If you have not already done so, please read Blog Posts 1 through 5 that describe how sleep is important and beneficial. I will post specific information for parents and children based on my book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” Please do not be put off by my book’s length. This is a reference book. Read only the topic of interest to you.
A group of Japanese children were studied at about 22 months of age for 8 consecutive days. They examined the average:
In addition to the averages over 8 days for each of the 5 variables, they examined how wide or narrow was the range of values during the 8 day study.
The wider the range of values over the 8 days, the more irregular was the sleep.
The narrower the range of values over the 8 days, the more regular was the sleep.
Infant eye-tracking preference for focusing on the eyes and mouth when the toddler is shown a movie of a talking human is thought to be an indicator for social development and is measured objectively by ‘fixation times’.
Higher percentages of infant eye tracking fixation times for the human face was associated with:
More regular Total sleep duration
More regular Nighttime sleep duration
More regular Nap duration
More regular Bedtime
The authors concluded that “…the irregularity of sleep habits, but not their average time may have a larger impact on the development of toddlers” and titled their paper “Regular sleep habits are associated with social development …”
The role of the average bedtime was not discussed in the paper because it was not statistically significantly associated with the infant eye-tracking fixation time.
I asked the author whether the average bedtime was associated with the measurements of regularity (1-5 above).
His answer was yes!
He responded that early bedtimes were associated with:
More regular Nighttime sleep duration
More regular Bedtime
He wrote: “…earlier bedtime may promote development through other sleep factors…”.
In other words, early bedtimes are associated with more regular bedtimes and more regular nighttime sleep durations, which, in turn, are associated with more social development!
So parents who choose an early bedtime might also choose a more regular bedtime which causes a more regular nighttime sleep duration.
This is an example of researchers overlooking the clinical importance of a major parent sleep-related behavior: Choosing the bedtime!
In 10 other studies (Blog Post 215), the authors discussed important sleep variables but they also did not include a discussion of the bedtime.
However, upon reanalysis, these 10 authors concluded that yes, an early bedtime is better than a late bedtime.
Hello Dr. Weissbluth,
I am writing because I am confused about how best to approach my 26-month-old’s sleep at this point.
For many months prior to a recent move, his schedule was pretty stable:
– Night sleep approximately 7:00 pm to 6-6:30 am
– Nap laydown around 12:00 pm
– Nap duration typically 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes
About two months ago we moved homes. I understand that disruption likely affected his sleep initially. Within that same timeframe he also had a brief illness with fever a few weeks ago, which further disrupted things.
So over the past 1-2 months, his nap began to shorten and sometimes collapse to under one hour with crying upon waking. We also began seeing intermittent night waking’s and early morning wake-ups. Assuming overtiredness and cortisol spikes were contributing, we attempted to correct by:
– Moving nap earlier (11:00–11:30 laydown)
– Moving bedtime earlier (5:15–5:45 laydown depending on nap length)
However, despite this earlier schedule, we are still experiencing early morning wakings (sometimes before 5:00 am) and inconsistent nap length. Even when we had decently consistent sleep previously we would get random night waking up around 5530am when falling asleep around 7 pm.
My confusion is this:
At this age, should I prioritize strict clock regularity (fixed nap and bedtime for several consecutive days regardless of behavior), or should I more heavily weight observable drowsy cues when deciding nap and bedtime timing?
I understand that overtiredness can perpetuate early waking, but I am unsure whether continuing with very early bedtimes is helping or reinforcing early mornings. I also don’t know whether moving the nap earlier has actually destabilized his rhythm further.
In your view, would the correct approach now be:
1. Return to the prior stable schedule (nap around 12:00, bedtime around 7:00) and hold it steady for a week or more, or
2. Continue adjusting based on sleep cues and nap length to prevent overtiredness?
I would greatly appreciate your guidance on whether regularity or behavioral sleepiness cues should take priority in a toddler of this age when trying to correct early waking and short naps.
Data of past few nights. Sleep latency can sometimes be up to an hour.
