He does sometimes lay in bed awake for awhile and play/sing, but it's definitely the right bedtime for him. He wakes up at 6:30, on average, and takes one nap which averages 2 hours during the day.

ChelsiAnn13 · August 2013

EDWHIP said:
We have an 8PM bedtime, but it's not strictly enforced. It's more to keep mom and dad on a schedule. We don't go to bed much later so a later bedtime for LO means a later bedtime for mom and dad. It seems to work out well and DD wakes around 7AM.

Pretty much this.

kristennd · August 2013

We aim for starting the routine at 8:00. He usually isn't fully asleep until 10 or 10:30, however. He doesn't go to daycare so he wakes up on his own, anywhere from 6:30 to 9:00.

JulesDiane · August 2013

Bedtime became such a battle. I would try to get DD down at 8:30, but she would often be up until 10:30-11.. when I was trying to go to sleep. We finally ended up cutting out naps because bedtime was such a struggle. I miss nap time, but bedtime is a lot easier these days.

boogerbearoriginal · August 2013

Bedtime is 7p, which is the average time he's asleep. Routine is, we're usually in bed reading/relaxing/nursing between 6:30-6:45p. And he's asleep between 6:45-7:15p. Since we wake up around 6:30a, he needs to be in bed early to be adequately rested. On daycare days especially, I am very strict. Really every day it's best to for him to be in bed early, barring some special event.

My LO is very sleep driven, and when he gets too little sleep it really impacts his mood/behavior/eating/everything. He has always been on the high end of sleep needs, to this day between nighttime and nap he gets around 13-14hrs/day.

Sometimes we get hassled by in-laws about it, like we're forcing it on him or something. But my LO always welcomes bedtime/naps too so it's not like I'm "making" him sleep (as if that's possible?!). Really, it's about what's best for LO. When he was younger he'd go to bed around 6-6:30p so they really thought we were nuts then lol. But he needed 12+hrs at night on top of his naps. Some kids need more/less and everyone has different schedules. Since we're early risers with my work schedule, he's gone to bed early. For people who can sleep later they often go to bed later too. I don't think it really matters so long as LO is happy/healthy.

Vespah · August 2013

Bedtime is 7:30 almost always if we are home. If she has a bath we start the routine at 6:30, but if no bath we start at 7. She sleeps straight through the night and wakes up anytime between 6 and 7.

sugarbear0524 · August 2013

@Booger+Bear, you must get off work a lot earlier than I do. Most nights, I'm not even home with my son until 6:00. Then he and hubby are hungry, there's dinner to prepare, DS's bath, some playtime, etc. I'm lucky to have DS in bed by 8:30 or 9:00. It sure makes for a short evening after that for chores, dinner dishes, etc.

RachieTK · August 2013

We do bath from 6:20-6:35, milk and a tv show until 6:55, brush teeth, books til 7:20 and in bed. Some days he is asleep right away, other nights he rolls around and songs until almost 8. We rarely put him down late- we skip bath and his tv show if we're out, but try to gt him down on time.

MNgirl326 · August 2013

2 things- LO goes to bed around 7:30 and has for a year and a half at this point. He gets up around 6 to go to daycare

Also I accidently flagged the OP while scrolling through on my phone and can't seem to unflag it. Sorry OP it was totally an accident.

Lhyacinth888 · August 2013

DS goes to bed at 7:30 every night and at the latest 8 on special occasions or due to other things. He gets up anywhere from 7-8. He naps about 2 1/2 hours during the day.

KissyFishyLips · August 2013

We do bedtime for both girls (2.5 and 1) in the 7pm hour. We put the little one to bed first, then allow DD1 to play in her room with us for a bit (and unwind) before we tuck her in. She generally stays in her bed and reads or plays with her animals before falling asleep. She gets up anywhere between 7:30-9:00am.

PunkyBooster · August 2013

Yes. Bedtime is between 730 and 8. He has to be in bed by 8.

He's up between 7 and 730 and he naps about 2.5 to 3 hours a day.

We were just on vacation in NYC and I did not enforce a strict bedtime but he was pretty worn out at 830 and was only napping for an hour in the stroller.

finallymom16 · August 2013

I have gone a completely different route than most moms in this post. I work night shift, 6p to 6a On the weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. My DD typically goes to bed anywhere from 11pm to 1:30 am. Rises from 9am to 12 pm and takes a nap around 5-6pm. This works for me because of my work schedule. Obviously if we have days where she doesn't have naps she will go to bed earlier, but typically the earliest would be 10:30pm.

k_warren8 · August 2013

My is just 24ths but she goes to bed at 9:30pm-9am and no nap during the day. Works for us

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