I have twins, now a month shy of 3 years old. The still nap for about an hour and a half daily, and they go to bed between 7:00 and 8:00 PM, and wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. I would love for them to sleep later, even at the expense of staying up later, but have been unsuccesful in my attempts to shift their schedules. On the whole I consider myself very fortunate.
You are!
Mine aren’t twins, but they are only a year and one day apart in age and at this age we treated them a lot like twins so far as their eating, sleeping, etc. I never had much luck changing their actual sleeping schedules, but I did have success in training them to stay put in the bed until I woke up (except to go potty of course). Each night after they’d gone to sleep I’d put a small stack of books, a stuffed animal or two, and maybe a couple of hotwheels type cars on the foot of our bed (we co-slept - the whole family bed type thing). When they woke up they were encouraged to play quietly on our bed until the I (or their dad) woke up and gave them their good morning snuggles. It worked pretty well, although after they woke up we (the parents) were more in a twilight sleep rather than full sleep because of their wiggling and giggling and such.
I have a 4 year old and a 7 month old. Charlotte (my 4 year old ) goes to be as late as you let her. We generally force her down between 9 and 10 pm. The baby is a little different. We can get her down as early as 8 on certain nights but often puched 9 pm. We are night owls and my wife may not get home from work until 8pm or later hereself so it works fine. They seemed to do this on their own.
2 year old son. His bed time is 8:30 but between his reluctance to go to bed and me trying to get in a few more minutes of play, it’s usually 9 before final good nights are said. He wakes up around 7 am and is allowed to then come into our bed for morning snuggling. On most days, he also naps 1 to 2 hours. We consider ourselves pretty lucky most mornings.
I’ve never seen a child quite as hyper as my two year old. She rarely sleeps more than four or five hours at a time. When she wakes up she SPRINGS from the bed like she has a Very Important Date, usually in the kitchen with the cats. I have tried every freakin method out there, tried wearing her out, tried soft music and low lights, warm lavender and chamomile baths, even stepped into the world of “crying it out”. That didn’t work at all. She was just awake and crying instead of awake and happy. No sugar, no processed foods, co-sleeping, alone sleeping, no tv after a certain hour. Massage. Even benadryl after the ped suggested it. It made her worse.
Most days she will take a thirty minute nap, usually collapsing in exhaustion wherever she sits. If I notice her getting sleepy I’ll take her to her bed and lay her down. Getting her to nap isn’t too hard and I can schedule it loosely around one or two pm. It’s keeping her down that I have trouble with.
Bedtime is the worst. There just isn’t one. But like with naps, it’s not the getting her down that’s the hard part. It’s keeping her asleep. Too early to bed and she pops up an hour or two later and spends all night running in circles. Too late and…well too late. I’m worn out. And bedtime sleep is never more than six hours. Usually four. I know this is entirely too little sleep for a toddler. Our pediatrician is baffled but even he has made some half-serious remarks about her being tested later for ADHD. He said she’s healthy enough, developing fine. She is a bit delayed in speech but we are in a bilingual home. All other milestones passed, usually a bit early. She was walking in her eighth month…already chasing cats.
An example from yesterday: Woke up at nine a.m. We played outside for hours. I laid her down for a nap around one but she never slept. When daddy came home he took her over to run wild with the neighbor kids after dinner. By the time they came home it was nine, so we assumed it was a no-nap day. Those days are usually better for longer night time sleeps. She went to sleep around nine thirty, but pops up singing around eleven pm and did not stop running around like a crazy person until almost four. She woke me up at nine this morning by crawling on my face chanting “come on mama come on mama”. Five hours. Uggh!
I’ve seen those epis of the Nanny shows…hell I practically take notes on bedtime procedure. One of them suggested putting the child back down without eye contact, repeat until they go back to sleep. It doesn’t work here. It just doesn’t work.
She’s killing me. She’s a good kid. A smart, loving, happy kid. She just never stops moving!
Whoa. Did I just do a little rambling there or what? I’m so freakin sleepy.