Night Sleep Onset Morning Wake Time Total Night Sleep
5:29 pm 4:40 am 11h 11m
5:45 pm 5:33 am 11h 48m
6:25 pm 4:58 am 10h 33m
6:32 pm 6:08 am 11h 36m
6:50 pm 5:05 am 10h 15m
6:12 pm 6:18 am 12h 06m
7:16 pm 6:28 am 11h 12m
Thank you very much for your work and for any direction you can provide. Also, I have your book and my son is fully sleep trained and never cries or fights bedtime.
Response
Your son has had two months of disrupted sleep — a home move, followed by a febrile illness — occurring in close succession. Each event alone is enough to produce cumulative sleepiness. Together, over eight weeks, they have very likely produced a significant sleep debt that has not yet been fully repaid. The nap shortening, the crying upon waking from naps, the night wakings, and the early morning wakings are all consistent with a child who is still carrying that debt.
Cumulative Sleepiness and What It Means Here
As Blog Post 3 describes, sleep debt accumulates quietly and invisibly. A child does not announce that he is carrying a deficit — he simply becomes harder to settle, wakes earlier, sleeps less deeply, and takes shorter naps. The parent sees the symptoms but cannot easily distinguish them from a scheduling problem. The child, as the Army research confirms, cannot accurately self-report how tired he is. And critically — the behaviors produced by cumulative sleepiness look almost identical to the behaviors produced by a bedtime that is too early.
This is the source of your confusion, and it is completely understandable.
Before concluding that the early bedtimes should be moved later, we need to determine whether your son has fully repaid his sleep debt. If he has not — and two months of disrupted sleep suggests he likely has not — then the early morning wakings may still be a symptom of overtiredness. rather than a clock. In an overtired child, the early bedtime is still the correct intervention, not the cause of the problem.
The Test: A 3 to 5 Night Trial
Rather than shifting the schedule later based on the current data, I recommend a 3 to 5 night trial of a consistent, temporary, super early bedtime — 5:30 pm — held at exactly the same time each night regardless of how the day went.
During this trial, record three things each night:
1. Sleep onset latency — from the time you put him down to the time he actually falls asleep
2. The actual falling-asleep time — calculated from laydown time plus latency
3. The morning wake time
These three numbers together will tell you what you need to know.
If sleep debt is still present and the early bedtime is correct: you will see sleep latency shorten over the trial — he will fall asleep faster each successive night as the debt is repaid. Morning wake times may initially remain early but should begin to stabilize or shift slightly later by nights 4 and 5 as sleep the tank fills.
If the sleep debt has resolved and the early bedtime is now too early for his clock: sleep latency will remain long — 45 minutes to an hour — because his brain is not yet biologically ready to sleep at that time. Wake times will remain very early and will not improve across the trial.
The latency is the diagnostic. A child falling asleep in 10 to 15 minutes at a very early bedtime is telling you he needed that bedtime. A child lying awake for 45 to 60 minutes is telling you the bedtime is ahead of his biological readiness.
About the Early Morning Wakings
With cumulative sleepiness still likely present, the early morning wakings are best understood as a symptom of the debt rather than a consequence of the early bedtime. An overtired child sleeps less deeply, cycles through sleep more restlessly in the early morning hours, and wakes earlier than a well-rested child — even with an appropriately early bedtime. As the debt is repaid over consecutive early nights, early morning wakings typically resolve or shift later on their own.
This is why I want you to collect the latency data before drawing any conclusions about whether to move the schedule later. If latency shortens across the trial and wake times stabilize, you have your answer: the debt was still present, the early bedtime was correct, and the schedule should be held until sleep is fully consolidated. If latency remains long and wake times do not improve, then we can consider a modest shift later — but that decision should be based on data, not on the current picture which is still clouded by two months of accumulated disruption.
What to Do Right Now
For the next 3 to 5 nights, put him down at 5:30 pm consistently. Keep the nap at approximately 12:00 pm. Record laydown time, falling-asleep time, and morning wake time each day.
Then come back and share what you observed. The pattern across those nights will tell us clearly which direction to move.
You are asking exactly the right questions. The data you have been collecting shows real clinical thinking. Give this trial 3 to 5 nights and let the numbers guide the next step.
How does this sound? Any questions?
