Sleep Training for Toddlers

I think most parents agree that the older the child is, the harder it is to sleep train.  Sleep training can be hard, period.  No matter the age.  No matter the method.  If you believe in some crying, it is VERY hard for the parent as well.  No one likes to listen to their child cry.  As they get older, they communicate more and are more expressive.  Sleep training for older children will inevitably involve some crying.  And it may take more time than a child that was trained as an infant.  It will depend if the child was ever sleep trained.  If the child co-slept and never slept through the night it will be a different process than a child who was sleeping well but had some recent disruptions.  The latter will involve some retraining, which some be shorter (hopefully) than initial training.  Tracy Hogg, author of The Babywhisperer books, did not believe in having a child crying alone.  She differs from some other sleep methods out there.  It will depend on what you, the parent, feel comfortable with.  She has two methods to sleep train toddlers.  These are explained below:

** As taken from the Babywhisperer website

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The most important thing to consider when choosing a method of sleep training for a toddler is whether or not they've been sleep trained in the past.  Toddlers who were sleeping well before and may have gotten off track due to illness, traveling, developmental milestones, or other causes often do well with the Walk In/Walk Out (WI/WO) method. These children do have the skills to go to sleep independently and parents can feel confident that with a bit of a push they can get their child back on track. WI/WO reinforces the parent will come and resettle and comfort the child, whilst still giving them space to fall asleep on their own and return to their previous independent sleep patterns.

On the other hand, toddlers who have never had good sleeping habits and have not been independent sleepers in the past need definite support and maintaining a trusting bond between parent and child is essential. A child whose dependent upon parental presence to go to sleep will need to be weaned from this gradually and over time.  They also need to trust that the parent will help them and not abandon them by suddenly changing how they've always known to go to sleep.  The Gradual Withdrawal Method often is conducted in phases, slowly reducing the amount of parental dependency on sleeping.

A second factor to take into consideration is your child's temperament.  Some children settle best with parent's help and others need their space as they drift off to sleep and prefer not to have the parent in the room or become even more upset with the parent's presence.  Assessing your child's temperament: Angel, Textbook, Spirited, Touchy, Grumpy will help you make the decision between WI/WO and The Gradual Withdrawal Method. 

Below both methods are detailed.

WI/WO Method

Follow your bedtime routine being certain that your child has sufficiently wound down from the day.  When wind down is completed, lay your child down, tuck them in and use a phrase they can associate with it's sleep time such as "time to go night-night you can find your blankie/pacifier/suck your thumb/etc. to help you fall asleep."  Leave the room.  Stand outside of your child's door and assess the situation.  It's important to distinguish between different types of cries and identify when your child is truly upset and when they may be settling themselves.  Remain outside the room if your child is making fussy-type cries or noises.  If crying is starting then stopping, hang back and wait.  If crying escalates go in to resettle your child.  Repeat your phrase "time to go night-night you can find your blankie/pacifier/suck your thumb/etc. to help you fall asleep" and leave again.  Comforting should be brief and you should avoid picking up your child.

Upon leaving the room again, wait outside the door and reassess the situation.  The amount of time you wait is determined by how your child is reacting inside.  The key is to hang back enough to give your child space to fall asleep independently, but to respond to truly upset cries.


The Gradual Withdrawal Method

The key to Gradual Withdrawal is to take tiny steps and make the changes very small at first so the child barely notices them.  Create a plan, broken into small steps of how you will reduce the parental dependence and work towards independence.  For example, patting on the back becomes lighter and lighter until the hand barely brushes the child's back, but is poised just above it.

To implement, follow your bedtime routine being certain that your child has sufficiently wound down from the day.  When wind down is completed, lay your child down, tuck them in and use a phrase they can associate with it's sleep time such as "time to go night-night you can find your blankie/pacifier/suck your thumb/etc. to help you fall asleep." Settle your child in their crib/bed and comfort as you normally would, then implement the first step in your plan.  Depending upon your child's temperament, you may be able to tackle more in less nights, or need to do less over the course of more nights.

The Gradual Withdrawal Method is intended for children that are reliant upon a parent's presence to calm them and help them settle for sleep. Examples are: sitting in the room, holding a child's hand, laying down with a child, patting to sleep, among others.  The idea is to simply reduce the reliance on parental presence gradually and in very small increments so the child continues to settle well and gains confidence in their ability to fall asleep independently.  The parent is there to assist the child in sleeping, but slowly reduces the dependence.  Examples might be: moving a chair closer and closer to the door until out of the room over the course of a few weeks, moving out a child's bed to an air mattress on the floor, then slowly move farther and farther towards the door over time, reducing the length of time patting though still staying with the child - then slowly working closer and closer towards the door.

This is also the best method for a child:

• who's undergone controlled crying or crying it out as it helps to regain any trust that may have been broken
• who gets very upset, sometimes to the point of vomiting
• who does not settle after hours/days/weeks of walk in/walk out

This may also be a good method for a child who is not necessarily dependant on any one thing, but who needs some fundamental training to learn how to sleep independently.

« Last Edit: December 20, 2009, 05:29:32 AM by Peek-a-boo »

What is EASY? Getting your baby on a structured routine

You probably have a daily routine.  You roughly wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, have a cup of coffee first and shower, maybe exercise,etc.  Whatever you do, it is probably very similar each day.  If by chance, you wake up late or something interrupts the routine, it can throw off your whole day!  And you probably have lunch at a certain hour and dinner too.  We are creatures of habit, although to varying extents.  I have had a general routine of what time I wake up, the general times of my three daily meals and snacks, and the time I was at work or school for many years.  Of course it varied a bit day to day, but my days had a pretty consistent flow to them.  In part, it is my personality, but I thrive on having a solid and consistent routine and it makes me feel grounded.  People vary in their need for structure and some people are more free spirits.  However we all like some degree of certainty in our lives.

So do babies and young children! 

That is why Tracy Hogg advocates a structured routine right away when bringing baby home from the hospital.  She is very clear that is it not a schedule.  It is a routine that gives the day structure.  Tracy has a love of acronyms and called her structured routine "E.A.S.Y".  It is an acronym that stands for a predictable sequence of events that pretty much mirrors how adults live their lives, but in shorter chunks: Eat, have some Activity, and go to Sleep, which leaves a bit of time for You.

