Establishing Healthy Sleep Habits: 18 to 24 Months

Typical sleep at this age
By now your toddler should be sleeping about 11 to 12 hours at night and taking a one-and-a-half- to three-hour afternoon nap every day. Some children will hold onto two shorter daily naps until their second birthday. If yours is one of them, don't fight it.

How you can establish healthy sleep habits
At this age, these are the best things you can do to make sure your child's sleep habits are on the right track:

Help him break bad sleep habits so he can fall asleep on his own.
Your child should now be drifting off on his own at night without being rocked, nursed, or otherwise lulled to sleep. If he learns to depend on any of these external cues, he won't be able to fall back to sleep during the night when he wakes up and they're not there. Think of it this way, say sleep experts Jodi Mindell and Richard Ferber: You fall asleep with your head on a pillow, only to wake up in the middle of the night and find the pillow gone. You'd probably be concerned about the pillow's absence and look for it, rousing from your sleepy state. Similarly, if your child falls asleep every night listening to a particular CD, he'll wonder what happened when he wakes at night and doesn't hear the music, and he may not be able to drop off again easily. To help prevent this, try to get him into bed when he's sleepy but still awake, so he can fall asleep by himself.

Offer him acceptable choices at bedtime.
These days your toddler is beginning to test the limits of his newfound independence, wanting to assert control over the world around him. To curtail bedtime power struggles, let your child make choices whenever possible during his nighttime routine — from which bedtime story he wants to hear to which pair of pajamas he'd like to wear. The trick is to offer only two or three alternatives and to make sure you're happy with every choice. For example, don't ask, "Do you want to go to bed now?" He could very well say no, which isn't acceptable. Instead, try, "Do you want to go to bed now or in five minutes?" He still gets to make the choice, but you win no matter which option he picks.

Potential pitfalls
Two of the most common sleep problems for toddlers of all ages are difficulty falling asleep and frequent night wakings.

This age group has its own particular challenge, too: Sometime between 18 and 24 months, some children start climbing out of their crib, potentially putting themselves in danger (falling out of a crib can be pretty painful). Unfortunately, just because your toddler can get out of his crib doesn't mean he's ready for a big bed. Try to keep him safe and stationary with these tips from Sleeping Through the Night, by sleep expert Jodi Mindell:

Lower the mattress: If you move the crib mattress to its lowest position, you may be able to physically prevent your child from getting out. This probably won't work when he gets bigger, though.

Empty the crib: Your child may be using crib toys or bumpers as stepstools to help him get out. If you remove them, he may stay put a little longer.

Don't make jumping out worth his while: If your child jumps out of his crib and you react by giving him lots of attention or letting him get in bed with you, he'll keep doing it. Instead, stay calm and neutral, firmly tell him not to climb out, and put him right back in his crib. He'll get the idea pretty quickly.

Consider a crib tent: Crib tents are widely available. They attach to crib rails with Velcro and keep your toddler safe inside.

Keep watch: Nip his escapades in the bud by standing where you can see him in his crib — but he can't see you. If he tries to get out, immediately tell him not to. After you've done this a few times, he'll probably learn to stay put.

Set up a safe environment: If you can't keep your child from jumping out, you can at least make sure he stays safe. Place pillows and other padding on the floor around his crib and on nearby toy chests, dressers, and other objects that could cause a hard knock. If he absolutely won't stop climbing, you can always lower the crib rail and leave a step stool nearby. At least then you won't have to worry about him falling and hurting himself. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

source from http://www.babycenter.com