Thank you I will give this a try. I do think I have been repaying the debt slowly as we have been doing very early bedtimes for a few weeks now. Sometimes as early as 5-15pm laydown. He is basically in bed by 615 at the latest every night and we have a strong consistent order of events from dinner time to bedtime.
My only question is should I stick to 12pm for nap no matter the morning wake time or shift it earlier to 1130 or so if he wakes in the 5-530am range? I obviously want to prevent overtired but this early nap may not fit his circadian rhythm. That part can confuse me.
Please clarify: “Sometimes as early as 5-15pm laydown. He is basically in bed by 615 at the latest every night…”
When a nap is short (35-45 minute range) or ends closer to 1230pm I end up laying him down for bed early (5-515pm range) If the nap is closer to an hour and it ends later (1pm range) I may not lay him down until later (530-615pm), but he’s always in bed no later than 615pm for the past few weeks. Essentially the bedtime laydown is reactive to the nap time and length. And the nap laydown is also reactive to morning wake time and behavior. This is where I think I may be causing him problems and need to be regular with the times no matter when he wakes.
Understood. Are able and willing to do ‘The Test’ to gather data? The nap-time is mid-day but not a rigid 112 noon clock time. Try to get to 11-12 but also use drowsy signs as a guide for nap onset imes.
Yes I am going to do the test. I started it today.
He woke at 618am after 11h10m sleep time and was rubbing eyes (fatigue) at 11am so I laid him down at 1115am.
Its almost 1pm now and he is skipping the nap it appears.
Just want to make sure its okay to lay him own that early when the test is more geared towards 12pm nap time and that early lay down didn’t cause him to skip the nap today.
Sorry: It’s tricky:
Stretching him a little towards 12ish might mean that his nap is more aligned with circadian rhythms and is a better nap. OR
Stretching him too much towards 12ish might cause pre-sleep arousal and it is a worse nap.
Trial and error is needed to find a sweet spot.
The temporary super-early bedtime should eventually help him make this nap a little later.
Hello Dr. Weissbluth,
I have some test data. Day 4 no nap was offered as we could not be home. Not great as it was 3 days of no naps taken. Did okay. Clearly tired but was not acting like a maniac. Also could not get to 530pm in crib most nights. But was close. I think i have a good pattern here. On the days he did nap he did over an hour which is nice. I thought this was improvement. However today is day 8 and i thought everything is improving and now I’m hit with a 34 minute nap and woke up crying. Did not go back to sleep either.
This is the exact cycle I keep finding myself in. We get a set of good days and then a random bad nap. So i usually accommodate with early bedtime (515pm lay down). Then I expect a full night of sleep but wake up well before 6am (5-545am) which sends us into the spiral of earlier nap. But that doesn’t seem to fit his circadian rhythm. So his sleep rhythm and tiredness get misaligned and I am right back to trying to fix it again.
I see night sleep seems anchored to 6am wake no matter what on a good night. Nap rhythm seems established around 1145-1215 range. Night sleep onset varies on nap length. Thoughts on how to proceed? Do I move bedtime earlier today or ignore the short nap to keep regularity intact?
Day Morning Wake Nap Lay Down Nap Sleep Onset Nap Wake Bed In Crib Bed Sleep Onset Night Waking
Day 1……….6:28 am………………..11:52 am ……………………12:05 pm ………………………1:31 pm …………….5:30 pm …………7:00 pm ……………………….. —
Day 2……….6:10 am …………….. 11:15 am …………………….nap refused ………………….— ………………… 5:44 pm …………..5:57 pm…………………..11:27–12:52
Day 3……….6:42 am………………. 11:55 am……………………. nap refused……………….. — …………………. 5:38 pm ………… 5:46 pm ……………………….. —
Day 4……….6:03 am ………………… — ………………………….no nap offered…………….— ……………………5:40 pm…………..6:00 pm ……………………. ……—
Day 5………..6:06 am………………..11:40 am …………………11:58 am……………………….. 1:04 pm……………. 6:00 pm…………. 7:00 pm…………………… 8:49 brief
Day 6…………6:02 am……………… 11:41 am…………………….11:53 am………………………. 1:02 pm…………….. 5:45 pm………….. 6:34 pm……………………….. —
Day 7………….5:58 am……………… 11:47 am…………………. 12:18 pm……………………….. 1:21 pm…………….. 5:52 pm…………… 7:16 pm………………………… —
Day 8…………6:01 am ……………….11:44 am………………… 11:55 am………………………. 12:29 pm………………… — ……………………….— …………………………………—
Thank you for this careful and detailed log. You are observing well, and the data tells a clear story once we read it through the right lens.
