Is 11 to 14 hours really enough at 20 months?

Yes — that band covers almost every healthy 20-month-old, made up of 10 to 12 hours at night plus one nap, with wake windows of 4.5 to 5.5 hours. The night carries nearly all of it now, which is why a consistent bedtime does more than any nap adjustment. A toddler at the lower end who is cheerful and rested through the day is doing fine, and your pediatrician can settle any doubt.

Why is my toddler's nap getting shorter?

Because daytime sleep naturally contracts as the night takes over more of the total. Around 20 months a nap of about an hour and a half is common where two hours was normal six months earlier. It only needs attention if your toddler is falling apart in the late afternoon or the night has started breaking up. Otherwise it's the expected trajectory.

Does screen time before bed affect toddler sleep?

It tends to, in two ways: the light itself delays settling, and the content leaves a toddler stimulated at exactly the wrong moment. Keeping the hour before bed screen-free and filling it with books, a bath and quiet play is one of the simplest changes to make and one of the quickest to show an effect. It's not about banning screens, just about where they sit in the day.

Should I start potty training, and will it affect sleep?

Readiness varies enormously and there is no single right age, so your pediatrician is the best person to help you judge it for your child. What's worth knowing is that daytime training and dry nights are separate milestones, often years apart, and that nighttime dryness depends on physical maturity rather than practice. Try not to start training in the middle of a bad sleep patch.

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Baby sleep schedule at 20 months: nap length, bedtime and screens

At 20 months your toddler needs 11 to 14 hours of sleep a day: 10 to 12 hours at night plus one nap, with wake windows of 4.5 to 5.5 hours. Bedtime has drifted a little later than it was a year ago, sitting around 8:15 pm for many families, because the day now stretches further.

The nap itself is quietly shrinking. Where a 15-month-old often slept two hours after lunch, a 20-month-old frequently does closer to an hour and a half. That's not a problem to fix; it's the daytime share of the total making room for a solid night.

11–14 h

Total sleep / 24 h

10–12 h

Night sleep

Naps per day

4½ h–5½ h

Wake window

Screens are worth a look at this age. Anything with a bright screen in the hour before bed makes settling slower, both because of the light and because of how stimulating the content is. Swapping that last screen slot for books, a bath or quiet play is one of the few changes that shows results in days rather than weeks, and it costs nothing to try.

Transitions are the other friction point at 20 months. Toddlers this age hate being pulled out of something absorbing, and bedtime is nothing but a series of endings. Warnings help — two minutes, then one, then done — and so does letting your toddler carry out a step themselves, like putting the toys in the box or switching off the light. Small pieces of control take a lot of heat out of the evening.

A sample day

The day below shows a 20-month-old on one nap, with wake windows of 4.5 to 5.5 hours around it. It's a shape to borrow rather than a rule — keep the sequence and the rough spacing, and let the exact times follow your toddler's morning.

Time	What happens
7:00	Wake-up and first feed
13:00	Nap 1 · approx. 95 min
20:15	Bedtime routine and lights out

A sample day to give you a rough idea — every baby is different. Adjust the times to your child's sleep cues, and talk to your pediatrician about anything that worries you.

Does this 20 months schedule match your day?

Lulla times the naps and tells you when the wake window is closing, so you do not have to keep count in your head.

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Tips for this age

Keep screens out of the hour before bed; the change usually shows up within a few days.
Give warnings before every transition in the evening — two minutes, one minute, done — rather than ending activities abruptly.
Let your toddler carry out one or two steps of the routine themselves, because a little control now prevents a lot of resistance later.
If the nap is shortening but the night is solid and the afternoon is manageable, leave it alone — that is the expected direction at 20 months.
Lulla's weekly view shows whether a shorter nap is being offset by a longer night, which is usually exactly what is happening at this age.

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Common questions

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Sources

The figures on this page follow the guidance of these organizations. This information is educational and does not replace advice from your pediatrician.