Is it normal for toddlers to wake in the night?

This page is part of a collection of short articles called Brief & simple, which together make up a quick summary of The Possums Sleep Program in plain language. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.

It's quite normal for toddlers to wake in the night, despite what you might hear. Some normal healthy toddlers wake a few times in the night right throughout the second year of life.

By 2 years of age, the majority of toddlers sleep for eight hours most nights without waking their parents - but lots of toddlers still wake up. There is nothing wrong with these little ones! They are just at the slower end of working out their night-time sleep.

If your toddler has excessive night waking , then there are things that you can do to help, which we discuss if you read on.

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful to Professor Sophie Havighurst, Ros June, and Caroline Ma at Mindful, The University of Melbourne, for their feedback on the articles in the Brief & simple section of The Possums Sleep Program. They helped me keep the language plain and the concepts as accessible as possible. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.