Here is a more detailed explanation of E.A.S.Y. (as taken from her website and book):

*All information is taken from "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems," by Tracy Hogg

E.A.S.Y. is "a routine that gives the day structure and makes family life consistent, which is important because all of us, children and adults, as well as babies and toddlers, thrive on predictabiltiy."  "With E.A.S.Y., you don't follow the baby; you take charge.   You observe him carefully, tune in to his cues, but you take the lead, gently encouraging him to follow what you know will make him thrive:  eating, appropriate levels of activity, and a good sleep afterwards.  You are the baby's guide.  You set the pace."  (page 16)


From page 17:
Why Go E.A.S.Y.?
EASY is a sensible way to get you and your child through the day.  It is composed of repetitive cycles of each letter.  The E, A, and S are interrelated-changes in one usually affect the other two.  Although your baby will transform over the coming months as she grows, the order in which each letter occurs does not:

Eat:  Your baby's day starts with a feed, which goes from all-liquid to liquids and solids at six months.  You're less likely to overfeed or underfeed a baby who's on a routine.
Activity:  Infants entertain themselves by cooing and gooing at their caretakers and staring at the wavy lines on the dining room wallpaper.  But as your baby develops she will interact more with her environment and move about.  A structured routine helps prevent babies from becoming overstimulated.
Sleep:  Sleep helps your baby grow.  Also, good naps during the day will make her go for longer stretches at night, because one needs to be relaxed in order to sleep well.
Your time:  If your baby isn't on a structured routine, every day will be different and unpredictable.  Not only will she be miserable, you'll barely have a moment for yourself.

"Parents who establish [the] E.A.S.Y. routine quickly get better at figuring out what their baby needs and wants at a particular time of the day.  Let's say you've fed your infant (the E), and she's been up for fifteen minutes (the A-activity), and then she starts to get a bit fussy.  Chances are, she's ready for sleep (the S)."  (page 17)  While she's napping, you should take the opportunity to do something for yourself, and then when she wakes, you'll know she's ready for her next feed.  (Assuming she's taken an appropriate length of nap).

Without a routine in place, life with baby can be caotic.  It would be hard to determine if your baby was crying due to hunger, or due to being tired.  You wouldn't be able to predict his nap times or feed times, thus unable to make plans for yourself and your family.  "Eating affects sleep and activity; activity affects eating and sleeping; sleep affects activity and eating-and all of them will naturally affect you."  (page 18)

E.A.S.Y. is not a schedule.  A schedule is more about focusing on the clock, whereas E.A.S.Y. is about focusing on your baby and his cues and needs.  Rather than following time slots, E.A.S.Y. follows a daily pattern of events.  By doing so, we guide our children and teach them by repetition.  "The most important aspect of E.A.S.Y. is to read your child's signs-of hunger, of fatigue, of overstimulation-which is more important than any time slot."  (page 20)  Tracy uses example routines in her books that include times.  This is for informational purposes to generally advise on how to use EASY.  But babies vary, and each baby varies every day, and you shouldn't panic if a feed time is off by 15 minutes, or if baby doesn't nap for 2 hrs.  Also, not all babies wake at 7 am to start their day; some are early risers, and some sleep later.

Average waketimes per age

Here are some sample ranges for "average" waketimes for infants.  There is a range but in general most babies do fit within these recommended guidelines.  Remember, with very young babies, often poor sleeping is caused from being overtired instead of undertired.  So I would first try shorter waketimes.  (Now if a child has had the same waketime and is all of a sudden waking early from naps, that is usually an indication to extend slowly).

Waketime estimates from "babywise moms":
Newborn: 30-60 minutes
4 weeks: 45-60 minutes
1-2 months: 45-70 minutes
2-3 months: 50-80 minutes
3-4 months: 60-90 minutes
4-5 months: 75 mins.-2 hours
5-6 months: 75 mins- 2 hours 10 mins.
6-7 months: 95 mins- 2 hour 20 mins.
7-8 months: 1 hour 45 mins- 2 hours 30 mins.
8-9 months: 1 hour45 mins.-3 hours
9-10 months: 2-3 hours 15 mins.
10-11 months: 2 hours 15 min-3 hours 45 mins.
11-12 monhts: 2 hours 15 mins-4 hours


Waketime estimates from "babywhisperer moms":
Newborn 50-60 mins.
1 month: 60 mins.-1 hour and 15
2 months: 1 hour and 15 mins. - 1 hour and 20 mins.
3 months: 1 hour and 20 mins. - 1 hour and 30 mins.
4 months: 1 hour and 45 mins. - 2 hours
5 months: 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months: 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months: 2.75-3 hours
8 - 10 months: 3 - 4 hours
11 - 12 months: 3.5 -4.5 hours

NOTE: In general, Babywhisperer includes every minute a LO is awake even while in the process of falling asleep and most Babywise moms calculate waketime from the time their LO wakes until he/she is put down for a nap. For example, baby wakes at 7 am and goes down for a nap at 8:15 am and falls asleep at 8:30 am. Typically a Babywise mom would say that their baby had 1 hour and 15 minutes of waketime while a Babywhisperer mom would say their baby had 1.5 hours of waketime.  (So that is why Babywhisperer times seem quite a bit higher sometimes.  From experience, I would say Babywhisperer waketimes are a bit high and some Babywise waketimes are a bit low.  Your child's optimal waketime might be in between these figures).

Recognizing a Baby's Cries

In Tracy Hogg's book, Secrets of the Baby Whisper, she teaches parents to listen to their baby's cry.  Babies do NOT only cry when hungry! Often a lot of inexperienced parents (and many attachment-style parents) treat crying as a hunger issue.  Of course it could be hunger, and obviously you would feed in that situation.  But there are a lot of other reasons babies cry.  Tracy describes the various "sounds" of the different baby cries and what it means.  Some parents can distinguish the cries very quickly, other parents have a much harder time distinguishing the cries.  From personal experience, it took a bit of time for me to learn the cries, and I found the observation of body language to be very helpful along with the cries.

** From the Babywhisper Website

From Secrets of the Baby Whisperer p.86-88

Tired or overtired
Listen
Starts as cranky irregular frequency fussing but if not stopped quickly escalates to an overtired cry: first 3 short wails followed by a hard cry, then 2 short breaths and a longer, even louder cry. Usually they cry and cry and if left alone will fall asleep.
Observe
Blinks, yawns. If not put to bed, physical signs can include back arching, legs kicking and arms flailing, may grab own ears or cheeks and scratch face (a reflex); if you are holding him, squirms and tries to turn into your body. If he continues to cry his face will become bright red.
Of all the cries the most often misinterpreted for hunger. Therefore pay close attention to when it occurs. It may come after playtime or after someone has been cooing at baby. Squirming is often mistaken for colic.

Overstimulated
Listen
Long hard cry. Similar to overtired.
Observe
Arms and legs flail; turns head away from light; will turn away from anyone trying to play with him.
Usually comes when baby has had enough playing an adult keeps trying to amuse him.

