The other day, it took an inordinate amount of time to get Dylan to bed. Yesterday, I noticed that a repeat performance was underway. After we had read our books, it was eight thirty. Dylan was not at all sleepy. It was 8:30 and he had not napped. He had also only gotten nine hours of sleep the previous night when he had been regularly sleeping for twelve hours. I did not know what to do to avoid another late night, so I asked him what he thought he needed to have or do in order to fall asleep. Dylan said that he wanted to ride in the car, so I took the boys for a ride. Sure enough, five minutes later both of them were sound asleep.
I drove around for about fifteen minutes before returning home. Blake was awake, but that is normal for that time of night. Fortunately, he was not fussing so I brought him into the house first and set his car seat in the kitchen. It was time to see whether Dylan would remain asleep through the car to bed transfer. Miraculously, I was able to bring him up to bed, settle him in, and leave the room within minutes.
Today, our evening routine did work the way that it had been working before, except that Dylan fell asleep at nine. Is that going to become his new bedtime? Is it possible that all of this bedtime weirdness of late has been caused by a change in the amount of sleep that he needs? I decided to check it out. I had written an article before on the amount of sleep that children need. At the time that I wrote it, Dylan was at an age where he needed twelve hours. Most of the places that I looked online, like WebMD and Baby Center, say that the average toddler does need twelve hours of sleep in each twenty four hour period. However, it is important to note that both of those sites mention that some toddlers may need up to two hours more or less than the average.
I am beginning to think that a change in the amount of sleep that Dylan needs is the reason why our previous evening timetable stopped working. We may be entering a time when naps are the exception rather than the rule, and bedtime is nine on no nap days and ten thirty on days when Dylan naps. The take – home message from all of this is that if your bedtime routine stops working, the problem may have nothing to do with the routine. Your child’s sleep needs may be changing. Try using the same routine, just at a later time, and see what happens.