Rushgeekgirl, I had a similar issue with my 2-year-old about not wanting to go to sleep (although it was his nap that was the issue) and I did the Super Nanny thing where you just keep putting your child back in bed. It worked but it took a long time - like 40 minutes. If your child is especially stubborn, it may take longer but it’s definitely worth it. Now my son knows that there is no negotiating - he will be in his room for a nap (whether or not he actually sleeps is another story!). I’ve done a lot of reading about children’s sleeping habits (although I’m no expert) but I know that a common thread among the experts is that too little sleep can lead to hyperactivity. It seems counter-intuitive but basically, the less sleep your child gets, the less likely she is to sleep. That’s why it doesn’t work to try to keep your child up late hoping she will sleep later. Basically, the more sleep they get, the more likely they are to sleep well and long - you may want to consider making a consistent bedtime for your daughter that’s relatively early. It works for me but I know that every child is different.
Emilio Lizardo, my children have very similar sleep habits to your children. Although they sleep in their own rooms, we’ve encouraged them to play alone until we come upstairs to help them get dressed and ready for the day. They go bed at 7 PM (the little one actually goes to sleep at this time but our older boy plays in his room for awhile alone before going to sleep). There is a good website called parentcenter.com that tells you how much sleep your child should be getting at certain ages. And from what I’m told by other parents, we are very lucky to have children who are in bed by 7 and sleep until 7.
My son is 2 1/2. He goes to bed at 8pm and sleeps until about 8am, and still usually has a nap in the afternoon that ranges anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the day and how tired he is. About 25% of the time now he does not nap at all, but I always put him down for one anyway. He is usually content to lay in his crib (I am putting off switching to a bed for as long as I can!) and talk to his stuffed animals or look at a book if he does not sleep. (I allow him a board book in his crib.) He will also usually stay content in his crib in the mornings after he wakes up - sometimes I will sleep in on the weekends until after 9am before I hear him, even though I am pretty sure he is awake before then. He takes after me - not an early bird at all and he likes his sleep! We are really lucky. On the other hand, when I do need him to get up at 8 to go to daycare he is not happy about getting up and mornings can be tough when we have places to go, so it’s a trade off. I predict the blissful sleeping in mornings now will turn into waking him by force when he starts school and we all have to adjust our schedules. 
I can’t even imagine what will happen when he is a teenager and I have to drag him out of bed!
I would just keep their bedtime in the later time frame (nothing crazy, maybe more like 8 or 8:30 instead of 7?) but I know sometimes they are just tired in the evenings and keeping them up isn’t fun either. It’s just a trade off - some kids need a stricter schedule than others but it sounds like they are doing pretty well.
Teenage stepdaughter: goes to sleep whenever she gets tired. Sometimes I can hear her murmuring on her cell phone until around midnight. I’ve caught her sound asleep with the cell phone stuck to her ear.
Ten-year-old boy: bedtime between 7:30 and 8:00. If he goes to bed any later, he’s usually unmanageable in the morning.
2-1/2-year-old boy: requests his bed around 8:00. Sleeps until about 8 the next morning.
My almost 1 year old (in 2 weeks!) has settled into a nap routine. He usually dozes off at about 11 am and sleeps until about 1 (sometimes later). He is typically ready for bed at about 8:30 pm. He falls asleep while I rock him in his little chair and I then move him into his crib. He wakes up at about 4 am to have a bottle, then will sleep in until 7:30 or 8.
My 3.5 year old hasn’t napped since before he turned 2, unless it’s the occasional dozing off in the car. We start his bedtime routine at 9. He brushes his teeth, then gets two stories and two songs (lullabies, usually he gives us a theme to work on and we make them up). He’s usually tucked in by about 9:30 if we’re lucky (he’s been doing major tantruming at bedtime this past week…little bugger). He wakes up when the baby wakes up (they share a room), but he stays under the covers until I come to get the baby out of his crib. Then he asks me if it’s okay if he comes out to play. I’m not sure why he does that, but he’s never gotten out of bed until he’s been given permission. It’s been a good little habit of his.
When our eldest was little this is how he slept. 
