Adults certainly struggle to get enough sleep, but we often don’t think about whether our children are getting the amount and quality of rest needed. Sleep, a critical part of human being’s life, is the time when our body regenerates. Without adequate sleep our cognitive functions and physical well-being suffer.
For toddlers, sleep is especially critical to their development and growth. Let’s take a look at a few ways to know if your toddler is getting enough sleep.
Time. The first thing you can do is look at the clock. Doctors recommend twelve to fourteen hours of sleep for toddlers. They may not get that all in one sleep. Rather they may combine naps and night-time sleep to get their fourteen hours. For example, they may have ten hours of sleep at night and two naps during the day, each two hours long.
Mood. The second thing to look at is your child’s behavior when they wake in the morning. Do they seem tired or are they wide awake and ready for their day? Do they wake from their naps still groggy or cranky? Are they aggressive and upset during the day? All of these behaviors are indicators that they’re not getting enough sleep.
Habits. Track your child’s sleep to see how long they sleep, when they exhibit sleepy behavior and how they wake from naps and night-time sleep. Look for patterns in their behavior.
Does your child fall asleep in the middle of the day? Are they exhausted and miserable long before their nap-time If this is the case, then your child is probably not getting enough sleep.
Once you spot a problem with your child’s sleep patterns, inevitably you’ll need solutions…
Each child needs their own amount of sleep, and the recommended twelve to fourteen hours is only an estimate. Some children need more and some children may need less. Your cue is their behavior. If your child is struggling to get enough sleep, consider varying their naps.
Perhaps three shorter naps would work better than two. Perhaps putting them to bed earlier will help them get the sleep they need. If you’re going to try putting them to bed earlier, you’ll have better success increasing it by ten minute increments.
For example, if they normally go to bed at eight o’clock, put them to bed at ten to eight a few nights in a row and then go back ten more minutes. Repeat until they’re going to bed at seven o’clock each night and waking at the same time each morning. Make sure to establish a routine for bed and nap times so your child knows what’s expected.
Making sure your toddler is getting enough sleep requires attention, planning and patience. And just as soon as you have a new routine down, they’ll stop needing so much sleep. Ah, the joys of being a parent!