Needs a change of scene
Listen
Cranky fussing that starts with noises of annoyance rather than outright cries.
Observe
Turns away from object placed before her; plays with fingers
If it gets worse when you change position then she might be tired and needs a nap.

Pain/Wind
Listen
Unmistakable shrill high-pitched scream that comes without warning; may hold breaths between wails and start again.
Observe
Whole body tenses and become rigid, which perpetuates the cycle, because the air can’t pass; pulls knees upward to chest, face is scrunched in an expression of pain, tongue wiggles upward, like a little lizard.
All newborns swallow air, which can cause wind. Throughout the day you’ll hear a tiny, squeaky wincing sound in the back of the throat – that’s air swallowing. Wind can also be caused by irregular feeding patterns.

Hunger
Listen
Slight cough like sound in the back of the throat; then out comes the first cry. It short to begin with then more steady: waa, waa, waa rhythm.
Observe
Baby starts to subtly lick her lips and then ‘root’ – tongue starts coming out and turns head to side; pulls fist toward mouth.
The best way to discern hunger is look at when baby last ate. If she’s on EASY it removes some the guesswork.

Too cold
Listen
Full-out crying with bottom lip quivering.
Observe
Tiny goose bumps on skin; may shiver; cold extremities; skin can sometimes have a bluish tinge.
Can happen with a newborn after a bath or when you’re changing and dressing her.

Too hot
Listen
Fussy whine that sounds more like panting, low at first, about five minutes; if left alone will eventually launch into a cry.
Observe
Feels hot and sweaty; flushed; pants instead of breathing regularly; may see red blotchiness on baby’s face and upper torso.
Different from fever in that cry is similar to a pain cry; skin is dry, not clammy. (Take temperature to be sure)

Where’d you go? I need a cuddle
Listen
Cooing sounds suddenly turns into short waas that sound like a kitten; crying disappears the minute baby is picked up.
Observe
Looks around, trying to find you.
If you catch this straight away you may not need to pick baby up (pat on back, soft words of reassurance).

Overfeeding
Listen
Fussing, even crying after a meal.
Observe
Spits up frequently
This often occurs when sleepiness and overstimulation are mistaken for hunger.

Bowel movement
Listen
Grunts or cries when feeding
Observe
Squirms and bears down; stops nursing; has bowel movement.
May be mistaken for hunger. Mum often thinks she’s ‘doing something wrong’.

SLOW Down

As mentioned in other posts, I read The Babywhisperer Books by Tracy Hogg and found some of the information really useful.  Of course there is lots I don't agree with, but that is like any book, except maybe the Bible:) So, as a parent, it is up to us to take what we think is pertinent and useful to us.  

Tracy's first book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer,  tries to teach parents of infants various skills to help them: observing body language, listening to cries, and slowing down so that you can really figure out what is going on.

This post is going to elaborate on the last part slowing down.  I think this is a very good suggestion because often time a parent, especially a first-time parent, immediately goes rushing in and swoops up baby at the first cry without first thinking what is the problem, if any.  Sometimes there isn't even a real problem! Babies are often "noisy sleepers" as I call them and sometimes they are just transitioning sleep cycles and making sounds in their sleep.....so you could sometimes be actually interfering with them and not really helping (and this is actually from experience with my first child).  So Tracy advises slowing down to really figure out what is going on. Tracy has a love of acronyms, to help parents remember the concepts.  So she has come up with an acronym, SLOW, explained below:

** Taken from the BabyWhisperer website

S.L.O.W.

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Whenever your baby fusses or cries, try this simple strategy, which takes only a few seconds.

Stop. Remember that crying is your baby’s language.

Listen. What does this particular cry mean?

Observe. What is your baby doing? What else is going on?

What’s Up? Based on what you hear and see, evaluate and respond.

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S.L.O.W. The word itself is a reminder not to rush in, and each letter helps you remember what to do.

Stop. Stand back and wait a heartbeat; you don’t have to swoop down and pick up your baby the moment she cries. Take three deep breaths to centre yourself and improve your own perception. It will also help you clear your mind of other people’s voices and advice, which often make it hard for you to be objective.

Listen. Crying is your baby’s language. This moment of hesitation is not to suggest that you should let your baby cry. Rather, listen to what he’s saying to you.

Observe. What is his body language telling you? What’s going on in the environment? What was happening right before your baby “said” something?

What’s Up? If you now put it all together—what you’ve heard and seen, as well as where your baby is in the daily routine—you will be able to figure out what she is trying to say to you.

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Taken from The secrets of the Baby Whisperer.

For the L in SLOW-listening-involves also paying attention to the broader picture to find clues of meaning.  Tracy gives some  tips that will help you listen more intently:
Consider the time of day: At what point in the day did your baby start to fuss or cry? Had she just eaten? Had she been up playing? Sleeping? Might her diaper be wet or dirty? Might she be overstimulated? Did your baby do something new, like roll over for the first time or start to crawl?
Consider the context: What else had been happening in the household? Had the dog been barking? Had anyone  been using the vacuum or any other loud appliances? Was there a great deal of noise outside? Any of these things may have upset or startled your baby.  Was anyone cooking, and if so, were very pungent smells emanating from the kitchen? Was there any other strong-smelling scent in the air like a room freshener? Babies are very sensitive to smells.  Also consider the temperature in the room.  Was your baby over- or underdressed?  If you had baby out of the house longer than usual, was baby subjected to unfamiliar sights, sounds, or smells or to strange people?
Consider yourself: Babies absorb an adult's emotions, particularly their mum's.  If you're feeling more anxious or tired or angry than usual, this could affect your baby.
(Taken from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, pg 70-71)

Moving to 1 nap a Day

I found this interesting post on the Childwise blog about the transition to one nap a day. I do think it is interesting.  The author has two children and I'm not sure if she did this with both of them.  Certainly with the second and it appears it worked well.  But it also appears he was an above average sleeper and I'm not sure most babies would go to sleep only two hours after waking at those ages.  She notes that as well so some customizing may be needed for your child.  And I have know other moms who have followed her "don't list" and have had a fairly smooth transition.  I myself was a big advocate of the early bedtime during this transition.  And some moms say that shortening the morning nap did not help lengthen the afternoon nap adequately, so they went another route.  (Although with this I do think it might take some trial and error to find the proper waketime between the naps and that might be successful).  So I do think there are definitely more than one approach but she does make a good case:)

The link to the article is found here:
http://childwisechat.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/moving-to-one-nap-a-day/

I have included the highlight of the article below.  Happy reading!


