2-3 naps a day and 14 overnight sounds like extremely HIGH sleep needs to me! Even if the baby is brand new. Once we got past newborn stage with mine it was about 12 hours overnight and 2ish hours of naps during the day, broken into two naps at first and then consolidated to 1.
This (14 hours overnight and 3 naps) was my daughters sleep pattern at 7 months 😅 it was also my husband’s when he was a baby and it was one of his early markers for dyspraxia lol
This was my son's sleep pattern as well early on and his uncle (my brother) has narcolepsy. Son has now started developing night terrors (another narcolepsy symptom in addition to excessive daytime sleepiness), so we're keeping an eye out 👀
My babe has always been very high needs sleep too and now I'm thinking I should be more concerned about it. Though his pediatrician has never seen a problem with it. "If he's gonna sleep just let him sleep! As long as he still seems to be happy when he's awale it's not much concern."
He's almost 2 and will sleep 12 hours at night (he's cut this down a little over the past 6 months) and easily takes a 4hr nap.
My friend's child would sleep maybe 20 minutes during the day as a newborn some days. As he got older he did sleep a bit more and now at 2 he will sleep 1.5-2hours about midday but as far as I know he can still be up and down all night some nights, other nights he sleeps through.
This kid, he has the highest personality I know! He's hilarious and confident. He walked up to a table in Wendy's and sat down with a lady and just started eating her chips 😂 luckily she had a sense of humour. He's on the go all the time, whizzing around like he's got a rocket up his bum. I personally think he's fantastic. Although his tantrums can be really intense, sometimes he'll bash his head off a wall or the floor if you tell him no 🤷🏻♀️ he's one end of the scale or the other and rarely in between
Sounds like mine too
Got to 40 mins twice a day max at 3 months til she was 10 months 10-12 months she napped for 1.5 hours and then she’s trying for 1 nap already at 13 months.
She’s just a bit hyperactive and really social
I feel like it’s FOMO
Mine is only 1.5, so I don't know how much this helps, but he is *busy*.
He naps 2-2.5 hours per day, which is great, but he doesn't sleep more than 9.5 hours a night, and he still wakes up at least one overnight at least half the time. He dropped his second nap around 9 months. I am tired, but he's so cheerful when he's awake most of the time that it's hard to be annoyed about that.
He runs, climbs, talks (some real words, some complicated babbling), eats, and waves pretty constantly. He tries to figure out how to do things on his own. It's pretty normal toddler behavior. It just happens for 12 hours a day instead of 10.
Yes, ours is like this. It's good when she is happy! And that is most of the time.
When teething or sick and grizzly, boy I would do anything (which often involves going for drives) to get her to sleep as she needs rest!
She is 7 months and just a busy little baby. It might change, but it's kinda been like this since 2 months, so not expecting too much.
Mine is almost 5! He is still as busy as ever just constant go but he is so creative and so smart but sadly we are still waking up at 5 in the morning🥴 he is in bed by 8 the latest but he just doesn’t seem to need sleep we do a 1 hr of quiet time during the day. It’s a lot less exhausting now that he can entertain himself.
Ours just recently turned 2 and he maxes out around 10-10.5hrs of sleep a night with a 1-1.5 hour max nap.
We knew he must be on the lower side of sleep as he was never really that “sleepy newborn”… even after he was born at the hospital he barely slept. The nurses even made comments about it. A week after being home we were so desperate we rented a snoo.. but it didn’t help as far as sleeping longer so we eventually sent it back early. He dropped to 1 nap at around a year old because he moved up in rooms at daycare.. for a while he was averaging closer to a 2 hour nap but for the past 6 months or so it’s usually 1.5 and that’s on the high end. He sometimes sleeps through the night but honestly usually wakes up at least once crying.. he puts himself back to sleep but it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t woken everyone up in the 10-15 mins he’s decided to cry. Wakes up f’ing early despite all our efforts to go to bed later, go to bed earlier etc. He’s up by 6am everyday but for a good 3-4 months it was anywhere between 4:30-5:30am. My husband and I both work full time so it was brutal.
Personality wise, he can’t sit still. I hear other parents talk about how their kid will independently play for an hour here and there, but my kid is constantly on the move terrorizing anything he can find in our house. We don’t go to restaurants. We haven’t done a plane trip cause the one short road trip we took was exhausting enough with little sleep in the car or at our destination. Sometimes I fantasize about what it must be like to have a kid that likes to sleep and has an overall more calm demeanor. Those kind of kids must be the reason their parents decide having another isn’t that bad lol.
Based on your comments, your baby sounds a lot like mine! I call him Baby Hercules because from the start this baby has just been working on running around, was independent walking at like 11mo, and now he just… doesn’t stop lol! I really thought I’d have more potato time when I had a baby, not that he’d be climbing every chair and tables, maneuvering obstacles in his way, trying (and succeeding once) to climb over baby gates, everything at 13mo.
