Counting the ZZZs
Like everything else about the diaper-and-training pants crowd, the need for sleep varies dramatically from child to child. Survey any group of toddler caretakers, and they report tremendous variations. Some twelve-month-olds subsist on only nine hours of sleep in any twenty-four-hour period, rarely napping for more than an hour. Meanwhile, some three-year-olds are still sawing enough logs each night to raze a forest and supplement their nighttime slumber with a long afternoon snooze, too, for a total daily sleep time of thirteen hours or more.
AGE |
TOTAL SLEEP |
NIGHTTIME SLEEP |
NAPPING SLEEP |
NUMBER OF NAPS |
12 months |
13¾ hours |
11¾hours |
2½ hours |
2 |
18 months |
13½ hours |
11¼ hours |
2¼ hours |
1 |
24 months |
13 hours |
11 hours |
2 hours |
1 |
36 months |
12 hours |
10½ hours |
1½ hours |
1 |
The journal
How are parents to decide how much sleep their toddler needs? If a child is relaxed and content, it's doubtful that he's sleep deprived, no matter that parents have deep circles under their eyes from entertaining him eighteen hours a day. But since fussier toddlers tend to have more difficulties sleeping, it can be hard to sort out whether the fussiness is caused by a lack of sleep or if their high-strung personalities keep them from getting concentrated, restful shut-eye.
Your toddler may be sleep-deprived if he or she is:
Routinely falling asleep in the car
Hard to awaken in the morning and from naps
Cranky and irritable during the day
Hyperactive before bedtime
Likely to fall asleep before bedtime
Sleepy Face
As any adult insomniac knows, being sleepy and being tired are very different. Being overly tired makes falling asleep difficult because in response to the achiness that often accompanies being overtired, the muscles tense. It's impossible to relax mentally to the point of drifting off when the body is physically primed for action. It is much easier to get sleepy children to close their eyes than it is tired ones!
Parents should make an effort to notice the subtle changes in their toddler's appearance so they can more readily discern whether he's rested, sleepy, or tired. When toddlers are very sleepy:
Their faces look softer, even puffy
The muscles around the lips and chin may droop
Their movements slow
They become less animated
They may yawn
If they are tired, on the other hand, they are apt to show signs of tension and increased physical strain:
Their faces show signs of strain
The muscles around the eyes tense
The eyes may appear sunken
Activity level may increase
Play becomes less focused
Crankiness is common
To facilitate getting a toddler to sleep, try getting her into bed when she's sleepy. This means she's physically more relaxed. It's harder when she's physically and emotionally tense from being tired.
Reading the Signals
A common reason that children of all ages don't want to sleep is because life is so grand. They want to live every moment to the fullest. They don't want to be shut up alone in a room while other family members are out in the living room having fun. Even if everyone else is in bed, some youngsters would rather be out in the living room having fun all by themselves than lying awake in a darkened room.
Toddlers don't connect crankiness to a need for sleep. They have to be taught to recognize these bodily sensations and emotional reactions. Then they will eventually recognize the signals. If they actively fight going to bed, they may become upset by the mere comment, “You look sleepy now” or “I think you're unhappy because you're tired” because they suspect those fateful words, “Time for bed” will soon follow. Nevertheless, parents should continue to share their observations.
Just as toddlers need to tune into the internal signals that let them know when and how much they need to eat, it is essential that toddlers learn to interpret the internal cues that indicate a need for sleep so that one day they can take care of themselves.
Schedules Help!
Whether parents put balky toddlers down for the night and let the tantrums run their course or let them stay up until they collapse from exhaustion in the wee hours, conduct “rise and shine” at the same time each morning and prevent longer-than-usual naps that compensate for missed sleep. Studies on insomnia demonstrate that establishing a schedule is crucial. Being extra tired ups the odds that children will be ready to sleep at the next nap or bedtime.
The invariable routine of a rigid bedtime and nap schedule can go a long way toward regulating toddlers' sleep patterns. The human body operates in circadian rhythms — a predictable cycle that causes people to fall a sleep at night and awaken in the morning at about the same time each day. These rhythms change over the life span. If left to their own devices, teenagers would stay up half the night and sleep half the day; on the other hand, senior citizens naturally fall asleep early and awaken shortly after dawn.
A sudden increase in need to sleep in the absence of extra exercise or stress is often a signal that a virus or another illness is brewing. Keep your eyes open!
Not all toddlers run on the same clock, however, and it is difficult when theirs doesn't adhere to the rest of the family. Some night owls have a hard time sleeping at night no matter how early they get up; early birds may awaken long before the rest of the family despite having gone to bed late the night before. Instead of their biological clocks being reset by a consistent schedule that conforms to the rest of the family, they lie awake in bed and are chronically sleep deprived.
Resetting the Alarm
There are no guarantees, but many parents can sometimes reset their toddlers' internal clocks by following a rigid schedule that will bring them more in line with the rest of the family. To do this:
Awaken young toddlers at the same time each morning.
Put them down for naps at the same time each day.
Awaken them from naps at the same time.
Awaken them from afternoon naps by 4 P.M. to ensure sleepiness at bedtime.
Keep bedtimes consistent.
Coordinate with other caregivers to be sure the daily routines are the same.