Before I give you my advice on dropping a nap, let me explain how I would not do it.
Don’t #1: Get out in the morning
Some say that the best way to preserve the afternoon nap is to cut out the morning nap entirely, cold turkey. To avoid a cranky baby in the morning, you should go out. Run errands. Take baby to story time at the library. Whatever. Just get out. It’s true, that getting out will help keep baby alert enough that he won’t get as cranky as he would at home. But still, it deprives the child of sleep.
Don’t #2: Every other day
Another approach is to allow baby to have a morning nap every other day. It’s true that this could help baby drop the morning nap, but the problem is it still deprives the child of sleep. By allowing him the nap every other day, you are depriving him of sleep and then letting him catch up on sleep on the days you allow it. His sleep is not on an even keel. The other problem with this approach is that it’s still likely that baby will not nap well in the afternoon on the days he takes a morning nap.
Don’t #3: Early bedtime
One idea to drop the nap is to let baby nap in the mornings and then do an earlier bedtime to compensate for the lack of sleep in the afternoon. Mom gradually moves the morning nap later and later while doing an early bedtime. Eventually, the morning nap becomes an afternoon nap. There are two problems with this approach. First, mom is messing with both naps and bedtime. There’s no need to mess with bedtime (if you’ll finish reading this post). Second, baby is still cranky and overtired until the transition process is complete.
My advice: Shorten the morning nap
When you’re sure that baby is ready to drop the morning nap and that the afternoon nap disruptions aren’t due to anything else (noise, teething, etc.), start shortening the morning nap. For this approach to work, it’s important to know your baby’s optimal wake time. When I did this with Lucas, his wake time was 2 hours. I realize that not all babies can go to sleep after just 2 hours, which is fine. The key is knowing what your baby’s optimal wake time is. It’s different for every child.
Before his afternoon nap disruptions, Lucas would usually nap for 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. When I knew that nothing else was causing the problem, I started waking him up after one hour of sleep in the morning. I would allow him his usual wake time of 2 hours and then put him down for his afternoon nap. This meant that his afternoon nap started 30 minutes earlier, but it worked because he was still getting used to a shorter morning nap.
I continued allowing him a one-hour morning nap until his afternoon nap was again being disrupted in some way. I let him tell me when he was ready to shorten the nap even more. So then I started waking him up after 45 minutes. Again, I would put him down after 2 hours of wake time. Throughout the transition, I would let him sleep as long as he wanted to in the afternoon and I never messed with his bedtime.
After a few months of a 45-minute morning nap, we reduced it to 30 minutes. After a few months of that, we ended up going on vacation and it was the perfect time to drop the morning nap altogether. If we were home, I might have allowed a 20-minute catnap, but it also became apparent to me that he would have done fine without the morning nap entirely.
Bear in mind, this is not the fastest way to drop the morning nap. We started shortening the morning nap when Lucas was about 14 months old. He didn’t drop it entirely until he was almost 23 months old. Did I mind? Not in the least. Would I have minded a cranky baby all morning or afternoon? For sure. Would I have minded difficult bedtimes due to an overtired baby? Of course.
This gradual approach ensures that baby still gets the sleep he needs while allowing for an easy transition to drop the nap.
Schedule examples
To spell it out more clearly, here’s how our schedule looked during the transition.
Transition months 1-3
Morning nap: 10:00-11:00
Afternoon nap: 1:00-3:00-ish
Night sleep: 7:00pm-8:00am
Transition months 4-6
Morning nap: 10:00-10:45
Afternoon nap: 12:45-2:45-ish
Night sleep: 7:00pm-8:00am
Transition months 7-9
Morning nap: 10:00-10:30
Afternoon nap: 12:30-2:30-ish
Night sleep: 7:00pm-8:00am
You’ll recognize that the time between Lucas’ afternoon nap and bedtime got longer and longer. He handled this well. I realize, however, that some might not. The alternative is to keep the afternoon nap at the same time regardless of the child’s optimal wake time. There is something to be said for babies who are used to falling asleep at the same time every afternoon no matter how the long the morning nap was.
Finally, be sure baby is waking up at the same time every morning. No matter the method, the nap transition will not go well at all if you allow baby to sleep in every morning to compensate for a lack of sleep. The afternoon nap is where you will allow him to sleep as long as he needs.

Sleep Temperaments

Tracy Hogg, author of the various Baby Whisperer books, believes that all babies-just like all people-differ in the way they eat, sleep, and respond to stimulation, and in ways that they can be soothed.  Call it temperament, personality, disposition, or nature, but it indicates the type of person your baby is and will be.

Tracy has found in her experience that infants generally fit into onee of the five broad temperamental types: Angel, Textbook, Touchy, Spirited, and Grumpy.  

Temperament-which is sometimes referred to as "personality", "nature" or "disposition"-is the raw material that babies possess when they come into the world.  Temperament affects how they eat, sleep, and react to the world around them. (pg 54)

Here is a general description of each temperament type.  Keep in mind that these are the dominant qualities and behaviour.  You may recognize your child in a particular category or you may feel she/he is a cross between two or more of them:

ANGEL
EATING: They're generally good eaters as babies; if given a chance, they're open to trying new (solid) foods.
ACTIVITES: Moderately active; they play independently from babyhood on. These babies have a high tolerance for change; they're very portable. They're also very social, like to interact, and are good at sharing, unless overwhelmed by another child's aggressiveness.
SLEEP: Go down easily and independently; sleep long stretches by six weeks. After four months will take a good two hour nap in the morning 11/2-hour nap in the afternoon, and until around eight months, a forty minute catnap in the early evening.
MOOD: Usually easygoing and upbeat and not extremely reactive to stimulation or change. Their moods are steady and predictable. Parents find them easy to read because their emotional signs are so apparent. Hence, hungry is not often mistaken for fatigue
HOW THEY'RE OFTEN DESCRIBED: Good as gold. Didn't even know I had a baby in the house. I could have 5 children like him. We were really lucky.
TEXTBOOK
EATING: Very similar to Angel babies, although solid foods may have to be introduced more slowly.
ACTIVITES: Moderately active. Since they do everything on time, it easy to choose appropriate-level toys. Some are real doers; others hang back a bit.
SLEEP: They usually need the full twenty minutes-the typical time it takes a baby to drift from tiredness to settling into sleep. If particularly over stimulated, they may need a bit more calming from a prarent.
MOOD: Similar to Angel babies, they're low reactors-fairly unf1appable as long as someone pays attention to their signs of hunger, sleep, ovr stimulation and so on.
HOW THEY'RE OFTEN DESCRIBED: She's right on time with everything. She's mellow unless she needs something. A low maintenance child.
TOUCHY
EATING: Tend to get easily frustrated, and anything can upset their desire to eat-flow, body position, conditions in the room. If breastfed, may have trouble latching on and difficulty getting a sucking rhythm. Will balk at any kind of change or if you talk too loud. Refuse solids at first you have to be persistent.
ACTIVITES: Very cautious about new toys, new situations, new people, and need a lot of  support in such instances, or when going through any kind of transition. They tend to have low activity levels, and need to be encouraged to participate. They're usually less sensitive in the morning and better at one-on-one play than groups. Avoid afternoon play dates.
SLEEP: Extremely important to swaddle and block out stimulation. If you miss their "sleep window", these babies get so overtired that it takes at least twice as long to get them to sleep. They tend to go back to sleep in midmorning h)r a long stretch and only catnap in the afternoon.
MOOD: They're sometimes cranky in the delivery room, where the bright lights seem to overwhelm them. They are highly irritable, very reactive to and easily upset by external stimulation.
HOW THEY'RE OFTEN DESCRIBED: A real crybaby. The slightest thing sets him off .He's not good with other people. He always ends up in my lap or clinging to my leg.
SPIRITED
EATING: Very similar to Angel baby in the eating department, but breast feeders can get impatient. If Mum's letdown is too slow, he'll bob off the breasts as if to say, "Hey, what gives?" Sometimes, you need to give a supplement with a bottle until the milk really gets flowing.
ACTIVITES : High energy, feisty and very active. They are ready to jump into almost any situation, and exercise little impulse control or caution when they do. They arc highly reactive and can he aggressive with peers. Because they're usually more cooperative in the morning, avoid afternoon playgroups SO they can wind down.
SLEEP: As babies, they hate being swaddled, but YOU absolutely need to block out any visual stimulation. They tend to be resistant to naps or nighttime rituals, because they don't want to miss anything. If you're lucky, even though they sleep less in the morning, it will be followed by long afternoon nap, which is key to a good night's sleep for these kids.
MOOD: When they want something, they want it now! Opinionated, very vocal, and often stubborn, their moods are mercurial, going quickly from happy' to sad and back again. They love the action but also tend to overdo  it, which can lead to a meltdown. Tantrums are hard to stop once they get going. Transitions can be tough, too.
HOW THEY'RE OFTEN DESCRIBED: A handful. Always into something.1 don't have the energy to keep up with her. She's fearless.
GRUMPY
EATING: They're very impatient. if breastfed, they don't like to wait for Mum's letdown; they sometimes do better if bottle fed. However, in both cases, feeds can take a long time, which tends to overtire them. They could adapt easily to solids and when they finally do, they tend to insist on the same foods over and over.
ACTIVITES: They're on the low end of the activity continuum, preferring to play by themselves and to use their eyes and ears more than their bodies. If they're engaged with a toy or an activity, they hate to he interrupted and find it hard to end one thing and start another.
SLEEP: Sleep doesn't come easily to these babies. They often get overtired because they're so resistant; and then they tend to fuss themselves to sleep. These children also tend to be catnappers, sleeping only in forty minute stretches, which sets oil a vicious cycle ~see pages 249-252). BWSAYP
MOOD: As we say in Yorkshire, these babies are often "on the Fuss. Like a simmering pot that you have to watch to make sure it doesn't boil over, you have to keep an eye on their emotional signs. The slightest variation from routine can set them off : a missed nap, stimulating activity, too much company. Without routine , their lives are in turmoil, and eventually  they takeover your life.
HOW THEY'RE OFTEN DESCRIBED: What a sourpuss. He seems to prefer playing in his own. I feel like I am always waiting for the next meltdown. He always has to have his own way.
As taken from The Baby Whisperer Solves all your Problems by Tracey Hogg (pgs 58-61)

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There is a quiz that helps you determine your baby's temperament.  This is from Tracy's original book and is also posted on her website:

The "Know Your Baby Quiz"
For each of the following questions, pick the best answer.  In other words, chose the statement that describes your child most of the time.

1.   My Baby
A.   rarely cries
B.   cries only when she’s hungry, tired or over stimulated
C.   cries for no apparent reason
D.   cries very loudly, and if I don’t attend to it, she quickly gets into a rage cry
E.   cries a lot of the time

2.   When it’s time for him to go to sleep, my baby
A.   lies peacefully in his crib and drifts off to sleep
B.   generally falls asleep easily within twenty minutes
C.   fusses a bit and seems to be drifting off, but then keeps waking up
D.   is very restless and often needs to be swaddled or held
E.   cries a lot and seems to resent being put down

3.   When she wakes up in the morning, my baby
A.   rarely cries - she plays in her crib until I come in
B.   coos and looks around
C.   needs immediate attention or she starts crying
D.   screams
E.   whimpers

4.   My baby smiles
A.   at everything and everyone
B.   when prompted
C.   when prompted but sometimes starts to cry within minutes of smiling
D.   a lot and is also very vocal, tending to make very loud baby noises
E.   only under the right circumstances

5.   When I take my baby on any kind of outing, he
A.   is extremely portable
B.   is okay as long as where I take him isn’t too busy or unfamiliar
C.   fusses a great deal
D.   is very demanding of my attention
E.   doesn’t like to be handled a lot

6.   When confronted by a friendly stranger cooing at her, my baby
A.   immediately smiles
B.   takes a moment and then usually smiles fairly quickly
C.   is likely to cry at first, unless the stranger can win her over
D.   gets very excited
E.   hardly ever smiles

7.   When there’s a loud noise, like a dog barking or a slamming door, my baby
A.   is never rattled
B.   notices but isn’t bothered
C.   flinches visibly and often starts to cry
D.   gets loud himself
E.   starts to cry

8.   When I first gave my baby a bath
A.   she took to the water like a duck
B.   she was a little surprised at the sensation, but liked it almost immediately
C.   she was very sensitive - she shook a little and seemed afraid
D.   she was wild – flailing about and splashing
E.   she hated it and cried

9.   My baby’s body language is typically
A.   relaxed and alert almost always
B.   relaxed most of the time
C.   tense and very reactive to external stimuli
D.   jerky – his arms and legs are often flailing all over the place
E.   rigid – arms and legs are often fairly stiff

10.   My baby makes loud, aggressive noises
A.   once in a while
B.   only when she’s playing and is highly stimulated
C.   hardly ever
D.   often
E.   when she’s angry

11.   When I change my baby’s nappy, bathe him, or dress him
A.   he always takes it in stride
B.   he is okay if I do it slowly and let him know what I’m doing
C.   is often cranky, as if he can’t stand being naked
D.   wriggles a lot and tries to pull everything off the changing table
E.   he hates it -  dressing is always a battle

12.   If I suddenly bring my baby into bright light, like sunlight or fluorescent light, she
A.   takes it in stride
B.   can sometimes act startled
C.   blinks excessively or tries to turn her head away from the light
D.   becomes over stimulated
E.   acts annoyed