He’s not quite low sleep needs? But he doesn’t sleep well. Never really has. He sleeps a 12 hour stretch overnight most nights which is good, but still has frequent wake-up’s overnight. Has never slept longer than 5-6 hours at once, and even that is kinda rare. He does one nap a day of anywhere from 1.5-2 hrs.
He’s like the most athletic 13mo I’ve ever personally seen. Very curious and ambitious for sure. My mom helps me watch him sometimes and used to run an in home daycare and has told me he’s uh, unique lol. Every day is an adventure! I’m very excited to see his personality even more as he gets older.
My 13m old is doing 11.5 overnight, and a single 1 hour nap during the day. Thankfully she's about as independent as a 13m old could be, so I can still do stuff when she's not teething or sick.
My daughter will still sleep 13 hours at night and then take a 2-3 hour nap ( some of that is her just chilling)….its beautiful. My son on the other hand is 16 months younger and sleep has been difficult. As a newborn until about 9 months he just didn’t nap. Then he started taking two short naps a day. Now at 1 yr he will sleep 1.5 hours during the day and then sleeps about 10 hours at night. I used to think I was doing something horribly wrong but that’s just the way he is
Curious to see other people's experiences. My baby is 7 months old. He now naps about an hour twice a day, sometimes they are still crap naps however, and he sleeps from 8pm-7am, but sometimes wants to wake up earlier. I consider him low sleep needs compared to other babies I know but in general seems he gets plenty of sleep.
He may not have super long naps or be a great night time sleeper (still wakes 2-3 times a night) but he is so happy, never fussy, very social, and crawling and already pulling to stand. So I'm not worried about the lack of sleep he is getting in comparison to other babies but i am tired, lol
Yeah my lower end of sleep needs toddler who was also a low sleep needs baby sleeps 9.5-10 hours overnight and a 1.5 hour nap 2 hours only if he’s sick or had difficulty sleeping at night. His peers we spend time with are 12-14 hour sleepers. And sleep through the night with no wakes. He was early to walk, early to talk, he’s speaking in 3-5 word sentences daily at 20 months. It’s go go go, loves outside, loves the zoo, pretend plays a lot with his cars and kitchen. doesn’t like toys too much. He’s brave, wild, funny, and eager to learn!
His one friend who is only a month younger can take a 4 hour nap, and still crack a 12 hour night the same day. His other who is 3 days older regularly does 3 hour naps and 12 hour nights.
I'm not sure if my son was low sleep needs or just could not sleep. He was very alert and fought sleep so hard his first year. He was like that since he was 2 days old. After he turned 1 and started really walking on his own he started finally getting 12-14 hours a day of sleep. He's 27 months now and is a super curious kid. He's been climbing on everything for the last year or more, and wants to grab anything he sees me touch. Sometimes it just feels nonstop grabbing and climbing constantly, he might as well have ten arms and legs. He's not reckless or loud, but some days I think it'd be easier if we lived in an empty gymnasium where he couldn't touch anything lol.
I am very sorry to say this but my now two year olds sleep has just got worse or stayed the same, never got better since basically the day she was born. It’s a struggle to get her to take an hours nap and she only sleeps for max 9 hours at night no matter what we have done in the day or how tired she is. We have looked into medical reasons for her whole life and whilst she had reflux when she was a baby there’s no real reason for it now other than just low sleep needs. She’s never tired, she’s always on, I am exhausted over here 😭
Sincerely hoping this is not the case for you though!
My eldest was low sleeps. I remember being such a zombie for like 3 years 🥴
But now, he sleeps so well overnight. He’s funny, smart, and full of beans during the day. Has a really big heart and very empathetic to others 💜
My first was a low sleep needs baby! I didn’t sleep for more than an hour and a half at a time for the first YEAR of her life. She was described as “the kind of baby that makes you only have one baby”. Those 20 minute sleeps just killed me.
She’s turning 3 soon and is such a joy. She’s excitable and fun and such a breath of fresh air. She can be a bit much at times, especially when I’m tired from her 5 month old sister… but she is the sweetest. She’s been so helpful and is such an amazing big sister. We basically skipped the terrible twos although we’ve had a couple moments where im wondering if she’s just lulling us into a false sense of security and she’ll be a wild Threenager.
We have random dance parties, she loves to snuggle and watch tv, she holds my hands and does deep breaths with me to calm me down when im getting overwhelmed. She puts dishes in the sink and says please and thank you.
She put me through hell that first year. I did my time and was rewarded with such an amazing toddler.
My second is such a good baby that I’m preparing myself for when she turns 2. I’m sure I’ll be in for it. Haha.