What the latency data reveals
In the original test, I asked you to watch sleep onset latency as the key diagnostic. A striking pattern emerges across the eight days. On the days without a nap — Days 2, 3, and 4 — sleep onset latency was short, between 8 and 20 minutes. His brain was ready to sleep quickly because he was carrying more sleep pressure from the missed nap. On the days with a good nap — Days 5, 6, and 7 — sleep onset latency was very long, between 49 and 90 minutes. His brain was not ready to sleep at 5:30-5:52 pm after napping well.
This is important information, not a failure. It tells us that on good nap days, a 5:30 pm lay down is too early for his biological clock. The long latency is his nervous system telling you this clearly.
The spiral you described — and its entry point
You have identified the cycle accurately. Here is where it begins: on good nap days, the long latency causes bedtime sleep onset to drift to 7:00-7:16 pm. That is later than ideal given his 6:00 am biological anchor. Over consecutive nights of late sleep onset, mild cumulative debt builds quietly. That debt makes the next nap more fragile. Eventually a nap shortens or is refused. Three days without naps followed, and Day 8 produced a 34-minute nap with crying on waking — sleep inertia from cumulative sleepiness expressing itself.
The solution: use drowsy signs to find the right bedtime on good nap days
Rather than choosing between a fixed early clock time that produces long latency, or allowing bedtime to drift reactively to 7:00 pm, watch for his drowsy signs in the early evening — quieting down, decreased activity, eyes glazing slightly, becoming less interactive. These are his brain’s signal that the biological sleep wave is arriving. That is the moment to begin the bedtime routine and move toward lay down. On good nap days, this will likely fall somewhere between 6:00 and 6:30 pm. On no-nap days, drowsy signs will appear earlier — likely around 5:15-5:30 pm — and the earlier lay down remains appropriate.
Drowsy signs give you a real-time biological signal rather than a clock time to guess at. They resolve the dilemma between too early and too late by telling you precisely when his nervous system is ready.
For today — Day 8
After a 34-minute nap with crying, he is overtired. Move the bedtime earlier tonight — lay him down at 5:15-5:30 pm or at the first appearance of drowsy signs, whichever comes first. Expect short latency. This is correct and appropriate given where he is today.
On nap timing
Do not move the nap earlier in response to early morning wakings. The 11:45-12:15 nap onset you have established is well-aligned with his midday circadian nap rhythm. Continue using drowsy signs as your guide within that range, stretching gently toward noon when possible without pushing past the point of pre-sleep arousal.
On the 6:00 am wake time
This is a biological anchor driven by his circadian rhythm. It will not move significantly regardless of bedtime. Work with it rather than against it. As the sleep debt continues to be repaid through consecutive appropriately-timed nights and protected naps, the early morning wakings should stabilize at or after 6:00 am consistently.
How does this sound?
— Marc Weissbluth, M.D.
This all makes sense to me. I have been following drowsy signs for most of his childhood. But I think there’s a balance between that and regularity.
At some point reacting to poor sleep or fatigue signs will not align with circadian rhythm, such as moving a nap earlier. He may be overtired but the brain wont allow him to nap prior to 1145am or so.
One part I do not understand is how he is overtired after three good naps in a row on days 5, 6, and 7. Is it because night sleep onset drifted past 7pm while wakeup time remained about 6 am? Why was night sleep onset so delayed even when I offer sleep before 6pm? I dont think there’s anything I can do for this? DOes putting him down too early cause the delayed sleep onset?