My kids go to bed around midnight and nap during study hall and calculus. They’re 17 and 18.
My son is just over 3 years old. His bedtime ranges from 8 to 9 and he usually sleeps until 7 or 8, sometimes 9 (on weekends as he gets up for daycare by 7:30).
Some nights are harder than others to get him to bed, some nights he tells me when he’s going to bed (just last week he was tired about 8 on several nights so he got his pj’s on and told us that he was tired). We have a definite bedtime routine which helps, he gets into his PJs, washes his face and brushes his teeth then we read a couple stories (sometimes 3 or 4 depending on the length of the story and how tired we are). I let him have a book in bed with him to read to himself, tell him to turn out the light when he’s done and he’s usually out pretty quickly after I leave him.
He also naps during the day, some days very little and others he’ll sleep for an hour and a half. When he wakes up he usually plays for a bit before coming to find me or my Mom.
He’s been in a toddler bed for about a year now, little less. Mostly he’s good to get to sleep. I really don’t try to change his cycle though I am NOT a morning person (my preferred sleep in time is 10). I’d rather get to bed a little earlier than deal with a cranky Velociraptor.
The Small Girl is 16 months old. Naps about 2 hours midday, and sleeps from 7:30 or so to 7. She’s slept through the night since 5-6 months old or so. She still cries sometimes when put to bed, just because she’s angry that she can’t play anymore, but it lasts a few minutes and she’s out.
If you can keep her up later she’ll usually sleep later but it’s not a guarantee.
I put the 5-year-old and the 2-year-old to bed at 7:00, but they usually play, ask for drinks, shove each other down the stairs, destroy their room, etc., for another 30-60 minutes. Then they give up and sleep. The 2-year-old has been having bad dreams lately, so he wakes up SCREAMING at 2 a.m. and spends the rest of the night kicking me and his father as he sleeps sideways in our bed, until he wakes us up by kissing one of us and whispering “Dad. Mom. Bottle. Snack. Mom. Dad. Bottle. Snack…” The 5-year-old just snarls, rolls over, and sleeps until I drag him out of bed at 7 a.m. so he can catch the school bus.
The baby (9 months) just sleeps whenever he feels like it. Thankfully, he’s been sleeping from about 10 p.m.-6 a.m., recently.
(Our theory is that these boys do not want any more babies in this house, so they’re making sure Mommy and Daddy have no sleep and no time alone.)
My 2 year old son goes to sleep at 6:30 and sleeps until 7 or so. My 4 year old daughter goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up at 7 or so. Though last Sunday the boy, who still is in a crib, slept in his sister’s bed with her and out slept all of us - he didn’t appear until 8:45 AM!
**Rushgeekgirl ** you said “I’ve seen those epis of the Nanny shows…hell I practically take notes on bedtime procedure. One of them suggested putting the child back down without eye contact, repeat until they go back to sleep.”
Maybe your goal shouldn’t be about getting your daughter to go to sleep but to stay in bed. I like Supernanny myself and honestly I think her goal with the putting-them-back-in-bed-&-no-eye-contact thing isn’t about sleep but about discipline and getting the child to stay in bed. The presumption is that once they stay in bed they’ll be bored enough to fall asleep I guess.
It sounds like while you might not be able to force sleep on your kid, you might be able to just get her to stay in bed or at the minium in her own room. I don’t envy your situation - and well-meaning advice probably makes you want to reach through your monitor and smack someone so I’ll leave it at that…
My 8 year-old is the most awesome sleeper EVAR. He always has been. He’s my third child, so by the time he came along I’d had a lot of practice and failures and learning. I knew that I wanted him to be able to fall asleep, by himself, with no extensive rituals and hours of rocking, laying down with him, etc. He proved the old saw that sleep begets sleep- the more he sleeps the more he sleeps!
He did great at sleeping all night and by himself as a baby until he had skull surgery at 18 months, and then I felt sorry for him and let him sleep with me for a few months. When I stopped that after a few months, it took a couple of weeks for him to get back to sleeping by himself seamlessly, and since then it’s been smooth sailing.