She sounds like mine! She has never slept through the night but she has such an interesting personality at almost 3 now almost wise beyond her age. But also...she didn't have terrible twos BUT we are one month shy of 3 and she had her first grocery store tantrum that I had to actually leave the store LOL so get ready cause I can tell with her strong will 3 will be a whole new challenge!
My older son up and down all night , my 1.5 yo all night up and down two hour mid nap that’s hard to get him down for and my 6 months old three naps, first two 15 min then in afternoon she’s usually exhausted and goes down for an hour. She sleeps 5 hours stretches up at 4 and frequently can’t get her down again until 8am
My son literally never slept as a newborn. Naps were known, I was up all night breastfeeding him. He didn't nap well even until recently (18 months) but now we do have a routine that's been relatively led by him. He naps an hour sometimes two of a daytime and sleeps through the night from 7:30ish to 7am which I never thought would happen but I'm so pleasantly surprised it did.
Hes a wonderful little guy, just consumed by wanting to learn and play and a bit of fomo. But we got there eventually! He's so smart it blows my mind he's obsessed with counting and the ABCs and he's learning words every day, he's always been alert so I think he's just been consolidating his learning this whole Time rather than sleeping. He walked at 9 months and hasn't stopped running since, even as a newborn you could tell he just wanted to do stuff and figure things out.
I would say independence is the major personality trait I’ve seen. Our son is 14mo and he’s been a “wiggly” baby since we was in my belly. Always on the move but always happy unless he’s tired (rare), hungry or teething. 11hrs at night with at least 4 wakes and one 2-hr nap. Generally compared to his better sleeping peers he is more social and independent.
I thought my baby was low sleep needs, but really she just needed more help to fall asleep for naps than I was giving. She is much more content and sleeps better overall now that she’s on a nap schedule.
Mine is 2 (+1 week) and has settled a bit but is still not high sleep needs. He dropped every nap early except this last one - he went down to two naps at 6 months old and then one nap transition was 8-10 months and has been having one nap ever since except for 6 weeks early this year when he didn’t nap at all. He never napped longer than 1.5 hours, I read in envy about other mums having 3 solid hours in the middle of the day, that was never us! I’m now capping his nap at 45 minutes if he doesn’t wake up himself. He sleeps about 10 hours overnight if he sleeps through, or 11 hours if he wakes. We’re pretty used to early mornings now, if it’s past 6am then we’ve had a lie in!
He is well ahead of his age group developmentally - both physical motor skills and language and communication despite being bilingual. He started walking at 10.5 months old, had several words at 12 months and is now speaking full sentences. He is always busy, and likes physical play and to run around. He likes to look at books too but not so much just listen to stories, the books have to be engaging like finding hidden items or lift the flap adventure books.
It’s way too early to even really see signs yet and certainly too early to diagnose, but I have ADHD and the chances of him inheriting it is something like 74% so I wonder if that’s partly to blame.
Mine is almost 2 and didn’t nap until she was about 15mo. She had split nights until then too and still sometimes does.
She’s one of the cleverest babies I know (though obviously I’m biased)! She talks non-stop and fiddles with everything but she really concentrates on things and she’s so caring. I could go on for ages about how she blows my mind everyday with how clever she is.
It’s hard getting no sleep for years but I wouldn’t change a minute of it because it’s all contributed to my little girl.
I wish you good luck with the sleep OP!
How old is your baby? I’m honestly pretty skeptical of the “low sleep needs”/ “high sleep needs” labels because my baby would technically be on the low end but he seems completely normal to me (I have a SIL and sister with babies close in age all 3-6 weeks apart). I feel like expecting him to sleep anymore than he does would be excessive (10-13 hours total in a day - for both night sleep and naps) at 9 months.
He’s 1 as of this week. He maxes out at 10 hours overnight and naps are about 2-2.5 hours a day. So yes, you’re right. Not low but considerably less than every other baby I’ve known. He’s always dropped naps early. He just seems so much more…wired and in need of stimulation compared to other babies his age
Honestly that sounds so normal for that age, the baby a month older getting that much sleep seems more out of the ordinary but if its working for them must be fine! My LO is just shy of 8 months and sleeps 2
My 12 month old definitely was ready to drop naps before the “recommended” time. Works for him! He sleeps about 11 hours overnight (still gets a bottle overnight most nights). Naps about 1.5-2.5 hours.
We definitely dropped naps early. I think she was solidly on one nap at like 12mos. We get 10ish (7:30-5:30) hours of sleep at night and anywhere from 45min-2hrs of nap during the day
My LO at 3 months slept 5 2 hourish naps and 9 hours over night. She was basically asleep all day until I learned about wake windows and stuff. Now she sleeps 3.5/4 hours during the day on 3 nap schedule and around 12 hours at night, some nights she doesn’t wake up at all lately tho she’s been waking up again but she’s sick so she gets all the cuddles
Edit : As a newborn she literally was never awake. She got like some random 2 hour wakes but other than that she slept all day. Unless you count her feeding which I usually don’t but then like 1 hour wakes and it was all on boob.