13a. If you bottle-feed: When I feed my baby, she
A.   always sucks properly, pays attention, and usually eats within twenty minutes
B.   is a little erratic during growth spurts but generally a good eater
C.   is very squirmy and takes a long time to finish the bottle
D.   grabs at the bottle aggressively and tends to overeat
E.   is often cranky and feedings take a long time

13b.If you breastfeed: When I feed my baby, he
A.   latches on immediately – it was a snap right from day one
B.   took a day or two to latch on properly, but now we do fine
C.   always wants to suckle but goes on and off the breast, as if he’s forgotten how to nurse
D.   eats well as long as I hold him the way he wants me to
E.   gets very annoyed and restless, as if I don’t have enough milk for him

14. The comment that best describes the communication between my baby and me is
A.   she always lets me know exactly what she needs
B.   most of the time her cues are easy to read
C.   she confuses me; sometimes she even cries at me
D.   she asserts her likes and dislikes very clearly and often loudly
E.   she usually gets my attention with loud, angry crying

15. When we go to a family gathering and lots of people want to hold him, my baby
A.   is very adaptable
B.   is somewhat selective about whom he’ll go to
C.   cries easily if too many people hold him
D.   might cry or even try to lurch out of someone’s arms if he doesn’t feel comfortable
E.   refuses anyone’s arms except Mummy’s or Daddy’s

16. When we come home from any kind of outing, my baby
A.   settles in easily and immediately
B.   takes a few minutes to get acclimated
C.   tends to be very fussy
D.   is often over stimulated and hard to calm down
E.   acts angry and miserable

17. My baby
A.   can amuse herself for long periods by staring at anything, even the slats in the crib
B.   can play on her own for around fifteen minutes
C.   finds it hard to be amused in unfamiliar surrounds
D.   needs a lot of stimulation to be amused
E.   is not easily amused by anything

18. The most noticeable thing about my baby is how
A.   incredibly well-behaved and easy he is
B.   much he is developing precisely on schedule – just like the books said he would
C.   sensitive he is to everything
D.   aggressive he is
E.   grouchy he can be

19. My baby seems to
A.   feel utterly safe in her own bed (crib)
B.   prefer her bed most of the time
C.   feel insecure in her own bed
D.   act feisty like her bed is a prison
E.   resent being put down into her bed

20. A comment that best describes my baby is that
A.   you hardly know there’s a baby in the house – he’s as good as gold
B.   he’s easy to handle, easy to predict
C.   he’s a very delicate thing
D.   I fear when he begins to crawl, he’s going to get into everything
E.   he’s an “old soul” -  he acts like he’s been here before


To score the self-test above, write A, B, C, D and E on a piece of paper and next to each one, count how many times you’ve used each letter, which denotes a corresponding type.

A’s = Angel baby
B’s = Textbook baby
C’s = Touchy baby
D’s = Spirited baby
E’s = Grumpy baby


Zeroing in on Your Baby’s Type

When you tally up your letters, chances are that you’ll have picked predominately one or two.  As you read the descriptions below, remember that we’re talking about a way of being in the world here, not an occasional mood or type of behaviour associated with a difficulty, such as colic, or a particular developmental milestone, like teething. You’ll probably recognise your baby in the following thumbnail sketches, or perhaps she’s a bit like this, a bit like that. Read all five descriptions. I’ve exemplified each profile with a baby I’ve met who fits it almost exactly.

The Angel baby.
As you might expect, this is the kind of baby every first-time pregnant woman imagines herself to have: good as gold. Pauline is such a baby – mellow, eternally smiling, and consistently undemanding. Her cues are easy to read. She’s not bothered by new surroundings, and she’s extremely portable – in fact, you can take her anywhere. She feeds, plays and sleeps easily, and usually doesn’t cry when she wakes up. You’ll find Pauline babbling in her crib most mornings, talking to a stuffed animal or just amusing herself by staring at a stripe on the wall. An Angel baby often can calm herself down, but if she gets a little overtired, perhaps because her cues were misread, all you have to do is snuggle her and tell her “I can see that you’re overtired”. Then, turn on a lullaby, make the room nice and dim and quiet, and she will put herself to sleep.

The Textbook baby.
This is our predictable baby, and as such, he’s fairly easy to handle. Oliver does everything on cue, so there are few surprises with him. He reaches all the milestones right on schedule – sleeps through the night by three months, rolls over by five, sits up by six. He’ll have growth spurts like clockwork – periods during which his appetite will suddenly increase because he’s putting on extra body weight or making a developmental leap. Even as young as a week, he can play on his own for short periods – fifteen minutes or so – and he’ll coo a lot and look around. And he smiles when someone smiles at him. Though Oliver has normal cranky periods, just like the books describe, he’s easy to calm. It’s not hard to get him to sleep, either.

The Touchy baby
For an ultra sensitive baby like Michael, the world is an endless array of sensory challenges. He flinches at the sound of a motorcycle revving outside his window, the TV blaring, a dog barking in the house next door. He blinks or turns his head away from bright light. He sometimes cries for no apparent reason, even at his mother. At those moments, he’s shouting (in his baby language), “I’ve had enough – I need some peace and quiet”. He often gets fussy after a number of people have held him, or after outings. He’ll play on his own for a few minutes, but he needs the reassurance that someone he knows well – Mum, Dad, a nanny – is close by. Because this type of baby likes to suck a lot, Mum may misread his cues and think he’s hungry when he’d do just was well on a dummy. He also nurses erratically, sometimes acting as though he’s forgotten how. At nap time and at night time, Michael often has difficulty falling asleep. Touchy babies like him easily get off schedule, because their system is so fragile. An extra-long nap, a skipped meal, and unexpected visitor, a trip, a change in formula – any of these can throw Michael for a loop. To calm the Touchy baby, you have to re-create the womb. Swaddle him tightly, snuggle him into your shoulder, whisper a rhythmic sh….sh….sh sound (like the splashing of fluid in the womb) close to his ear, and pat his back gently, mimicking a heartbeat. (This, by the way, will calm most babies, but it works especially well with a Touchy baby). When you have a Touchy baby, the quicker you learn his cues and his cries, the simpler life is. These babies love structure and predictability – no hidden surprises, thank you.

