Advanced Two Year Old Needs No Sleep
Dear Dr. Susan:
My son is 17 months old and seems extremely verbal, musical and able. He picks up concepts and relationships immediately, plays piano with way beyond the expected abilities and seems to need no sleep in the process. Two questions. 1) How to best help him maintain interest and continue his growth without pushing too hard or too little. 2) How to deal with his small need for sleep. If you could offer advice or a referral to a university program that deals with these issues I would be most appreciative.
Mark
Dear mark.
Thank you for visiting my web site and for writing I love this question. Because he is 17 months old, you can assume he either loves his bed, his sleep, his time to babble and talk to himself, or he doesn’t! That is his personality and temperament talking not just behavior, so we listen. He is telling you he doesn’t sleep much, but he’s not telling you what he needs. He still needs 11-12 hours of rest, relaxation and sleep daily. So …he can have a study table (no lamp) next to his crib and a few hard cover toddler books to reach out and get, or he can have music played until he falls asleep. But he needs to be “at rest” two times a day and all night. Honest! The musical, verbal abilities of toddlers are well documented. Early talkers like the intonation and varying pitches of music, as well as speech.
Buy or find at a garage sale some instruments to have at home, and encourage the use of two hands on the keyboard, both a piano keyboard and a toy one. Use lots of puzzles with knobs on the pieces, use singing as a way to “talk” to him, sing when you change him, when you call him to come to another room.
Teach him to tell you when he goes from room to room. He sounds “able”, but remember 17-24 month olds have an over inflated view of their own capacities, so you, not he, are in charge. Encourage an assortment of food textures and food substances, etc. because good eaters are generally good sleepers. Poor eaters tend to be picky about everything. This is just a habit, which you need to avoid, so stick to your principles and don’t let your toddler run the household. It’s not good for their innate talents, and it’s not good for parents. Model cooperation and helpfulness, now, and you will be rewarded with a pleasant 2-year-old who goes down for naps and bedtime with a good attitude and a good “routine” approach to life.
Thanks again for writing and visiting our site.
Susan H. Turben, Ph.D.