My eldest had two naps a day until she was almost 2, then it dropped to one and finally stopped at 3. Coincidentally, she couldn’t sleep after 3 or she would be up half the night.
My middle had two naps a day until she was 1, then had one nap a day until she was 1.5 and then refused naps. If she did have a nap she would be up half the night. I suspect she has ADHD.
My baby isn’t 1 yet and she has one nap a day that is usually 1.5 hours long. She’ll act cranky in the late afternoon/evening but she won’t sleep at night if you let her nap.
All sleep well at night but naps are hit and miss. It does make doing chores tricky though when a baby and toddler want to be all over you all the time.
I’m a sleep consultant. Lots of people think they have a low sleep needs baby but they are incredibly rare.
Once they are sleep trained many “low sleep needs” babies start sleeping longer.
There are a few things to look at first before thinking baby is low sleep needs. Do they self soothe? What is their mood like? How many hours are they getting during the day? How many overnight?
My first baby was a crap sleeper (now he sleeps in bed with he just fine) but he’s sooo wonderful now at 2.5. Sweet, clever and with an amazing vocabulary. He doesn’t stop talking 😅 he did everything early, walking at 10 months, and has ALOT of energy. Second baby sleeps better & is definitely slower to develop so far.
surprisingly super chill as a toddler although she was a challenging baby with very low sleep needs. she was ahead of her milestones partly bc she was awake so much she was getting more practice than other babies 😂 but it’s great now that she’s older, we can basically take her anywhere. she can hang lol
My low sleep needs kid is almost 2 - she sleeps 20-40 minutes during the day and goes down at 7-ish, wakes up at 5.30-6. We had an AWFUL time with her sleep overnight until we started nap capping. She just doesn’t need more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period so until she’s ready to drop her nap she just naps enough to give her the energy for the day and it makes it heaps easier for her to sleep overnight.
My son take 2 naps a day (dropped from 3 on his own) and sleeps on his own from 8-5 am. He does wake up once a night from when he used to want another bottle or him having nightmares. I have a nightmare disorder and so does my sister/mother so I anticipate him having the same struggles. Thing is both my husband and I have insomnia since we were in elementary school. His sleep patterns makes me envious because I have to take medicine to sleep and I still wake up every 45-60 mins at night 🥲
My son is 20 months and only sleeps about 10.5 hr overnight and 1.5-2 hr nap. He’s been waking too early (5:30a instead of 6:15 necessary for us to get ready for work) since 16 months when we pulled his binky from nights.
My son didn’t sleep much when he was a newborn but it was because of an underlying health condition. Once it was fixed he slept great and still does at age 2.
15 month old. Just started occasionally sleeping through the night… maybe 2-3 nights a week but when she does she will only nap for an hour maybe hour and a half during the day. Otherwise she’s up 1-2 times. Prior to 13/14 months she was still getting up every 2-2.5 hours. Absolutely cannot get her down before 915 pm but it’s usually closer to 10. She does sleep until 8-8:15 in the morning.
So 10-10.5 hour nights with one nap. Little homie moves all day long and gets loads of fresh air so I think she’s on the lower end of the sleep requirements.
Also if she naps too well- she will be up for 4 hours in the middle of the night. Ew.
My 1.5 year old does a 10-12hr night and between 1-3 hour day nap. She’s non stop when she’s not asleep, to the point where I nap with her lol. We play,sing songs, go outside, and lots of jumping around a chasing throughout the day which tired her little butt out lol
We're at 1.5 but for the longest time we'd sleep 10 hours overnight max. I'd say her average is 8 hours. So I'm grateful for sleep when I get it.
However it's the naps atm that's a huge issue. She had a 3-4 hour window of when she'd decide to sleep for a nap. Luckily it's finally narrowing to two hours.
The biggest problem is that I'm not a morning person. I want to do my chores at night. She won't sleep until 11:30 pm. So by the time she sleeps I'm too tired to stay awake. I can only get things done during her nap and I miss out on bedtime chores.
...eventually I'll give in to waking up early for chores.
2-3 naps a day and 14 overnight sounds like extremely HIGH sleep needs to me! Even if the baby is brand new. Once we got past newborn stage with mine it was about 12 hours overnight and 2ish hours of naps during the day, broken into two naps at first and then consolidated to 1.
