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Toddler Sleep Chart

This photo is licensed under cc by sa 2.0 by Chris Winters

The amount of sleep that your toddler needs really depends on her individual needs.

Not all toddlers require the same amount of sleep in order to function properly during the day - some may need an hour (or two) more at night, some may need an hour or two less.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

Does she wake up in the mornings still tired, doing one yawn after another, sprawling herself on the couch or floor - only for you to find her fast asleep again within an hour or two - and then wake up (for the second time) grumpy, on the verge of a temper tantrum?

My eldest daughter got into this habit a couple of years ago when my youngest (about 1 year old at the time) decided that she wanted to be an early bird and start the day at 5 a.m. every single morning!

How uncivilised! :)

As my youngest would always make such a racket when she woke up, I was constantly shushing her to please try to make less noise (pretty damn hard for a toddler) so that my poor eldest daughter could get all the sleep that she needed.

But my eldest was a toddler too at the time, and she was at that stage in her life where sibling jealousy was at an all time high. If her little sister was awake, she just had to be awake too, as far as she was concerned. There was no way that she was going to miss out on any of the action.

Even if it meant that she had to sacrifice her sleep.

Oh yes, she was sleep-deprived and chronically over-tired for a good few months. This was not only bad for her health, it also affected her behaviour in a less than desirable way. This was when I decided that I needed to adjust her sleep schedule.

My younger toddler was ready to start the day after just ten hours of snoozing (probably because she enjoyed 3 hour naps!), and my older toddler needed about twelve hours at night.

Since I was putting both of them to bed at the same time (around 7 p.m.), and they were both getting up at the same time in the morning, clearly one of them was not getting enough sleep.

Over time, the problem sorted itself out when I (gradually) cut back my younger daughter's day nap. This meant that she slept less during the day and more at night which allowed my older daughter to get more sleep too.

By the time they were about four and two years old, they were each getting about 10 to 11 hours of sleep at night - and they were both okay with this.

I must say, it can be very challenging to have to constantly arrange and re-arrange sleep schedules for two toddlers, especially when they both differ in their sleep requirements. You certainly require a lot of patience for all the trial and error that's involved!

Have a look at the baby and toddler sleep chart below to see the average number of hours of sleep needed between birth and 4 years: -

Remember, these are just general guidelines. Some toddlers need up to two hours more or less sleep than others. In general - most toddlers need A LOT of sleep!

Observe your toddler throughout the day and try to correlate any behavioural issues with the amount of sleep she is getting.

Once your toddler is getting enough sleep, you'll be amazed at how much more pleasant she'll be!

Keep in mind that toddlers who wake up happy, cheerful and ready to start the day do so because they have had enough sleep during the night.

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