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

Twenty months is peak opinion season. Your toddler has thoughts about which pajamas, which book, which parent does bedtime, and whether the nap is happening at all today. Parents searching for a 20 month old sleep schedule are usually navigating one of three things: a single nap that some days feels too short, bedtime that keeps stretching later thanks to stalling and negotiation, or a strong-willed little person who has discovered that “no” is a very powerful word.

The reassuring part: by twenty months, sleep architecture is genuinely mature. One consolidated nap and a solid night are the norm, and most of the friction at this age is behavioral and developmental rather than a sign that anything is broken. The independence that makes bedtime harder is the same independence you actually want your toddler to have.

This guide covers how much sleep a twenty month old needs, a sample one-nap day, what our survey of tens of thousands of parents suggests about night waking at this age, and how to handle bedtime stalling, early nap-drop attempts, and toddler opinions without losing the plot.

At a Glance: 20 Month Sleep Expectations

At twenty months, most toddlers sleep 11 to 14 total hours per day: roughly 10 to 12 hours overnight plus 1 nap of about 1.5 to 3 hours. Wake windows now run long, around 5 to 5.5 hours on either side of the nap, and bedtime typically falls between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Some perspective from Betteroo’s State of Baby Sleep survey: night waking peaks at 7 to 9 months and then falls steadily. By 13 to 18 months, the share of children waking three or more times a night had dropped to 53.5% (n=5,002), and at twenty months you are past that band and on the calmer downhill side. Night waking continues to decline through the second year, so if your toddler still wakes occasionally, the overall trend is firmly in your favor.

How Much Should a 20 Month Old Sleep?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours for toddlers aged 1 to 2 years, naps included ¹. Most twenty month olds sit comfortably inside that range, and reference studies of childhood sleep show wide, healthy variation around those averages ².

Sleep Type	Typical Range at 20 Months
Total Sleep	11–14 hours
Night Sleep	10–12 hours
Naps	1 per day (1.5–3 hours)
Wake Windows	5–5.5 hours

The single midday nap is firmly established by now. The two-to-one transition happened months ago for most toddlers, and a twenty month old typically needs a good five hours of awake time before that nap will actually take. That is why an early nap attempt so often ends in a battle, which we will come back to.

A Sample 20 Month Old Sleep Schedule (An Example, Not a Rule)

• 7:00 a.m. – Wake
• 12:30–2:00 p.m. – Nap (1.5 to 3 hours)
• 7:30 p.m. – Bedtime

Notice the shape of the day: roughly 5.5 hours of awake time before the nap and another 5 to 5.5 hours after it before bed. If the nap runs long and ends closer to 3:00 p.m., a slightly later bedtime is fine; if it runs short, protect the night by moving bedtime a little earlier rather than trying to add a second nap, which at this age just pushes bedtime late and fragments the night. This is a good moment to sanity-check your numbers against our wake windows guide, since a twenty month old on last year’s shorter windows will fight both the nap and bedtime.

Bedtime between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. is where most families land, and a consistent bedtime anchored by a predictable, unrushed routine is one of the most evidence-backed sleep tools you have ³. At twenty months, a comfort item like a lovey or small blanket can do real work here, giving your toddler something familiar to hold as they settle themselves.

Why 20 Month Old Sleep Gets Bumpy

If sleep has wobbled lately, the cause at this age is usually the toddler you are raising, not a scheduling error:

• Strong independence and opinions. Twenty month olds are testing autonomy everywhere, and bedtime is a prime arena. Expect requests, refusals, and “again” for the fourth story.
• Bedtime stalling. One more book, one more sip, one more hug. Stalling is a bid for connection and control, and it grows to fill whatever space you give it.
• Early nap-drop attempts. Some toddlers resist the single nap for a stretch and seem ready to drop it. At twenty months they almost never are. A skipped nap usually means a meltdown by 5:00 p.m.
• Language and molars. A vocabulary burst and late-arriving molars can each rattle sleep for a few nights without being a lasting problem.

Whatever label you use, the pattern is the same: a temporary, behavior-driven disruption layered on top of a fundamentally stable schedule. Our 19 month old sleep schedule covers the run-up to this stage, and the 21 month old sleep schedule shows where the day heads next.

Helping Your 20 Month Old Sleep Better

A few high-leverage moves at this age:

• Hold the nap, do not drop it. If your toddler fights the nap, try shifting it 20 to 30 minutes later rather than skipping it. A five-plus hour morning window is usually the fix, not less daytime sleep.
• Give opinions a contained outlet. Offer two acceptable choices (“blue pajamas or the striped ones?”) so your toddler exercises control on your terms, then keep the sequence itself fixed.
• Cap the stall with a predictable routine. Same steps, same order, a clear last item. When the routine has a visible finish line, “one more” has less room to grow.
• Lean on comfort items and a boring night response. A lovey plus a calm, brief reply to night wake-ups helps your toddler settle themselves without turning attention into the reward.
• Watch wake windows, not just the clock. As toddlers grow, the day stretches. Our baby sleep schedule by age guide shows how naps and windows shift from infancy through the second year.

If independent settling is still a struggle, twenty months is a very workable age for gentle change. Toddlers respond quickly to clear, consistent limits, and research shows bedtime routines alone meaningfully reduce night wakings ³.

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 have concerns about development or growth. Keep the sleep space safe as climbing skills advance, and if your toddler is trying to climb out of the crib, talk with your pediatrician about timing and safety, in line with AAP guidance ⁴.

20 Month Old Sleep Schedule FAQ

A Grounding Takeaway

A 20 month sleep schedule is mostly a story of a solid framework meeting a toddler with real opinions. The schedule is not the problem; the growing independence is the point. Hold the one-nap frame, respect the long wake windows, keep bedtime predictable with room for small choices, and respond at night with calm brevity. The curve keeps bending in your favor: night waking declines steadily across the second year.

Next up: the 21 month old sleep schedule and, for a step back, the 19 month old sleep schedule, or zoom out with the full baby sleep schedule by age guide.