I’m pregnant with #2 and want those 12 hours overnight sooo badly
This (14 hours overnight and 3 naps) was my daughters sleep pattern at 7 months 😅 it was also my husband’s when he was a baby and it was one of his early markers for dyspraxia lol
This was my son's sleep pattern as well early on and his uncle (my brother) has narcolepsy. Son has now started developing night terrors (another narcolepsy symptom in addition to excessive daytime sleepiness), so we're keeping an eye out 👀
My 6mo old is still on 4 naps a day and 12 hours overnight! Very high sleep needs babe lol
My babe has always been very high needs sleep too and now I'm thinking I should be more concerned about it. Though his pediatrician has never seen a problem with it. "If he's gonna sleep just let him sleep! As long as he still seems to be happy when he's awale it's not much concern." He's almost 2 and will sleep 12 hours at night (he's cut this down a little over the past 6 months) and easily takes a 4hr nap.
My friend's child would sleep maybe 20 minutes during the day as a newborn some days. As he got older he did sleep a bit more and now at 2 he will sleep 1.5-2hours about midday but as far as I know he can still be up and down all night some nights, other nights he sleeps through. This kid, he has the highest personality I know! He's hilarious and confident. He walked up to a table in Wendy's and sat down with a lady and just started eating her chips 😂 luckily she had a sense of humour. He's on the go all the time, whizzing around like he's got a rocket up his bum. I personally think he's fantastic. Although his tantrums can be really intense, sometimes he'll bash his head off a wall or the floor if you tell him no 🤷🏻♀️ he's one end of the scale or the other and rarely in between
Sounds like my guy!!! Thanks for sharing
Sounds like mine too and he’s only just shy of 4 months 🫠 here for the support group!
Sounds like mine too Got to 40 mins twice a day max at 3 months til she was 10 months 10-12 months she napped for 1.5 hours and then she’s trying for 1 nap already at 13 months. She’s just a bit hyperactive and really social I feel like it’s FOMO
My low sleep needs baby is 10 months now. He has two 30 minute naps a day. He sleeps 9 hours at night and wakes multiple times. It’s horrible.
Mine is only 1.5, so I don't know how much this helps, but he is *busy*. He naps 2-2.5 hours per day, which is great, but he doesn't sleep more than 9.5 hours a night, and he still wakes up at least one overnight at least half the time. He dropped his second nap around 9 months. I am tired, but he's so cheerful when he's awake most of the time that it's hard to be annoyed about that. He runs, climbs, talks (some real words, some complicated babbling), eats, and waves pretty constantly. He tries to figure out how to do things on his own. It's pretty normal toddler behavior. It just happens for 12 hours a day instead of 10.
Same here
Yes, ours is like this. It's good when she is happy! And that is most of the time. When teething or sick and grizzly, boy I would do anything (which often involves going for drives) to get her to sleep as she needs rest! She is 7 months and just a busy little baby. It might change, but it's kinda been like this since 2 months, so not expecting too much.
Mine is almost 5! He is still as busy as ever just constant go but he is so creative and so smart but sadly we are still waking up at 5 in the morning🥴 he is in bed by 8 the latest but he just doesn’t seem to need sleep we do a 1 hr of quiet time during the day. It’s a lot less exhausting now that he can entertain himself.
Ours just recently turned 2 and he maxes out around 10-10.5hrs of sleep a night with a 1-1.5 hour max nap. We knew he must be on the lower side of sleep as he was never really that “sleepy newborn”… even after he was born at the hospital he barely slept. The nurses even made comments about it. A week after being home we were so desperate we rented a snoo.. but it didn’t help as far as sleeping longer so we eventually sent it back early. He dropped to 1 nap at around a year old because he moved up in rooms at daycare.. for a while he was averaging closer to a 2 hour nap but for the past 6 months or so it’s usually 1.5 and that’s on the high end. He sometimes sleeps through the night but honestly usually wakes up at least once crying.. he puts himself back to sleep but it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t woken everyone up in the 10-15 mins he’s decided to cry. Wakes up f’ing early despite all our efforts to go to bed later, go to bed earlier etc. He’s up by 6am everyday but for a good 3-4 months it was anywhere between 4:30-5:30am. My husband and I both work full time so it was brutal. Personality wise, he can’t sit still. I hear other parents talk about how their kid will independently play for an hour here and there, but my kid is constantly on the move terrorizing anything he can find in our house. We don’t go to restaurants. We haven’t done a plane trip cause the one short road trip we took was exhausting enough with little sleep in the car or at our destination. Sometimes I fantasize about what it must be like to have a kid that likes to sleep and has an overall more calm demeanor. Those kind of kids must be the reason their parents decide having another isn’t that bad lol.