The Spirited baby.
This is a baby who seems to emerge from the womb knowing what she likes and doesn’t like, and she won’t hesitate to let you know it. Babies like Karen are very vocal and even seem aggressive at times. She often screams for Mum or Dad when she gets up in the morning. She hates lying in her own pee or poo, and she says “change me” by boisterously vocalising her discomfort. Indeed, she babbles a lot and loudly. Her body language tends to be a bit jerky. Karen often needs to be swaddled to get to sleep, because her flailing arms and legs keep her up and over stimulated. If she starts crying and the cycle is not interrupted, it’s like a point of no return, and her crying leads to more crying until she’s reached a fever pitch of rage. A spirited baby is likely to grab for her bottle at an early age. She’ll also notice other babies before they notice her, and as soon as she’s old enough to develop a good, firm grasp, she’ll grab their toys as well.

The Grumpy baby
I have a theory that babies like Gavin have been here before – they’re old souls, as we call them - and they’re not all that happy to be back. I may be wrong, of course, but whatever the reason, I assure you this type of baby is downright mardy, as we say in Yorkshire – he’s mad at the world and lets you know it. (My coauthor informs me that the Yiddish equivalent is farbissiner.) Gavin whimpers every morning, doesn’t smile much during the day, and fusses his way to sleep every night. His mum has a lot of trouble keeping baby-sitters, because they tend to take this little guy’s bad humour personally. He hated baths at first, and every time anyone tried to change or dress him, he was fidgety and irritable. His mother had tried to breastfeed him, but she had a slow letdown (the pace of milk working its way down and through the nipple), and Gavin was impatient. Even though she switched him to formula, feeding is still difficult because of his cranky disposition. To calm a Grumpy baby, it usually takes a patient mum or dad, because these babies get very angry and their cries are particularly loud and long. The sh…..sh…..sh has to be louder than the cry. They hate to be swaddled, and they certainly let you know it. If a Grumpy baby has reached a major meltdown, instead of shushing say “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay” in a rhythm while gently swaying front to back.

« Last Edit: December 13, 2006, 12:20:49 AM by jaime-jaina&luke »

Sleep Facts-stages of sleep

I found this info on the Babywhisperer website and thought it might be helpful to my readers.  This explains the  various stages of sleep and  how children differ from adults in sleep and why young babies are such "noisy sleepers" as I call them:) It explains how young infants can startle and "jolt" themselves awake.  In years past, when children were laid on their tummies, these jolts weren't as pronounced because of their sleep position and it didn't bother them.  With the "Back to Sleep" campaign against SIDS (putting them to sleep on their backs instead of tummy), I noticed my second had an especially strong startle reflex and she had a hard time settling into deeper sleep.  Swaddling helped her immensely.  It also explains how it takes time for them to establish all the stages of sleep and why those first couple months can be rough.


STAGES OF SLEEP

Sleep is split into REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep or dreamimg state) and Non-REM (quiet sleep). Non-REM sleep has 4 stages (3,4):-

A.Drowsiness
B.Light sleep
C.Transition between light and deeper sleep
D. Deep sleep
Then….
      REM sleep


Non-REM sleep
When a baby starts to fall asleep, they enter the first stage – drowsiness. You may be able to see their eyes may move slowly under the lids. They will become less focused on the stimuli around them (3). As babies try to transition through to the second stage you may notice them jolt or jerk or startle, which can wake them (2). Once they have entered the light stage of sleep, they can still be easily woken, and may experience another jolt as they are transitioning into the next stage. This is very common. Once in a deep sleep, it is very difficult to wake them and you may be able to pick them up without disturbing them. The heart beat is slow and breathing regular.
Deep sleep is restorative, and is thought to be a time when the immune system is boosted and healing and growth takes place (3,4)

REM sleep
During REM sleep babies are active and will use more energy. Although babies are very relaxed when in this state, you may see small twitches on the hands, legs or face. You will also see their eyes darting about under the lids. The heart beat and breathing may be irregular in young babies,  but this is normal. It is a time when learning is organised and stored. A full term, newborn baby will spend more than 50% of their sleep in REM, (2) and preemies 80% this decreases with age. In adults REM only accounts for 20% of sleep. Most of the arousals babies make from sleeping is after the REM stage, which explains why babies wake more often than adults and why preemies wake more often then full term babies. (2,3)

Sometimes they can be woken up easily in the this stage, but at other times it is very hard. It all depends on how important the noise they heard was to them, and how interesting or exciting the dream was! (2)


LENGTH OF SLEEP CYCLES

In babies the length of the average sleep cycle is about 45 mins, (1) this doubles to 90 minutes in adulthood. (3)


HOW SLEEP DEVELOPS
Sleep begins to develop while the baby is still in the womb. REM sleep appears in the unborn child of about 6-7 months gestation, and non-REM at 7-8 months gestation.
Non-REM sleep is not properly developed in the newborn baby. This happens between 1- 3 months, when the 4 stages, become established. Newborn babies will enter REM sleep straight away, when falling asleep. (1,4)

DAY & NIGHT TME SLEEP
The pattern of being awake during the day and asleep at night is called a ‘diurnal’ sleep pattern. Babies are not born with this. They come to us with a 24 hour clock and cannot distinguish between day and night (1). They need to have the physiological maturity, (4) plus your help and guidance to achieve the ability to stay awake for most of the day and sleep throughout the night. A good routine will help to establish this. (1)

Night time sleep is different than day time sleep.

Night
During the first couple of hours of night time sleep, babies enter a deep sleep, then for most of night, they cycle frequently between light sleep and REM with partial wakings after each REM period. (3) This is why, if they have not learned independent sleep, they wake a lot at night. Partial wakings become more frequent towards dawn.(2) The final part of the night time sleep cycle, finishes with about an hour of more deep sleep near to morning. If a baby wakes before finishing this last part of the cycle, going back off to sleep can be hard, as they have already slept for most of the night, so are already refreshed and do not have the motivation to return into that deep sleep, which is very important.

We start to fall asleep when our body temperature falls and the level of the hormone, cortisol falls. When the cortisol level rises in the morning, we wake.
If the cortisol levels are high, it is very difficult to fall asleep (3).

Day
During the day, sleep consists of naps, which vary in length. Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 45 minutes. These consist of the 4 stages of sleep, plus REM sleep. Once they have finished one 45 minute cycle they may enter another, and so the cycle is repeated, unlike the pattern of night time sleep.

References
(1)   Hogg, T. (2005) The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. London: Atria books
(2)   Carskadon, M.A. & Dement, W.C. 1989 as cited in Hames (2002) Help Your Baby To Sleep. London: NCT Publishing
(3)   Ferber, R. (1986) Solve Your Childs Sleep Problems. London: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd
(4)   Hames, P. (2002) Help Your Baby To Sleep. London: Thorsons/NCT Publishing



N.B. Ferber's work has been used purely for factual information only. B.W. does not in anyway advocate or condone the methods he uses to achieve independent sleep.

