How much sleep does your 3 year old get?

[linny75]

Hi there
I was just wondering how much total sleep 3 year olds need? Does your 3 year old still nap and what time does he/she go to bed at night and wake up in morning?
My boy will be 3 in a few weeks and on average he has a between 11.30-12 hrs sleep in total (he doesnt always nap, probably 3-4 days of the week, when he does he has an hour but night sleep is about 10.5-11 hrs). On days he doesn't nap his nights are usually 11.30-12 hrs.
Just wondering if this is too little sleep?

[*foxy*]

Sounds about right to me. Our DD stopped napping when she was 2! At night she usually get 11-11.5 hours. We're sleep training atm so it's a little all over the place but typically it's asleep 6.30pm awake 6am but that does vary. I'd like to shift it back a bit though but that'll come once she's sleeping independently!
Does your DS seem rested?

[linny75]

On days he has no naps and sleeps a bit longer at night, he seems less cranky the next day. When he is cranky and has a nap he is much happier in the afternoon. I don't think this 1-0 nap transition suits him and am wondering if I should just go cold turkey now and drop his naps. But I do worry it will make things worse!
In general he is a very happy well behaved little boy but goes have his bad moments of crankiness (which doesn't last long)

[Khalam's Mama]

My ds1 was doing 13 hr nights at 3 and it had dropped from 14 hrs at 2.5 when he stopped napping. I think this is high though. Ds 2 it's only doing 12 at 2.5 on no nap. I did find off I put ds 1 down at 7 we only got 12 hrs rather than the 14 on no nap if he went down at 6.
Have you tried putting him down earlier to see if he takes more?

[barbaraz78]

We were more or less like you at 3 yo. Now, at 3.5 (closer to 4) he has fully dropped the nap and night is only slightly longer (around 11-11.5 h). But we are on holiday, so we are also moving bt to later, and I am not sure it affects his night length. He has never been a 12 h night child. I think that 11.5 h is his sleep requirement at the moment.

[linny75]

On no nap days he is out like a light at 6.45 (latest 7). On nap days he doesn't fall asleep til about 8. What earlier time do you think I should put him down? (on no nap days though as there's no way he will fall asleep any earlier if he has had a nap).

[*Becky*]

At 3 when DS stopped napping he did 12 hour nights and now at 4.5 it is more like 11.5, sometimes 11. I do find if I do an EBT every so often he will do more like 12.5 x

[shivi]

DD dropped her nap cold turkey at 2 yrs and was doing 14 hr nights till 2.5, slowing dropping to 13.5-13 by 2.5. She joined fulltime (up to 10 hrs) daycare at just over 2.5 so was back to even 14 hrs that winter (we basically didn't see her during the weeks :-(
By the Spring after she turned 3, so at 3.25 ish she was down to a predictable 12.5-13 overnight and has slowly worked away at this, doing consistent 12-12.5 right now.
I wouldn't call DD high sleep needs, just a tacker!

DS on the other hand, only tacks early evenings. He was doing max 11 hrs overnight, ever. So at 3 yrs old, he was attending a 4 hr am playgroup Mon, Weds, Fri - on those days, he had a 30 min catnap at 1-1.30pm on the way home and bedtime around 6.30-7pm, wakeup of 5.30-6am.
On Tues, Thurs and the weekends, he did a 1hr-1.30 nap around 12-1.30pm and then a 7.30-8pm bedtime for 10 hr sleep till 5.30-6am.

We dropped the nap more or less by 3.5 completely.

Mine are both post-holiday exhausted and last night we got them back to a 7pm asleep time. DD woke so happy and refreshed at 7.30 and DS, predictably, at 6.20. Still, 11hr 20mins is very good going for him at 7 yrs but its a rarity for him (and has been at any age).

S x

[barbaraz78]

Shiv, your ds looks very similar to my ds. How long were the nights when you dropped the nap completely at 3.5? Here we seem stuck at 11 h (with late bt due to holiday) and also for F 11.5 h night is a vey good one. But he's only 3.5!

[shivi]

Hi Barbara,

We had no choice but to drop due to preschool at 3.5 going fulltime without naptime. When he got very OTd and very EWing, (in winter due to illness, colds or wetting the bed), we'd reset with a nap at the weekend, a very late bedtime (but quiet time with film from when Emma would go to bed) and then get back on track with usual bedtime the next night.

Oscar has done max ever 11 overnight, never more. His best sleep time ever (well, he was a good napper and has never had NWings apart from when toilet learning overnight really, not even when ill!) was at 1.5, 3 hr naps and 11hr nights. It was actually good till 1.5-2yrs. Then the EWings crept earlier and earlier and were at their worst at 3-3.5, just before we dropped the nap.

So, since dropping, we've gotten 11-11.5 on a good night, 10 on a bad :-(

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Lily has done an 11 - 11.5 hour night for ages now.  We've had no nap for at least a year.  Like becky,  we get the odd 12 hour night if we've had to do an early bedtime or if she's done more running around than usual.

[barbaraz78]

Ok, we are not the only ones with 11 h nights without a nap now. We have dropped it because letting him sleep was a battle lately, and nights were really inconsistent, between 9 and 11 h.
We never had bad ew, nights have been 10.5 h at least for ages now (occasionally 10 h but usually for a late bt). But we never had longer nights either, and 12 h have been always a rarity.

[Hedgehog17]

My DS is high sleep needs and will be 3yo in just under a month.

He currently takes a 1hr 45m (capped) nap every day and sleeps at least 12h at night. He loves his sleep!

As long as your LO is mostly happy and alert during their awake time, then they are getting enough sleep  If they are frequently grumpy and falling asleep in random places at random times, they are probably not getting enough 

I'm finding at this age it's a lot easier to tell when he's OT!

[barbaraz78]

I agree, it is easier to say when they are ot. On the other hand, F deals with otness much better than when he was a baby. That said, F NEVER falls asleep at random places and times (neither in the car in the afternoon) so I don't think his sleep is unreasonable for him.

[Khalam's Mama]

On no nap days he is out like a light at 6.45 (latest 7). On nap days he doesn't fall asleep til about 8. What earlier time do you think I should put him down? (on no nap days though as there's no way he will fall asleep any earlier if he has had a nap).

Oh yes I was definitely thinking on no nap days. I would try 6pm if he is already going at 645. With mine I tend to look at the length of the day to. K could do 10 hrs max when he first dropped. B is ok with 12 max.