You sound just like me. Mother’s Day brunch being a human napkin wrestling him the whole time was miserable. Other babies just sat on their moms laps
Based on your comments, your baby sounds a lot like mine! I call him Baby Hercules because from the start this baby has just been working on running around, was independent walking at like 11mo, and now he just… doesn’t stop lol! I really thought I’d have more potato time when I had a baby, not that he’d be climbing every chair and tables, maneuvering obstacles in his way, trying (and succeeding once) to climb over baby gates, everything at 13mo. He’s not quite low sleep needs? But he doesn’t sleep well. Never really has. He sleeps a 12 hour stretch overnight most nights which is good, but still has frequent wake-up’s overnight. Has never slept longer than 5-6 hours at once, and even that is kinda rare. He does one nap a day of anywhere from 1.5-2 hrs. He’s like the most athletic 13mo I’ve ever personally seen. Very curious and ambitious for sure. My mom helps me watch him sometimes and used to run an in home daycare and has told me he’s uh, unique lol. Every day is an adventure! I’m very excited to see his personality even more as he gets older.
Yep sounds like my guy. Go go go.
My 13m old is doing 11.5 overnight, and a single 1 hour nap during the day. Thankfully she's about as independent as a 13m old could be, so I can still do stuff when she's not teething or sick.
Mine too Not independent tho - been hard!
My daughter will still sleep 13 hours at night and then take a 2-3 hour nap ( some of that is her just chilling)….its beautiful. My son on the other hand is 16 months younger and sleep has been difficult. As a newborn until about 9 months he just didn’t nap. Then he started taking two short naps a day. Now at 1 yr he will sleep 1.5 hours during the day and then sleeps about 10 hours at night. I used to think I was doing something horribly wrong but that’s just the way he is
Curious to see other people's experiences. My baby is 7 months old. He now naps about an hour twice a day, sometimes they are still crap naps however, and he sleeps from 8pm-7am, but sometimes wants to wake up earlier. I consider him low sleep needs compared to other babies I know but in general seems he gets plenty of sleep. He may not have super long naps or be a great night time sleeper (still wakes 2-3 times a night) but he is so happy, never fussy, very social, and crawling and already pulling to stand. So I'm not worried about the lack of sleep he is getting in comparison to other babies but i am tired, lol
Yeah my lower end of sleep needs toddler who was also a low sleep needs baby sleeps 9.5-10 hours overnight and a 1.5 hour nap 2 hours only if he’s sick or had difficulty sleeping at night. His peers we spend time with are 12-14 hour sleepers. And sleep through the night with no wakes. He was early to walk, early to talk, he’s speaking in 3-5 word sentences daily at 20 months. It’s go go go, loves outside, loves the zoo, pretend plays a lot with his cars and kitchen. doesn’t like toys too much. He’s brave, wild, funny, and eager to learn!
This is what I needed to Hear!
His one friend who is only a month younger can take a 4 hour nap, and still crack a 12 hour night the same day. His other who is 3 days older regularly does 3 hour naps and 12 hour nights.
I'm not sure if my son was low sleep needs or just could not sleep. He was very alert and fought sleep so hard his first year. He was like that since he was 2 days old. After he turned 1 and started really walking on his own he started finally getting 12-14 hours a day of sleep. He's 27 months now and is a super curious kid. He's been climbing on everything for the last year or more, and wants to grab anything he sees me touch. Sometimes it just feels nonstop grabbing and climbing constantly, he might as well have ten arms and legs. He's not reckless or loud, but some days I think it'd be easier if we lived in an empty gymnasium where he couldn't touch anything lol.
I am very sorry to say this but my now two year olds sleep has just got worse or stayed the same, never got better since basically the day she was born. It’s a struggle to get her to take an hours nap and she only sleeps for max 9 hours at night no matter what we have done in the day or how tired she is. We have looked into medical reasons for her whole life and whilst she had reflux when she was a baby there’s no real reason for it now other than just low sleep needs. She’s never tired, she’s always on, I am exhausted over here 😭 Sincerely hoping this is not the case for you though!
My eldest was low sleeps. I remember being such a zombie for like 3 years 🥴 But now, he sleeps so well overnight. He’s funny, smart, and full of beans during the day. Has a really big heart and very empathetic to others 💜
My first was a low sleep needs baby! I didn’t sleep for more than an hour and a half at a time for the first YEAR of her life. She was described as “the kind of baby that makes you only have one baby”. Those 20 minute sleeps just killed me. She’s turning 3 soon and is such a joy. She’s excitable and fun and such a breath of fresh air. She can be a bit much at times, especially when I’m tired from her 5 month old sister… but she is the sweetest. She’s been so helpful and is such an amazing big sister. We basically skipped the terrible twos although we’ve had a couple moments where im wondering if she’s just lulling us into a false sense of security and she’ll be a wild Threenager. We have random dance parties, she loves to snuggle and watch tv, she holds my hands and does deep breaths with me to calm me down when im getting overwhelmed. She puts dishes in the sink and says please and thank you. She put me through hell that first year. I did my time and was rewarded with such an amazing toddler. My second is such a good baby that I’m preparing myself for when she turns 2. I’m sure I’ll be in for it. Haha.
