Tips From Experts: How Much Sleep Do Toddlers Need?

As your toddler grows, the average sleep time will be reduced. To give you an average idea, for a 2 years old toddler – total sleep time is 13 hours comprised of around 1 hour of nap time and 12 hours of nighttime sleep. Whereas a 3 years old toddler will sleep for around 12 hours, a 1-year-old will sleep for more than 13 hours in his/her convertible crib.

The above estimate is just an average which will definitely vary among toddlers due to various factors like physical and environmental issues. So, if you notice a slight difference, you have nothing to worry about.

In most of the cases, toddler sleeps throughout the night but it is very common that some toddlers won’t. Luckily, the sleep pattern of most of the toddlers is common. So, this article will help you understand the sleep cycle of your toddler along with some helpful tips.

Is Your Toddler Sleep Deprived?

Sleeping 12 or 13 hours is not a hard and fast rule. All you need to make sure whether your toddler is getting enough sleep. Sleeping enough has a direct relationship to the mental and physical growth of your toddler.

But how can you tell whether your toddler is getting enough sleep?

Sadly, your toddler can’t tell you whether she is having enough sleep. As a parent, you need to figure it out. Luckily, there are some symptoms observing them can help you understand whether your toddler is having enough sleep.

Does your toddler sleep in the car? Or maybe she needs waking in the morning? There are other symptoms like if your baby is irritable during the day or she keeps rubbing her eyes and yawn but is not willing to sleep. All are the symptoms of not having enough sleep.

If your toddler is sleep deprived, you should observe any of the above symptoms. But don’t get overly tensed. It’s quite okay and a lot of toddlers have the same trouble. Most of the time your toddler will catch up the deprived sleep of one night in the next night.

A well developed and well-maintained sleep routine will help your toddler to have enough sleep in the long run.

How To Ensure Enough Sleep For Toddler?

As I said above, if you notice an irregularity in the sleep cycle of your toddler, you should develop a sleep routine. Gradually try to make your toddler habituated with the routine.

A traditional but effective sleep routine for the toddler should be something like this:

Wake up from the toddler bed at 7 AM
Not more than 2 hours’ nap at 1 P.M. and wake up at 3 P.M.
Night time sleep at 7 P.M.

The naptime is very important for your toddler to have enough sleep and it will affect the sleep the nighttime sleep. If your toddler has 2 hours of nap and wakes up at 3 P.M., she will get enough energy for the afternoon and will be ready to sleep at night timely without keeping you awake.

Sticking to the nighttime sleep is very important. No matter when your toddler sleeps at night, chances are your toddler will get wake up early in the morning. This is something you can’t do much about it.

If your baby wakes up early in the morning but sleeps late at night, she is not getting much sleep. So, instead of giving much importance on when your toddler gets up from the bed, make sure she sleeps around 7 P.M. at night.

Adapting your toddler to the routine may take some time. With some patience and following some tips may help you here. Keep doing the following so that your toddler follows the sleep routine:

Right before the bedtime, boisterous play can make it harder for the toddler to settle for the sleep.
At least one hour before the night time sleep, turn off the TV, mobile, computer or tablet. Do not let your toddler watch any scary or anything scary before the sleep.
Make sure your toddler has everything for the night time sleep before leaving her bedroom.

Like most of the toddler, your toddler may also have trouble sleeping at night at a stretch. Several times, she will wake up from sleep. There are several reasons behind it and you have some roles to play here to fix it.

If your toddler has a bad dream of a monster under her bed, check under her bed keeping the light turned off to confirm there is no monster. If your toddler is afraid of the dark, consider having dim light for her.

If you have other kids, you should delay the sleep time at night for her sisters or brothers by at least 30 minutes. That way, your toddler will understand when is her sleep time.

In all the cases and situations, you need to be firm and confident to make sure your toddler follows the sleep routine every day.

A Small Tips For Toddler With Sleeping Trouble At Night

Remember what I said above regarding toddler gets awaken due to seeing a monster in their dream? Well, child experts have come to an explanation and corresponding solution for toddlers who keep waking during nighttime sleep.

As per Greg Hanley, M.D. of Western New England University in Springfield – everyone has certain sleeping dependency elements. For kids, it might be a stuffed toy, crib mobile or merely a special blanket. For some other, the dependency element may be keeping the fan running or keeping the light turned on.

When a toddler wakes up in the middle of the night several times, most likely there is something wrong with the sleep dependency. As per Mr. Hanley – all the kids wake up about 10 times at night and when they do, they will cry out if they don’t find the sleeping element they had before sleeping.

Last Words

Once asleep, your toddler will sleep throughout the night. The challenge, however, is getting your toddler to sleep in the first place. That’s why sticking to the strict sleep routine is very important.

Toddler age is very important for your kids physical and mental development. Without enough sleep, the growth of your toddler will be hampered.

I tried to give you some solutions to fix the problem. If you find it useful, writing this article is totally worth it.

As usual, share this article with your friends and families. Who knows, they might find it useful as well.