All about sleeping and toddlers
Most toddlers will sleep an average of about 11 hours through the night, and will make up any extra sleep that they need in naps. If your baby needed a lot of sleep in the first year he'll probably continue to do so in the second; if he needed little sleep, then this trend will continue, too.
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Although he sleeps through the night he'll still need two naps a day. How long these naps last will depend, as before, on your baby. What may change this year will be the times at which he wants to take the nap. For example, you may find that the nap that he used to take at around 9-9.30am gets later and later. This means he'll want to sleep immediately after lunch, at around 1.30 or 2pm. On other days, however, he may take a nap late in the morning but then not want another one until the middle of the afternoon. As far as these changes are concerned, you have to take the lead from your child; there's no point in trying to make him sleep to order and you'll have to accept that the napping pattern varies from day to day. Fit into the baby's routine so that if he establishes a pattern whereby he gets sleepy towards 11.30am and wants to have a nap around noon, you start having lunch around 11.30. He'll then be able to have a satisfying nap after lunch, and you'll have a much less grumpy baby. Alternatively, you could wait until he wakes up before having lunch - it depends on your baby.
Around the age of 15 months your toddler will reach a period where two naps a day are too many and one nap a day is not quite enough. He'll happily play through the first nap, but because he can't last without sleep until the second one he has to have a later nap than usual. This inevitably means that he's alert enough to go through the usual afternoon one, but then because he's too tired to last out until bedtime he has to go to bed early. As with everything else in childcare, you have to be flexible. The period where he has to drop one nap won't last long and he'll soon sort out his own napping routine. By the end of the second year he'll probably take a single nap at the end of the morning, or in the early afternoon.
Until he settles into a napping routine do make sure that he is having adequate rest during the day. Even if he doesn't seem to be all that tired and is rushing around, eager to learn new games or play with exciting toys, it's quite easy for him to become over-tired. Keep an eye on your child and if he becomes bad-tempered or fretful, or shows a sudden lack of co-ordination then make sure he rests or plays a quiet game.
Whenever your toddler takes a nap, give him a chance to wake up gently from it. It may be a restorative sleep, but he's unlikely to wake up perfectly refreshed and active. He'll need a quarter of an hour or so of being cuddled and talked to gently and quietly before he's ready to be active again. If you have to go out immediately after your toddler's nap, make sure that you leave enough time for the recovery of his good humour.
Bedtime routines for toddlers
Your baby's bedtime routine will change this year. He'll need more diverting games and more of your attention; give him both. The essential thing to remember is that bedtimes should be play times and happy times, and even although you're worn out, you should try to be calm and relaxed. If you are not, your baby will pick up your anxiety and be fretful, and you may have to spend twice as long trying to put him to sleep than if you had spent an extra five minutes of your undivided attention in a quiet, direct way.
Where your toddler should sleep
At some time during this year your baby may try to get out of his cot to come to you. Obviously a fall from the top of a cot could be dangerous so either lower the mattress and effectively make the top of the rails out of reach, or put your child into a single bed. If your toddler is quite young when he's first put into a “big” bed get a safety guard or put cushions on the floor beside the bed.
New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard
Posted 03.11.2010
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