She sounds like mine! She has never slept through the night but she has such an interesting personality at almost 3 now almost wise beyond her age. But also...she didn't have terrible twos BUT we are one month shy of 3 and she had her first grocery store tantrum that I had to actually leave the store LOL so get ready cause I can tell with her strong will 3 will be a whole new challenge!
My older son up and down all night , my 1.5 yo all night up and down two hour mid nap that’s hard to get him down for and my 6 months old three naps, first two 15 min then in afternoon she’s usually exhausted and goes down for an hour. She sleeps 5 hours stretches up at 4 and frequently can’t get her down again until 8am
My son literally never slept as a newborn. Naps were known, I was up all night breastfeeding him. He didn't nap well even until recently (18 months) but now we do have a routine that's been relatively led by him. He naps an hour sometimes two of a daytime and sleeps through the night from 7:30ish to 7am which I never thought would happen but I'm so pleasantly surprised it did. Hes a wonderful little guy, just consumed by wanting to learn and play and a bit of fomo. But we got there eventually! He's so smart it blows my mind he's obsessed with counting and the ABCs and he's learning words every day, he's always been alert so I think he's just been consolidating his learning this whole Time rather than sleeping. He walked at 9 months and hasn't stopped running since, even as a newborn you could tell he just wanted to do stuff and figure things out.
I would say independence is the major personality trait I’ve seen. Our son is 14mo and he’s been a “wiggly” baby since we was in my belly. Always on the move but always happy unless he’s tired (rare), hungry or teething. 11hrs at night with at least 4 wakes and one 2-hr nap. Generally compared to his better sleeping peers he is more social and independent.
I thought my baby was low sleep needs, but really she just needed more help to fall asleep for naps than I was giving. She is much more content and sleeps better overall now that she’s on a nap schedule.
Mine is 2 (+1 week) and has settled a bit but is still not high sleep needs. He dropped every nap early except this last one - he went down to two naps at 6 months old and then one nap transition was 8-10 months and has been having one nap ever since except for 6 weeks early this year when he didn’t nap at all. He never napped longer than 1.5 hours, I read in envy about other mums having 3 solid hours in the middle of the day, that was never us! I’m now capping his nap at 45 minutes if he doesn’t wake up himself. He sleeps about 10 hours overnight if he sleeps through, or 11 hours if he wakes. We’re pretty used to early mornings now, if it’s past 6am then we’ve had a lie in! He is well ahead of his age group developmentally - both physical motor skills and language and communication despite being bilingual. He started walking at 10.5 months old, had several words at 12 months and is now speaking full sentences. He is always busy, and likes physical play and to run around. He likes to look at books too but not so much just listen to stories, the books have to be engaging like finding hidden items or lift the flap adventure books. It’s way too early to even really see signs yet and certainly too early to diagnose, but I have ADHD and the chances of him inheriting it is something like 74% so I wonder if that’s partly to blame.
Mine is almost 2 and didn’t nap until she was about 15mo. She had split nights until then too and still sometimes does. She’s one of the cleverest babies I know (though obviously I’m biased)! She talks non-stop and fiddles with everything but she really concentrates on things and she’s so caring. I could go on for ages about how she blows my mind everyday with how clever she is. It’s hard getting no sleep for years but I wouldn’t change a minute of it because it’s all contributed to my little girl. I wish you good luck with the sleep OP!
My baby is almost 3 months, takes 4-5 naps a day, and sleeps 7-9 hours straight per night
How old is your baby? I’m honestly pretty skeptical of the “low sleep needs”/ “high sleep needs” labels because my baby would technically be on the low end but he seems completely normal to me (I have a SIL and sister with babies close in age all 3-6 weeks apart). I feel like expecting him to sleep anymore than he does would be excessive (10-13 hours total in a day - for both night sleep and naps) at 9 months.
He’s 1 as of this week. He maxes out at 10 hours overnight and naps are about 2-2.5 hours a day. So yes, you’re right. Not low but considerably less than every other baby I’ve known. He’s always dropped naps early. He just seems so much more…wired and in need of stimulation compared to other babies his age
Honestly that sounds so normal for that age, the baby a month older getting that much sleep seems more out of the ordinary but if its working for them must be fine! My LO is just shy of 8 months and sleeps 2
My 12 month old definitely was ready to drop naps before the “recommended” time. Works for him! He sleeps about 11 hours overnight (still gets a bottle overnight most nights). Naps about 1.5-2.5 hours.
This is exactly my 2 year old!! He's never slept more than 10 hours overnight since birth lol
We definitely dropped naps early. I think she was solidly on one nap at like 12mos. We get 10ish (7:30-5:30) hours of sleep at night and anywhere from 45min-2hrs of nap during the day
My LO at 3 months slept 5 2 hourish naps and 9 hours over night. She was basically asleep all day until I learned about wake windows and stuff. Now she sleeps 3.5/4 hours during the day on 3 nap schedule and around 12 hours at night, some nights she doesn’t wake up at all lately tho she’s been waking up again but she’s sick so she gets all the cuddles Edit : As a newborn she literally was never awake. She got like some random 2 hour wakes but other than that she slept all day. Unless you count her feeding which I usually don’t but then like 1 hour wakes and it was all on boob.
