do your toddlers have a consistent sleep time?

[filmgirl2911]

I'm wondering if my baby girl is going through a developmental / milestone phase or if I need to work at creating a more consistent nighttime for her so that she falls asleep around the same time each night. :shrug3 Lately we have about a 2 to 3 hour window of when we can expect her to fall asleep - as early as 7:00 - 7:15 to as late as 9:30 - 9:45. Her waking has also become inconsistent - sometimes up at 5:00 or 5:30, sometimes up at 7:00.

Is this an age-related thing? She is 15 months old.

Should I be trying harder to create a consistent fall asleep time (which *really* isn't possible, right, because you can't *make* someone fall asleep) The unpredictability is starting to wear on me :yes2

Thoughts?

[me]

:hugheart
only 1 of my 4 had a consistent sleep time. but they all had a consistent rest time during the day where the house was quiet and they got to do quiet things and sleep if they wanted. then about an hour past dinner same thing, the house was made quiet and things slowled down to create a rest/sleep environment. but if i saw a consistent case of crankies at a certain time that became the time i would plan an hour to half hour before for them to be in bed reading or whatever.
hths :) this way milestones and such didnt really matter and we got to stay flexible with scheduling since our lifestyle really didnt fit the in bed at 8 strict type thing. The opportunity for rest/sleep was predictable but like you said, you cant make someone fall asleep.

[mummy2boys]

Mine are not toddlers now but they always had a consistent bedtime routine and still do to this day (they are 10 and 8 now) I found if I didn't, they would get overtired, especially DS #2, and it would be hard to get them up in the morning. But obviously what works for one family won't necessarily work for another :heart

[Dandelion]

my dc have not been consistant at that age :shrug3 I don't think any of them were consistant with their bedtimes until after 2. I find that one day ds3 will need tons of sleep, take a long nap and then be up later and then the next day he will often not nap much at all and then go to bed early ;) There is a definite *range* for bedtime, but it is about a 2-3 hour range.

[BearyBlessed]

Punkin was just like that for a long time. Naps were the same. It was really hard to plan around him. Thankfully, he was an only and I rarely had specific, time sensitive plans. :shifty

I think it was around 19-20 months that he finally settled into a semi-routine. He gave up naps at that point and started an early bedtime. It still varies occasionally, but stays close enough most of the time.

[Elora]

DS wasn't consistant naturally. I did work at some consistancy because it helped him to be less cranky.