23 Month Old Sleep Schedule: Naps, Wake Windows and Bedtime

One month shy of two, your child is barely a baby anymore. A 23 month old runs, climbs, strings words into tiny sentences, and has opinions about almost everything, bedtime included. Parents searching for a 23 month old sleep schedule are usually navigating one of a few things: a single nap that has started to feel negotiable, longer bedtime standoffs, or the first flickers of the two-year sleep regression arriving a little early.

The reassuring part: at 23 months the underlying framework is stable and simple. One good nap, a long afternoon of awake time, and a consolidated night are exactly what this age is built for. Most of the friction now is behavioral rather than a broken schedule, and knowing which is which makes the whole day easier to hold.

This guide covers how much sleep a 23 month old needs, a sample one-nap day, what parents in our survey tell us about toddler sleep at this stage, and how to handle nap resistance and bedtime negotiation without dismantling the routine that works.

At a Glance: 23 Month Sleep Expectations

At 23 months, most toddlers sleep 11 to 14 total hours per day: roughly 10 to 12 hours overnight plus one nap of about 1.5 to 3 hours. The wake window before that nap runs around 5.5 to 6 hours, and bedtime typically falls between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Some perspective from Betteroo’s State of Baby Sleep survey: night waking keeps declining through the second year. It peaks in infancy and then falls steadily, and by the toddler stretch a shrinking share of children still wake three or more times a night. If your almost-two year old sleeps through most nights now, that tracks with what we see, and the occasional rough night usually has a clear developmental cause.

How Much Should a 23 Month Old Sleep?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours for children aged 1 to 2 years, naps included ¹. Most 23 month olds land squarely in that band, and reference studies of childhood sleep show broad, healthy variation around those averages ².

Sleep Type	Typical Range at 23 Months
Total Sleep	11–14 hours
Night Sleep	10–12 hours
Naps	1 per day (1.5–3 hours)
Wake Windows	~5.5–6 hours (before nap)

The single midday nap is firmly the norm at this age. The two-to-one nap transition is well behind most children by 23 months, having happened somewhere between 14 and 18 months. If your toddler is fighting the nap, the answer is almost never to drop it this early. A 23 month old who skips the nap usually falls apart by late afternoon and crashes into a fragmented, early-waking night.

A Sample 23 Month Old Sleep Schedule (An Example, Not a Rule)

• 7:00 a.m. – Wake
• 12:30–2:30 p.m. – Nap
• 7:30 p.m. – Bedtime

Notice the shape of the day: a long morning wake window of about 5.5 hours before the nap, then roughly 5 hours of awake time between the end of the nap and bedtime. That afternoon stretch is where an early or short nap can cause trouble. If the nap ends before 2:00 p.m. or runs short, protect the night by nudging bedtime a little earlier rather than letting an overtired toddler power through to 8:00 p.m. and beyond.

Bedtime between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. is where most families land at this age. In our survey, 39% of all babies have a bedtime between 7:00 and 7:59 p.m., the single most common window, and toddlers tend to hold near that even as the day lengthens. A consistent bedtime anchored by a predictable, unhurried routine is one of the most evidence-backed sleep tools you have ³, and it matters more than ever now that your child can stall with real creativity.

Why 23 Month Old Sleep Gets Bumpy

If sleep has wobbled lately, the cause at 23 months is usually a mix of development and a rapidly growing sense of self:

• The two-year regression, arriving early. The classic disruption tied to turning two can start in the 22 to 23 month window. Expect more bedtime protest, occasional night waking, and testing of limits that felt settled a month ago.
• Nap resistance, real nap need. Your toddler may insist they are not tired and still clearly need the nap. Fighting it is a bid for control, not proof the nap is done.
• Language and imagination. A vocabulary explosion and a budding imagination mean more to process at bedtime, and sometimes the first stirrings of stalling, requests, and mild nighttime fears.
• Independence and boundary testing. Almost-two is a boundary-testing age. Bedtime becomes a natural place to negotiate, because that is where the day’s limits get their final workout.

Many parents call this the 2 year sleep regression, and at 23 months you are on its front edge. Whatever the label, the pattern is the same: a temporary, developmentally driven disruption sitting on top of an otherwise sound schedule. Our 2 year sleep regression guide maps what is coming, and the 22 month old sleep schedule covers the weeks just behind you.

Helping Your 23 Month Old Sleep Better

A few high-leverage moves at this age:

• Protect the one nap. Resist the urge to drop it at the first hard week. Most children need a nap well past their second birthday, and 23 months is far too early to move to no-nap days.
• Offer small, safe choices. Let your toddler pick the pajamas or which two books to read. Giving control where it is harmless reduces the fight over the parts that are not up for debate.
• Keep the bedtime routine short and identical. Same order, same steps, every night. Predictability is what quiets a boundary-testing toddler faster than any negotiation. See our wake windows guide to keep the pre-bed window from running long.
• Hold the line, warmly. Answer stalls and requests with calm, brief, boring consistency. One drink, one more hug, then done. Long back-and-forth at this age becomes tomorrow’s expectation.
• Hold off on the big-kid bed and potty pressure. Unless your toddler is climbing out of the crib, there is no rush. Stacking a bed transition or potty training on top of the two-year regression tends to unravel sleep, so keep them for later.

If independent sleep is still a struggle, 23 months is a very workable age for gentle change. Toddlers this age respond quickly to consistency, and research shows a steady bedtime routine alone significantly reduces night wakings ³. Big-kid-bed and potty-training conversations are on the horizon, but they are best kept separate from sleep work for now.

When to Talk to a Pediatrician

Reach out if your toddler consistently sleeps well under 11 total hours, snores or has breathing pauses, wakes screaming inconsolably most nights, or if you are worried about development or growth. Keep the crib mattress at its lowest setting and the sleep space bare and safe, in line with AAP safe sleep guidance, and only consider a bed once your child is climbing out or is closer to three ⁴.

23 Month Old Sleep Schedule FAQ

A Grounding Takeaway

Twenty-three month old sleep is mostly a story of a solid schedule meeting a big personality. The one-nap frame and the 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. bedtime are not the problem; the growing independence is the point. Protect the nap, offer small choices where you safely can, keep the routine short and identical, and answer the stalling with calm consistency. The two-year regression is on the front edge here, but it passes, and the schedule underneath it stays sound.

Next up: the 24 month old sleep schedule, or zoom out with the full baby sleep schedule by age guide.