He goes to bed at 8, gets up at 7 when I wake him up, 8 when I don’t, and bedtime is quick and painless. He asks to go to bed if he’s up past 8:30 for some reason. An actual conversation between us this evening:
Him: (Referring to brats on Suppernanny) I can’t believe they stay up as late as they want! I don’t have a choice about when I go to bed! (He’s actually bragging about it!) I like it that way.
Me: Yes, sleep is our friend.
Him: And getting up is not our friend!
Me: That’s my boy!
I will swap my three kids for your one. And I’ll throw in any amount of money you want. 
That would be awesome if she had her own room…or even her own bed. We’re in a one bedroom apartment for now. All four of us plus the cats :sigh:
I’m hoping to change this soon so maybe that will indeed help. Right now keeping her in bed is easy. Of course she’s crawling all over us and kicking the wall and singing at the top of her lungs.
And no, I take any and all advice possible as long as it’s not said in a condescending way. You’re safe from my sleepy wrath!
1 year old son. It seems that the “golden window” is between 9:30 and 10pm. Put him down then, and he’s out till 6:30am, when we all wake up. Any later or earlier than that and it throws everything out of whack.
After his dinner, he gets to roam around the living room in a corral made from his play yard and furniture items until he gets tired out. Works pretty good for now.
He still naps a couple-three times during the day (Mrs. Labtrash gets to bring him to work with her - no day care - woohoo!).
Oh, you poor thing! Yes, it will be better when she has her own place to sleep. And I say that as a proponent of family beds for those families it works for. I wanted to cosleep with WhyBaby, but she thought we were nuts. Or a jungle gym. She wanted her own bed, preferably in her own room. She didn’t get her own room until 15 months, and the difference in her sleep once the was in there was amazing!
I don’t suppose there’s a closet or pantry you could clear out and put a few pillows and blankets in? I know it sounds gauche, but she doesn’t need a big space to sleep - just a private space.
I have two different, albeit related, standards: one is called “be in your room and be quiet” and the other is “sleep”. I have no control over the later, but I do mandate the former. Read, sing, play Gameboy, play with your dolls, whatever - as long as it’s not bugging me. Sleep when you’re tired.
I’ve got a 2 year old who goes to bed with a very short ritual every night - pajamas, brush teeth, gather “the Babies” (dolls) and throw them in the crib, then her dad, brother and I sing her a little song (cribbed from Bye, Bye, Birdie, and altered to “We love you, Caileigh, Oh yes, we doooo-ooooo!”) and turn on the bedtime music. Give kisses, arrange the Babies, cover with blanket. Then about two minutes in the dark with just Daddy whispering how much he loves her and misses her when he’s at work all day and whatever else it is he says. I figure I get the morning wake-up smiles, he gets the good night ones, and she gets a little bit of private time with each of us each day. The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes, although we can speed it up if *Lost *is on. 
She’s in bed from about 8:30 to 8:30 or 9:30. She takes one 1.5-2 hour nap a day.
The 14 year old has a bedtime, but it’s become more flexible in the last year or two. He’s definitely hit the age at which his body doesn’t make sleepy hormones until 11:00 or so. Officially, his “be in your room and be quiet” time is 9:00, but since it’s inevitably 3 hours of diddling around until he goes to sleep at midnight, I’ve been more lenient - especially when we’re watching something together after the baby is in bed. Still, if Mom and Dad want to hang out alone, there’s no arguing. (If there was, I’d be more strict about the time even when I didn’t care, and he knows it.) He’s up at 7:15, when he literally rolls out of bed into mostly clean clothes and I nag him to brush his teeth at least before he’s out the door. He, like me, gets queasy if he eats breakfast right away, so his 11:00 lunch time is perfectly situated for his “breakfast”, and he eats lunch when he gets home from school at 3:30. He’ll often take a nap before dinner.
When I am Queen of the World, adolescents’ school will open at 1:00 and run until 8:00, with a dinner break instead of a lunch break - that way they’re really awake. Then they can stay up until midnight and still get the 12 hours sleep they need. Of course, finding adults to staff that school might be hard!