What is the appropriate bedtime for a 23 month old?

Question

My husband works in Law Enforcement, so he keeps odd hours. In order for us to eat and spend time together as a family, we allow our daughter to stay up late sometimes. Recently she has refused to go to bed until after 10 or even 11pm! I am exhausted by this hour, and end up sleeping in late as well. Who has a toddler who's a night owl? What can I do to get her on a better schedule? Mom's and Dad's, What kind of schedule is your child on?

Answer 1

My opinion is you have to do what is best for your child and your family. What I mean by that is if dad isn't home until 7:00 every night then a 8:00 bedtime probably won't work for you. So try 8:30 or 9:00. The whole idea is consistency your child really needs to go to bed at the same time EVERY night it shouldn't change daily because of your husbands schedule. My kids have always had a bedtime of 8:15-8:30 and I have great sleepers who wake at the same time every day. Right now my husband has started back to night school to get his MBA he will actually be gone 4 nights a week, plus he works 7-4:00 so the kids really won't see him at night. The nice thing is because of my kids schedule they wake up every morning and are able to have breakfast with their dad. If your husband comes home too late at night for a family dinner then try having a family breakfast every morning. The time of day is not what matters its the quality of time spent together that matters. So get your child on a schedule that works for the family and remember that it's nice to have your kids to bed at a decent hour in the evening so that you can have some down time and catch up with your husband.


Good Luck!

Answer 2

I see soooo many answers that say my child WANTS to stay up and I fall asleep sometimes when he/she is still up....that ASTOUNDS me!!! Really I actually believed that people had bedtimes for their childrend, since the day my children were born they have had a strict 8 o'clock bedtime and only 1-2 times have they EVER stayed up past 10pm....i'm really shocked, my daughter is nearly 7 and I would NEVER let her stay up until 1am....You don't go by what the kids wants..you go by what they need!! I understand because of the weird hours thing...that's a little more understandable, I would suggest maybe easing into it, lik set a time table where you are going to learn to relax at night...eat dinner at the same time if possible, take a bath, brush teeth, read some books in bed, sings songs or something relaxing and just sort of make a schedule and limits, might be hard at first but kids actually appreciate boundries and schedules and once it's become habit it will be much easier-BELIEVE me I know how hard it is to get a 2 year old in bed, I have a 2yr old boy...he's crazy but if we read stories and they have a cd player too so...we read 2-3 books and then we turn on some good tunes and he lays there for a while playing with his stuff and after about 20 mins. he's out. Good Luck!!

Answer 3

I think 8:30 is good. But my husband works late some nights so he wouldn't get to see our son if I put him to bed 8:30 every night. So that they can spend some time together a few nights a week I'll let him stay up til 10:00. They're relationship is more important than him sleeping at exactly the same time every night, after all he is only 2 and is not school age yet. Some people are real strict about bedtime, I was but I figured it's nice for him to be flexible and can adapt to situations. If we have people over or we want to go to an event we don't have to run home by 8:00 so he can sleep. And I don't think our kids are necessarily night owls, it's just that if you miss the opportunity to put them to bed at the right time they get their second wind, but they actually are very tired.
I would let him stay up til Dad gets home and spends 1/2 an hour winding her down and putting her to bed then after that you two can spend alone time together too.

Answer 4

Bedtime for our son has always been around 8:00 p.m. The only exceptions is when we are away from home travelling or sleep over at the inlaws. Then he usually stays up until 10:00 p.m. and on occasion until midnight. My son has always slept consistently for 10 hours or so each night no matter what time he goes to bed. The times he has gone off schedule and gotten used to staying up late I would get him up early and proceed with regular schedule. Up at six o' clock, nap at noon, etc. and after a couple of days he would fall back to going to bed at eight o' clock.

Answer 5

if she wakes up late try waking her up really early, like 7am. if your husband is not at work at the time, they can have a nice breakfast together. and by waking her up early you can put her down for an early nap at 11 or something. only let her sleep for maybe 45 min to an hour. keep her active during the day and she should be tired out earlier than usual. my daughter is 3 1/2 and she gives me the same problem. i think an appropriate time would be 8:30

Answer 6

8:00

But it also depends on your schedule. My husband is a firefighter so he's gone all the time. So I put my 1 year old twins to bed around 9:30 so that they'll sleep in later.

Answer 7

i have a set schedule for my kids, we have dinner at 6-7 , bath time at 730, snack at 8 and then if i have time (or feel like it ) we have story time and they are in bed at 8:30. I have a 9 yr old, 6 yr old, 3 yr old.
some times creating a bedtime and sticking to it is very hard., But try it for a week. I know sometimes wanting to see daddy is more important, but little ones need there sleep. So try a nightly routine, and soon she will get use to it. Good luck............................:)

Answer 8

TELL HER.
BED TIME is 8 O'clock SHOW her a clock at that time and let her KNOW it is a rule.
She can lay in bed with books but that is all.
NO playing.
Maybe read a story...
IN FACT have a 7-8 EATING READY FOR BED SCHEDULE.
Do all that needs to be done from 7 to 8...ending with her in bed at 8.
As she gets older she will need to sleep at 8 o'clock to get her rest for school.
Have Daddy help when he can.
IF she is still awake at 9 it is OK as long as she is in bed, he can read her a story.
BED TIME, IS BED TIME. make it a RULE!

Answer 9

I don't know but my cousin never had that problem.

She would be watching TV, eating and jumping about the living room that she'd be tired by 9 o'clock. Hey as long as your daughter takes naps in the afternoon, I see no problem sleeping a little later than normally.

Answer 10

I have an 11 month old and she sometimes is up till 12 at night. While my 3 year old is out of it at 9 but she gets up at 7 sharp. I think each kid is differnt. I have tried to have my youngest even skip a nap so she will go to sleep by 10 but no its normally 11. So I am sure she will grow out of it. Cause my 3 year old now used to do the same as my youngest does now.