I need help re: napping at daycare

L L CG

Ever since DD started daycare her napping and night time sleep has been erratic.  She'll STTN for a couple of weeks, then wake up once around 2am for a couple of weeks, then go back to STTN, etc.  Her napping has never really had a set pattern.  For the past couple of weeks I thought I saw a pattern at daycare where she was napping from 11:30-1-ish and then again at 2:30... but she just changed rooms yesterday so I think that's shot.  I think if she could get her napping on a more regular schedule she could maybe go back to STTN.  Or, maybe not, but I do think she needs a ton more sleep than she's getting.  Yesterday, for example, she took a 1 hour nap in the morning and a 45 minute nap in the afternoon.  She was so exhausted by the time we got home that I put her down at 7 (bedtime is generally 8).  Poor thing even had little dark circles under her eyes.

 I've have and have read some of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  I would like to implement this routine, if possible.  The problem is that I don't think I can count on the teachers at school to put her down at the first sign of sleepiness.  They are too busy and I don't expect them to give her special attention when they have 9 other babies to look after.  I think they've just been putting her in her crib after she falls asleep wherever she is.  When I am home with her, the first time she yawns she goes in her swing and goes to sleep.  That's the other issue:  they don't have batteries in the swings at school.  If she doesn't have a swing she usually comfort nurses to sleep for naps.  She won't take a paci.

So... what do I do?  Do I just ask that the teachers put her down in her crib after she's been awake for 2 hours?  I imagine that she'll fuss/cry a ton at least at first when they start doing that.  Do I ask that they put her down at certain times (like 9 and 1)?  How do I integrate HSH,HC into the daycare routine? 

 

HSartteach

Personally I don't think it is too much to ask them to put her down when they notice she is sleepy...not just after she has fallen asleep.  Tell them what your concerns are and most dcp will try to adhere to what your wishes are.  When she is older, then naps are more routine with a "set" start time. 

Nessia

I have not read that book so I can't answer how to use it but if it was me I would ask the daycare staff to implement a more structured routine when it comes to naps. I would ask for them to put her down at 9 and 1, or whatever times you choose. I would also follow those times on weekends. With DD we had to keep her routine as normal as possible even on weekends or her sleeping schedule would totally mess up. DS is a different story. Some kids need the routine.

MC+KK

I'm sorry she's going through this, could u buy batteries for the swing at school? Good luck

smb29

We really stuggled with this at daycare, especially after he dropped the swaddle around 5-6 months.  He would not sleep.  I think you would have better luck if you asked them to put her down at specific times, rather than at first sign of sleepiness.  There is so much going on in those rooms that its possible they will miss the signs, or that there is so much going on she is interested in that she will seem more alert than she really is and there won't be signs to see.  We also had to put M down at 7 for a long time, he was just too tired to stay up later than that.  If she is over tired when she is going down, that may be contributing to not STTN. 

rssnlvr

We had a set sleep (and eating) schedule with DD and I was a bear about making sure they followed it as best they could at school. You are paying them a LOT of money--they should do exactly what you ask them to do.

The sleep thing is another issue...admittedly it would be easier if you could start working on her going to sleep without needing a swing/nursing/other sleep crutch.

FWIW, my DD always napped for crap in the infant room. There was too much light, too much noise, too much going on. She's an extremely social baby, and when she'd hit the first light phase of her sleep cycle 30-45 minutes in, she'd wake up, see other babies playing, and that would be that. We did get away with a "nap" on the way home from school (about 20-30 minutes, depending) for a looong time that would help her get through the evenings.

christym0606

rssnlvr:

FWIW, my DD always napped for crap in the infant room. There was too much light, too much noise, too much going on. She's an extremely social baby, and when she'd hit the first light phase of her sleep cycle 30-45 minutes in, she'd wake up, see other babies playing, and that would be that.

Ditto.  We've asked DD's teachers to follow our schedule - naps at 9 and 1, according to HSC,HC (based on our weekends, these nap times work great for her), and they certainly have tried to do so, but it hasn't worked well.  T will either refuse to go to sleep because she really wants to play, or she'll fall asleep and get woken up soon after, and that'll be it for naptime.  The best solution we've been able to come up with is to put her down for bed earlier (HSCHC also talks about this, I think).  We started out at 8, then eventually moved it up to 7, and now we're at 6.  It sucks, because I feel like I hardly have any time with her, but if her naps continue to be crap at daycare, she has got to make up that time somewhere.

bobcatsteph

I would voice your concerns to her teachers and ask them what they think would work best out of putting her down at the first sign of being tired or putting her down at set times. Just bringing it up might make them more aware of her sleep cues.

I don't know how they do it, but every child at DD's daycare naps at the same time every day (and the infants have an extra morning nap). They learned what worked for each baby and ran with that. DD would sleep swaddled, in a bouncy seat, in the crib.

We also did was rssn mentioned for a while..let her nap for 20-40 minutes after we picked her up from daycare, then we would wake her up and move on with our evening. That helped a ton with evening crankiness and allowed us to make dinner or pick up the house right after we got home.

bluestreet

Ditto all the pps about requesting they put her down when and how you want. I imagine you're paying between $700-$1000 a month, so...

Now, what's this about them not having batteries in the swings at daycare? Do you mean they aren't battery-operated, or they just haven't replaced them? If it's the latter, I'd straight up call the director and say "Yo, y'all need to replace the batteries." And then your LO can do her swing thing at daycare.

GL! The image of her having dark circles totally tugged at my already hormonally imbalanced heart-strings.