“After a 34-minute nap with crying, he is overtired. Move the bedtime earlier tonight — lay him down at 5:15-5:30 pm or at the first appearance of drowsy signs, whichever comes first. Expect short latency. This is correct and appropriate given where he is today.”
These are exactly the right questions, and you are thinking about this very clearly.
The overtiredness on Day 8 was not created by the three good nap days that preceded it. It came from Days 2, 3, and 4 — three consecutive days without naps. Three good naps help repay that debt, but recovery from cumulative sleepiness takes longer than the deficit took to accumulate. Day 8’s short nap with crying is the remaining debt surfacing.
When children cycle between good sleep and sleep problems the way you are describing, it is usually because the bedtime is sometimes too late. On the good nap days, the bedtime drifted later — and that is likely the entry point into the cycle each time.
On good nap days, his circadian clock is simply not ready for night sleep at 5:30 pm. The nap shifted his biological readiness for night sleep to later in the evening. You cannot move that wave earlier by offering sleep earlier — you can only watch for the drowsy signs that tell you it has actually arrived.
On the nap side, you are right that there is a balance between drowsy signs and circadian rhythm. His brain will not allow a health nap before approximately 11:45 am regardless of how tired he is. Stretching him toward that midday nap rhythm is the right goal — but stretching him too far past his drowsy signs can produce pre-sleep arousal and result in a worse nap or a refusal. You are looking for the sweet spot between those two forces, and some trial and error is needed to find it. The temporary early bedtime will gradually help shift that sweet spot a little later on its own.
By the way, describe the drowsy signs that you observe in the evening.
How does this sound?
— Marc Weissbluth, M.D.
There’s the key question for me.
“On the good nap days, the bedtime drifted later — and that is likely the entry point into the cycle each time. On good nap days, his circadian clock is simply not ready for night sleep at 5:30 pm. The nap shifted his biological readiness for night sleep to later in the evening. You cannot move that wave earlier by offering sleep earlier”
If a good nap produces later night sleep onset, and the stable wake time is always around 6am, the good nap appears to be interfering with adequate night sleep duration. That doesn’t make logical sense and is confusing.
Drowsy signs are yawns, less receptive, and not listening as well. When he’s overtired, which seems to be often in this cycle, the fatigue signs are eye rubbing, irritability, wired behavior.
Is it possible that on good nap days, the bedtime was actually a little too late?
Recently, do you ever see fatigue signs? If so, when do they occur?
I do not think the bedtime is too late on good nap days of my own doing because I am laying him down no later than 6pm regardless of nap length. Usually about 540pm and even earlier if I can and he needs it. On good nap days when he does not fall asleep until close to 7pm or later I dont think I can change that.
Fatigue signs have lessened since i started trying to correct this issue over a month ago with early bedtimes. But I do still see eye rubbing sometimes and “wired behavior”. If he has a short night or sleep i can see eye rubbing start as early as 10am and continue in the evening. Wired behavior only happens in evening around 445pm or so if it occurs.
Last night after the 34 minute nap, I laid him down at 525pm. I think I recall some eye rubbing during getting dressed for bed. Sleep onset was 607pm (long delay). Was I too late on laying him down?
He woke at 601am (steady anchor). A mostly successful night given the poor nap. Did not see any night wakings.
Understood. Do you think a white noise machine or black out curtains might help with his naps?
“Last night after the 34 minute nap, I laid him down at 525pm. I think I recall some eye rubbing during getting dressed for bed. Sleep onset was 607pm (long delay). Was I too late on laying him down?” You might try an even earlier bedtime on these occasions; but the risk is the “5:30 Bedtime Rut” as described in my book. Still, if you do an earlier bedtime, e.g. 5:00 pm on these occasions and the latency to sleep onset is shorter and he does not get up much earlier to start the day, you will know within 2-3 trials that this is, or is not, helping.
What do you think?
Oh I forgot those details. We have white noise and blackout. The house is completely quiet during naptime.
I do want to avoid the 530am rut as I have been in it before. But I will attempt even earlier bedtime if naps continue to deteriorate again and see how he responds.
Regarding short naps, have you recently tried the ‘Nap Drill’ as discussed on page 289?
