How to decide if it’s time to move bedtime?

[jewel]

How do you decide if LO is ready for a later bedtime?

LO is 20.5 months, she takes one nap a day around 12/1230 for 2-2.5 hrs typically. Bed time is 7 and she has no problem falling asleep then, but she was sleeping until like 7, sometimes even 730. And now she has been waking up between 530-630. 630 would be ok, but 6 and earlier is too early for us. I feel like it’s been like this since a little before day light savings, so it’s been like 2 weeks at least at this point, granted there were a lot of happenings in the time (an illness, DST, a trip, visitors). Just wondering if we should give pushing her bedtime later a shot or just wait this out a bit more? She has always been on the high end for sleep requirements but 14-15 hours does seem like a lot for an almost 21 month old.

[billyhorrible]

For my kids, later bedtimes never meant sleeping later in the morning, it just meant less sleep for everyone involved.

So LBB's bedtime only got later once he had a little brother. Kind of as a reward for being older. And even still, it's only a little later. Early bedtimes are also more so DH and I have kid free time to unwind in the evening.

BH goes to bed at 7, LBB at 7:30.

[grumpycat]

Ds1 will be 3 in January. He goes to bed between 8-830pm. We were putting him to bed between 7-730pm and he would be awake/playing in his room until 9pm or later. We put him to bed earlier if he's skipped his nap or is super grumpy. He's in a toddler bed so has free range in his room. He wakes up by 8am and still does a 2 hour nap most days so he's still getting about 14 hours of sleep most days.

[sheilathetank]

I'm a try anything sort of parent. I'd try it for a week and see if it works. If it goes horribly then stop sooner than a week. But it's worth a shot.

[Taitai]

DS2 is not a great sleeper, so feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt. DS2 is 2.5 yrs and still has an afternoon nap, which we limit to no more than 1 hr and 15 min. He has his bath at 7pm, then story time, and is in bed between 7:45 and 8pm. We have found that when he stays up later or skips his afternoon nap, it does not translate to waking up any later. In fact, if the schedule is screwed up, he will often wake even earlier than normal - like 5am. Normal wake up is between 6:30 and 7.

For a while DS2 was waking up MOTN constantly and rising super early, while taking 2.5 - 3 hr afternoon naps. Once we limited the time on the afternoon nap, we found DS2 slept a lot better at night.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

[jewel]

So LO woke up at 5 the morning I posted this (and 2 of the 3 mornings before that had been up before 6) then took a 3 hr nap that day and was passing out by 7, so we put her to bed then the next day she slept past 7. Then that day she took an awful nap and still went to bed at 7 and then slept all the way to 730 this morning, took a 2.5 hr nap and was ready for bed at 7 tonight... so we’ll see what happens

Tl/dr: toddlers are crazy and I have no idea what to do now, so probably just gonna try and wait it out...

[Deleted]

I find that when dds sleep schedule gets weird it’s usually a temporary thing.

Hope things get back to normal for you or you figure it out. I would also try moving bedtime if it’s still happening.

[Deleted]

If my son starts to be capricious, then it's time for him to sleep. another 15 minutes ago