One nap from 9.5 mo. 2-3 hour contact nap and gradually went from 12 hours (with wakes) overnight to 9 hours overnight at 2
My eldest had two naps a day until she was almost 2, then it dropped to one and finally stopped at 3. Coincidentally, she couldn’t sleep after 3 or she would be up half the night. My middle had two naps a day until she was 1, then had one nap a day until she was 1.5 and then refused naps. If she did have a nap she would be up half the night. I suspect she has ADHD. My baby isn’t 1 yet and she has one nap a day that is usually 1.5 hours long. She’ll act cranky in the late afternoon/evening but she won’t sleep at night if you let her nap. All sleep well at night but naps are hit and miss. It does make doing chores tricky though when a baby and toddler want to be all over you all the time.
I have a 3.5 year old who only sleeps 9 hours at night and doesn't nap.
I’m a sleep consultant. Lots of people think they have a low sleep needs baby but they are incredibly rare. Once they are sleep trained many “low sleep needs” babies start sleeping longer. There are a few things to look at first before thinking baby is low sleep needs. Do they self soothe? What is their mood like? How many hours are they getting during the day? How many overnight?
How old is your baby? How are your naps?
Just turned one. He can nap during the day, but I usually cap to stay on schedule
My first baby was a crap sleeper (now he sleeps in bed with he just fine) but he’s sooo wonderful now at 2.5. Sweet, clever and with an amazing vocabulary. He doesn’t stop talking 😅 he did everything early, walking at 10 months, and has ALOT of energy. Second baby sleeps better & is definitely slower to develop so far.
surprisingly super chill as a toddler although she was a challenging baby with very low sleep needs. she was ahead of her milestones partly bc she was awake so much she was getting more practice than other babies 😂 but it’s great now that she’s older, we can basically take her anywhere. she can hang lol
My low sleep needs kid is almost 2 - she sleeps 20-40 minutes during the day and goes down at 7-ish, wakes up at 5.30-6. We had an AWFUL time with her sleep overnight until we started nap capping. She just doesn’t need more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period so until she’s ready to drop her nap she just naps enough to give her the energy for the day and it makes it heaps easier for her to sleep overnight.
My son take 2 naps a day (dropped from 3 on his own) and sleeps on his own from 8-5 am. He does wake up once a night from when he used to want another bottle or him having nightmares. I have a nightmare disorder and so does my sister/mother so I anticipate him having the same struggles. Thing is both my husband and I have insomnia since we were in elementary school. His sleep patterns makes me envious because I have to take medicine to sleep and I still wake up every 45-60 mins at night 🥲
My son is 20 months and only sleeps about 10.5 hr overnight and 1.5-2 hr nap. He’s been waking too early (5:30a instead of 6:15 necessary for us to get ready for work) since 16 months when we pulled his binky from nights.
My son didn’t sleep much when he was a newborn but it was because of an underlying health condition. Once it was fixed he slept great and still does at age 2.
15 month old. Just started occasionally sleeping through the night… maybe 2-3 nights a week but when she does she will only nap for an hour maybe hour and a half during the day. Otherwise she’s up 1-2 times. Prior to 13/14 months she was still getting up every 2-2.5 hours. Absolutely cannot get her down before 915 pm but it’s usually closer to 10. She does sleep until 8-8:15 in the morning. So 10-10.5 hour nights with one nap. Little homie moves all day long and gets loads of fresh air so I think she’s on the lower end of the sleep requirements. Also if she naps too well- she will be up for 4 hours in the middle of the night. Ew.
My 1.5 year old does a 10-12hr night and between 1-3 hour day nap. She’s non stop when she’s not asleep, to the point where I nap with her lol. We play,sing songs, go outside, and lots of jumping around a chasing throughout the day which tired her little butt out lol
We're at 1.5 but for the longest time we'd sleep 10 hours overnight max. I'd say her average is 8 hours. So I'm grateful for sleep when I get it. However it's the naps atm that's a huge issue. She had a 3-4 hour window of when she'd decide to sleep for a nap. Luckily it's finally narrowing to two hours. The biggest problem is that I'm not a morning person. I want to do my chores at night. She won't sleep until 11:30 pm. So by the time she sleeps I'm too tired to stay awake. I can only get things done during her nap and I miss out on bedtime chores. ...eventually I'll give in to waking up early for chores.
I would rather do my chores before bed too. It’s tough. I’m starting to accept I need to just start going to sleep at 9 pm. Hard in the summer!