« Last Edit: June 26, 2006, 12:01:52 PM by jaime-jaina&luke »

Resources for average amount of sleep by ages

Ok, the question is often raised, "How much sleep does my child need?"  Really, they need a LOT.  A lot more than you think!  And I have found myself surprised over and over again that they still need a lot even as they get older.  There is a saying from Dr. Weissbluth that "Sleep begets sleep".  I have found this to be a good motto.

I have listed some sleep totals from my favorite sources. Keep in mind that these are just "averages".  So some children will sleep above these amounts and need to.  I have found that if I shoot just for "average" in our routine, I may get even less actual sleep (due to life's natural disruptions, nap disruptions, various developmental phases,etc).  So I aim for at least average or even more to see how much sleep my child needs.  Often you will be surprised, that given the right opportunity and training, how much sleep they need.
At the end I will give further opinion on this.
*********************************************************************************
HOW MUCH SLEEP DOES YOUR CHILD NEED-FROM THE BABYCENTER WEBSITE
As a new parent, that's probably one of your biggest questions. Below are some general guidelines as to how many hours of sleep the average child requires at various ages. Of course, every child is different — some need up to two hours more or less sleep than others.

Age	Nighttime Sleep	Daytime Sleep *	Total Sleep
1 month	8 1/2	7 (3)	15 1/2
3 months	10	5 (3)	15
6 months	11	3 1/4 (2)	14 1/4
9 months	11	3 (2)	14
12 months	11 1/4	2 1/2 (2)	13 3/4
18 months	11 1/4	2 1/4 (1)	13 1/2
2 years	11	2 (1)	13
3 years	10 1/2	1 1/2 (1)	12
* number of naps in parentheses

Per Babycenter website for preschoolers and older children:

You know your child needs less sleep now than he did when he was a baby, but how much less is still enough? Every child is different — some need more sleep and some less — but here are general guidelines for how many hours of sleep a child needs on average each day.

Age	Nighttime sleep	Daytime sleep	Average total sleep
2 years	10.5 to 12.5 hours	1 to 3 hours (1 nap)	11.5 to 15.5 hours
3 years	10.5 to 12.5 hours	1 to 3 hours (1 nap)	11 to 14 hours
4 years	10 to 12 hours	0 to 2.5 hours (1 or no nap)	10 to 13 hours
5 years	10 to 12 hours	0 to 2.5 hours (1 or no nap)	10 to 12.5 hours
6 years	10 to 11.5 hours	none	10 to 11.5 hours
7 years	9.5 to 11.5 hours	none	9.5 to 11.5 hours
8 years	9.5 to 11.5 hours	none	9.5 to 11.5 hours
* Note: The two sets of numbers don't always add up because children who take longer naps tend to sleep fewer hours at night, and vice versa.

  

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TYPICAL AMOUNTS OF DAY & NIGHT SLEEP FROM BABYWHISPERER WEBSITE:
Keep in mind that the following is an average - some babies need a little more sleep, and some will need less sleep.  You cannot fit a baby into a clock.  A baby's temperament, amongst other things, can influence their sleep requirements, as can milestones, teething etc.  The most important thing is to watch for your baby's tired cues.

Age/milestones             Sleep needed per day             Typical patterns
Newborn                        16-20 hours                       Nap 1-2 hours in every three;
Dont have control over                                             5-6 hours at night#
anything except their
eyes

1-3 months                    15-18 hours, until           3naps,1.5 hours each + catnap;
More alert and aware      18 months of age           8 hours at night#
of surroundings; able
to move head

4-6 months                                                           Two naps, 2-3 hours each OR;
Gaining mobility                                                       3 naps; 2 2hr naps & 1 45min catnap                                                                      10-12 hours at night

6-8 months                                                            Two naps 1-2 hours each;
More mobility; able to                                              10-12 hours at night
sit and crawl

9 months old                                                          2 naps of 1.5 hours each;
                                                                                11-12 hours at night

1 year old                                                              2 naps, 1 hr +1 of 1.25-1.5 hrs
                                                                                11.5hrs at night

                     The transition to one nap usually occurs in the 12-18 month range

18 months old                                                        1 nap - 2 hrs
                                                                                11.5hrs at night

2 years old                                                             1 nap - 1.5hrs
                                                                                11.5hrs at night

3 years old                                                             1 nap - 1.25hrs
                                                                                 10.75hrs at night
                       Daytime naps usually stop by the age of 4
4 years old                                                            no more naps!!
                                                                                 11.5hrs at night

5 years old                                                             11 hrs at night

6 years old                                                             10.75 hours at night


# - This is the longest stretch of night sleep that could be expected before waking for a night feed, and not all the sleep the baby will get at night.  Especially in the early days, babies will wake more often for feeding.

Short naps - some babies have biorhythms that make them short nappers.  Things to ask:
  * have naps ever been longer than 45 minutes or so?
  * is he cranky during the day?
  * is he sleeping well at night?
If your answers are no, no, and yes, then you probably have a short napper on your hands, and will have to adjust your EASY routine to reflect that.  You can read a real life example in the BWSAYP book on p. 215.
---------------------------------------------------------------
From Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (Dr. Weissbluth)
Newborn: 16-17 hours
4 months: 15 hours

**4-11 months: 14.25 hours
1 year: 14 hours
2 years: 13 hours
3 years: 12.5 hours
4 years: 12.25 hours
5 years: 11.25 hours
6 years: 11.25 hours
7 years: 11.25 hours
8 years: 11  hours
9 years: 10.5 hours
10 years: 10.25 hours
11 years: 10.25 hours
12 years: 10 hours
13 years: 9.5 hours
14 years: 9 hours
15 years: 8.75 hours
16 years: 9.25 hours
**The amount of sleep shown here is the fiftieth percentile rather than the average per the chart in the book.  When averages are listed in this book, they are usually a bit higher than this percentile.
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In general, I find the Babywhisperer average until 18 months to be quite accurate.  However I differ from that point on, more in the older children.  I have found from personal experience (mine and other moms, and also the forums on the Babywhisperer site) that a lot of the toddlers and preschoolers are overtired.  I do not believe that cutting the nap down is the best thing at those ages and those naps are quite short for those ages.  As children get older they are often involved in more things and structured activities (preschool, various classes,etc). They get more stimulation (both physical and mental) and really require daytime rest to stay at their optimal best.
I find the Babycenter info to be a bit low, especially the first year.
In general, remember these are averages and I think a lot of children do not get the rest they need.  There are other sources of information out there but I found a lot so low that I didn't even post them because I think they really are misleading as those children cannot be well-rested.  The bottom line is to look at YOUR child and how they are acting.  Are they seeming well-rested?  Are they generally happy?  (And a warning sign is that some children get hyper/silly and that is actually a sign of overtired, not the other way).