How many hours of sleep should a toddler have? Newborn babies normally sleep for approximately 22 out of 24 hours. This raises the issue of how to adjust the sleeping patterns as they grow. What cues should one follow to know whether a child has enough sleep or not?
My son is almost two, and it is fairly obvious to me when he has not gotten enough sleep. He's very irritable, tends to throw more tantrums than usual, and will often be uncooperative. Usually he sleeps from about 8 pm until 7:30 am. He naps for one to two hours in the middle of the day. I will typically adjust his nap time or bedtime based on his behavior. For example, if I give him a diaper change around 11:00 and he's putting up a fuss about it then I will usually put him down for a nap immediately after, even if his nap time usually falls closer to noon. That way he isn't needlessly upset when he just needs more rest.
The one thing that I always tended to notice first was the attention, because when they are usually following along but then you see them out of it, that typically means a nap is in order.
For toddlers to lack sleep, the first sign we see is irritability. Usually when the toddler is wakened much ahead of his waking time, his mood would be sour and would easily cry. But when his sleep is sufficient, his aura will be very positive and there is his usual agiilty in his actions. But you need not force the toddler to sleep when he is disrupted because sometimes that lack of sleep can be remedied by other activities like playing or eating.
Until the age of 3 your child would sleep any time. You cannot maintain a sleeping routine for your child under the age of 3. Afterwards, they will develop some routine, they will remain asleep in the night and will be largely awake in the day except for one of two hours nap. As the child grows older, the day time sleeping will be gone. For a baby. there is no sleeping routine, when he is born he will sleep for 22-23 hours. By the time he is 30 days, his sleeping time will reduce to 20 hours, this will continue as he grows older. One of the signs that the baby shows when he feels sleepy is they began to complain, the signs include twisting and turning of the body, yawning,crying etc.
When my three year old is grumpy that's when I know she needs a nap or it's time to go to sleep. Since she was two she rarely took naps during the day which I thought would be bad for her but she always had good energy. She usually sleeps from 10 pm to 9 am but if she doesn't sleep enough for having a sleepless night then she would get grumpy asking for a nap during the day.
When he gets grumpy during the day, its normally because he is tired or hungry. Letting on of us sit down with him and let him have a nap while the other gets something for him to eat (when we haven't brought shacks with us) normally sorts things out. He has a fairly early bed time, and still naps through the day because he wears himself out. He's at the stage where the world is a very interesting place and he needs to explore it all, right now!
Sleep is very detrimental to humans, let alone babies, i would advise to let any baby sleep as much as they can in the early stages then adjust.
As with grown-ups, babies tend to show the same symptoms when they lack sleep. They become irritable, they tend to throw tantrums, and generally they are not good company. So when they have had enough sleep then they will begin acting the opposite.
