Typical sleep at this age


By now your toddler should be sleeping about 10 to 12 hours at night and taking a two-hour afternoon nap every day. Some children will hold onto two shorter daily naps until their second birthday, though - if yours is one of them, don't fight it.

How you can help your child settle and sleep

At this age, these are some of the best things you can do to make sure your child can settle and sleep through the night:

• Help him to fall asleep on his own.
If you want your child to sleep through the night without calling for you, he should now be drifting off on his own at night without being rocked, breastfed, or otherwise lulled to sleep. If he learns to depend on any of these external cues, he won't be able to fall back to sleep during the night when he wakes up and they're not there. Think of it this way, says sleep expert Richard Ferber: You fall asleep with your head on a pillow, only to wake up in the middle of the night and find the pillow gone. You'd probably be concerned about the pillow's absence and look for it, rousing from your sleepy state. Similarly, if your child falls asleep every night listening to a particular CD, he'll wonder what happened when he wakes at night and doesn't hear the music. If he's upset, he won't be able to drop off again easily. To help prevent this, try to get him into bed when he's sleepy but still awake, so he can fall asleep by himself.

• Offer him acceptable choices at bedtime.
These days your toddler is beginning to test the limits of his new-found independence, wanting to assert control over the world around him. To curtail bedtime power struggles, let your child make choices whenever possible during his bedtime routine - which bedtime story does he want to hear and which pair of pyjamas would he like to wear? The trick is to offer only two or three options and to make sure you're happy with every choice. For example, don't ask, "Do you want to go to bed now?" He could very well say no, which isn't acceptable. Instead, try, "Do you want to go to bed now or in five minutes?" He still gets to make the choice, but you win no matter which option he picks.
Potential pitfalls


This age group has its own particular challenge: sometime between 18 and 24 months, many children start climbing out of their cot, potentially putting themselves in danger (falling out of a cot can be painful) and often turning bedtime into a prolonged ordeal. Unfortunately, just because your toddler can get out of his cot doesn't mean he's ready for a big bed, although our article on making the transition from cot to bed can help you to find out when he's likely to be. In the meantime, try to keep him safe and stationary with these tips from a sleep expert:

• Lower the mattress: If you move the cot mattress to its lowest position, you may be able to physically prevent your child from getting out. This probably won't work when he gets bigger, though.

• Empty the cot: Your child may be using toys or cot bumpers as levers to help him get out. If you remove them, he may stay put a little longer.

• Don't make jumping out worth his while: If your child jumps out of his cot and you react by giving him lots of attention or letting him get in bed with you, he'll keep doing it. Instead, stay calm and neutral, firmly tell him not to climb out, and put him right back in his cot. He'll get the idea pretty quickly.

• Keep watch: Nip his escapades in the bud by standing where you can see him in his cot - but he can't see you. If he tries to get out, immediately tell him not to. After you've done this a few times, he'll probably learn to stay put.

• Set up a safe environment: If you can't keep your child from jumping out, you can at least make sure he stays safe. Place pillows and other padding on the floor around his cot and on nearby toy chests, cupboards, and other objects that could cause a hard knock. If he absolutely won't stop climbing, you can always lower the side of the cot and leave a stool nearby. At least then you won't have to worry about him falling and hurting himself. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em...
Approaches to sleep problems


Two of the most common sleep problems for toddlers of all ages are difficulty falling asleep and frequent night wakings. What can you do when your child keeps waking up at night - and you know he's old enough to sleep all the way through? If you want him to sleep through the night without calling for you, the main thing is to make sure he learns how to settle himself back down - by finding his thumb, cuddling a transitional object, or some other way. Most of the experts agree that you should try to avoid letting your child become dependent on such external conditions as music, lighting, and feeding to fall asleep; if he does, he'll need the same things every time he wakes up at night before he can drop off again.