We instituted the nap drill from a very young age successfully. He is fully sleep trained. We lay him down for sleep and walk out and never go back in the room until sleep is over. Regarding short naps, he is in the room for a minimum of an hour and sometimes longer. When he wakes from a short nap crying, he doesn’t cry very long and we do not go in. Sometimes he goes back to sleep.
I added some more days to the previous data I sent to illustrate the issue more. We are on day 10 now. Two short naps in a row day 8 and day 9. My instinct is to lay down earlier for nap but I feel that will be approaching too early and out of rhythm and he wont take a good nap.
Today (day 10) morning behavior has not been good and he has been rubbing his eyes since 9am. Morning wake is staying steady at 6am though. I just cannot figure out this nap and then timing bedtime. Clearly he still has some sleep debt. I feel like i make progress repaying it for a couple days and then lose that progress the next days after. Its a constant cycle.
Day………………….. Morning Wake ……….Nap Lay Down …….Nap Sleep Onset ……..Nap Wake ………Bed In Crib ……..Bed Sleep Onset……… Night Waking
Day 7………………………..5:58 am……………… 11:47 am…………………. 12:18 pm……………………….. 1:21 pm…………….. 5:52 pm…………… ..7:16 pm………………………….…… —
Day 8………………………6:01 am ……………..….11:44 am………………… 11:55 am………………………. 12:29 pm………………5:25pm ………..……6:07 pm …………….………………..—
Day 9………………………6:01 am ……………..….11:40 am………………… 11:57 am………………………. 12:36 pm………………5:15 pm………………6:40 pm ……………… 10:30-10:37 pm
Day 10………………………5:59 am ……………..….……-……………………………… -………………………. …………….-…………………………………..-…………..………………..-……………………………………-……
Previously, you wrote:”Fatigue signs have lessened since i started trying to correct this issue over a month ago with early bedtimes.” Would you describe this improvement as minor, moderate, or major?
I believe in trusting instincts for someone like you who has a deep sense in listening to your child’s sleep rhythm. “My instinct is to lay down earlier for nap but I feel that will be approaching too early and out of rhythm and he wont take a good nap.” Why not try this for a short trial and see what happens?
I would describe it as minor to moderate improvement. I put him down for the day 10 nap at 1122am. Asleep at 1147am. That’s 5h47m awake. He woke up at 1229pm (42m nap) and cried for 5 minutes then stopped and was standing and talking. Maybe he was under tired? Average nap onset of 12:04pm on good nap days. Average nap onset of 11:56am on bad nap days. Small difference but does it matter?
“Maybe he was under tired?” How did he look before this nap, were drowsy signs present? If so, please describe.
I would not say I saw any drowsy signs. He was rubbing eyes starting 9am, some shrieks, babbling loud silly noises (his speech is behind), playing like a fool.
At 11:22, he did not have drowsy signs and you wondered if he was under tired and he napped only 42 minutes. Maybe at 9am he was uncomfortable from not enough night sleep.
I have had the experience of first trying to help families by promoting an earlier bedtime to prevent pre-sleep arousal and failed. Sometimes, when this occurs, I search for other sleep-related variables that might have gone unnoticed or not reported by the parent. But you are very knowledgeable and would have shared with me other sleep-related items that might be present. So, I am going to suggest an opposite approach:
Move the bedtime later to try get a later wake-up time and a later nap time. He will need extra soothing and distraction in the early evening from emerging pre-sleep arousal. If it is too late and he gets very wired, it will be counterproductive and he’ll have a hard time falling asleep and/or staying asleep. So the exact later bedtime might take some trial and error, but a ball-park estimate is for a 6:00-6:30pm expected falling asleep time.
It may take several days for this bedtime shift to produce the desirable goal of a later wake-up time, please be patient.
Either after the wake-up time shift occurs or simultaneously with the bed-time shift, try to delay the nap until 12:30-1:00pm. Both the shift in the bed-time and nap-time to a later time might be done incrementally or abruptly, your choice. Again, he might need extra soothing and distraction before he is allowed to nap and again there might be sweet spot that works best for the delayed nap.
The hope is that a later nap, occurring more in synch with his biological nap rhythm will produce longer and more restorative naps.
I know that this works for some families but I really don’t have data regarding how often it works or exactly how long it takes. But I think it’s worth a try because what we’ve tried in the past has failed.
Please continue to keep data because the dat might show some small trend towards improvement before it’s really appreciated.
How doe this sound?
I can try it. I went back in all the data i have logged. I have it since a few months old. Back before we moved homes, he would have a later bedtime sometime past 7pm (a mistake I think). When falling asleep time was after 6pm into 630pm or even past 7pm, his wakeup time fluctuated a lot more. It would produce later wake times but would almost never go past 630am. It would also produce wake times as early as 515am or before 6am. Nap time during this was after 12pm and produced more consistent nap lengths of over an hour and towards 1.5 hours. This would cause later bedtime and shorten night sleep some.
I will try it out again. He has always been sensitive
Maybe start with a 6:00pm expected fall-asleep time based on what happened in the past.
Dr Weissbluth, I now have about 29 days of data collecting and determining statistical values. I won’t send each data entry since I last messaged you. Just the medians and averages. I excluded outliers from averages. It appears not reacting to early morning wakes with an earlier naptime is helping.
Morning Wake
-Median: 6:03 am
-Average: 6:05 am
-Observed range: ~5:21–7:00 am
Nap In Crib
-Median: 12:05 pm
-Average (only completed naps): 12:08 pm
Nap Sleep Onset
-Median: 12:15 pm
-Average (only completed naps): 12:14 pm
Nap Wake
-Median: 1:21 pm
-Average (only completed naps): 1:19 pm
Nap Duration
-Median: 1h07m
-Average (only completed naps): 1h08m
-Note: Short naps occur when nap sleep onset is too early (12:30).
Bed In Crib
-Median: 6:07 pm
-Average: 6:08 pm
Bed Sleep Onset
-Median: 6:55 pm
-Average: 6:56 pm
Night Waking
-Median not meaningful; most nights are brief or none.
Patterns & Observations
1. Nap timing is critical:
– Longest, most restorative naps consistently occur when sleep onset is ~12:05–12:20 pm.
– Naps earlier than 12:00 pm or later than 12:30 pm are often short (~30–45 minutes).
2. Wake from nap influences bedtime:
– When naps are long or late, the evening sleep onset is pushed later.
– This can compress the night, which may lead to earlier-than-desired morning wakes. (Interesting thought though since I dont think hes overtired so why wake early?)
– Capping naps at ~1h10–1h15 can help maintain sufficient evening sleep pressure, leading to smoother bedtime and more stable morning wake.
3. Evening sleep pressure:
– Median bedtime in crib: 6:07 pm; median sleep onset: 6:55 pm (~48 min latency).
– Maintaining consistent nap timing and capping excessive naps helps prevent long bedtime latency, keeping night sleep regular.
Plan
– Morning wake: 6:00–6:15 am
– Nap in crib: 11:55–12:05 pm → aim for sleep onset 12:05–12:15 pm
– Nap wake/cap: 1h10–1h15 max
-Bed in crib: 6:00–6:10 pm
– Bedtime sleep onset: ~6:50–7:00 pm
I think following this schedule keeps naps in the optimal circadian window, prevents overtiredness or late-night latency, and reduces the likelihood of early morning wakes.
Thank you for your clear report and data gathering.
Have you noticed any changes in mood or behavior?
What exactly is he doing between ‘bed in crib’ and sleep onset?
Does he understand consequences?
I think his mood is better now. Behavior is better but still have some issues like not getting what he wants and then crying about it. Dont think those are sleep related. He does understand consequences, but will repeat bad behavior sometimes.
Between the time he is laid down for bed and sleep onset he is generally just laying there waiting to fall asleep, adjusting, talking some. Sometimes may fuss for a minute or two when we leave the room. He understands “go to bed” and will say it during his night routine to us. Does it before the nap some too.
Read carefully the entire section on “Sleep Rules” in my book. Because of his age, perhaps consider only positive reinforcements. Sleep Rules might reduce the latency to falling asleep.
How does this sound?
Ok. I will