nap help

bride2be8108

My 16 month old will be starting day care in 2 weeks and they are on a 1 nap schedule there from 1-3pm.  I am super anxious about this because LO for the most part has been taking a 9:45 and 2:pm nap they are each about 45 mins maybe 1hr if i'm lucky.  I have tried keeping her up a little later in the AM and see if she stretches her nap longer to sort of prep her for daycare. Question is twofold-

if you have your LO in daycare did they adjust to the daycare schedule easily? how was it handled?

How can I help LO take a longer nap? She barely makes it until 10:30 am and then inly takes a 1hr nap and then is melting down because she then wont go for her afternoon nap. I'm confused and she's cranky!

Yes I have let her cry bit feel like it's not worth it if she isn't going to nap we don't have this issue with bedtime atall.

CopperT0p

L started DC at 12 months and was having 2 naps a day with me at that point.  His DC was on a 1 nap schedule, starting at 11:30am.  They were very flexible and allowed him to sleep as he needed when he started there.  I found that his naps were later than usual, they said it was probably that he was really getting into playing and getting stimulated by all the activity so it would keep him going longer.  Eventually he was starting his nap at their time and was on their schedule.  This was after about a month of being in daycare.  He still would take 2 naps per day on weekends at home.  It took him 2 months to get to 1 nap a day at home, so 15 months old roughly.  

I would ask your DCP if they would be willing to accommodate while your LO adjusts. 

RachieTK

My LO started daycare younger than yours, but he moved to ER schedule easily. The good thing is you don't have to handle it! My LO does things at daycare that he would never do at home... Peer pressure! GL!

dairygirl19

I wouldn't be too worried about it at all.

My LO takes 2 naps a day at home but only one at daycare. It's like she knows the routine in both places and what different people need of her no problem so she does it.

KCKappa

I agree with PPs that LOs will do things in DCP that they never would at home. Most likely all the excitement/activity at DCP will help your DD stay awake later there and she'll be fine with one long nap in the afternoon, so I'd try not to worry. As far as taking one longer nap at home, we just went through that transition about a month ago (so around 14.5 mo) because DD was doing the same thing as yours - both a.m. and p.m. naps were only 45 minutes (sometimes only 30 or even less!)... and bedtime had started to become a real struggle. And yes we had a few really cranky days  at the start of our transition because she would just take one 45 min-1 hr nap, but after a week or so (with one day in the middle of doing two naps again just to catch up on some rest), DD had adjusted really well to taking a single nap for 2ish hours. Before this I could count on one hand the number of times she'd napped for more than an hour since the newborn days, so it's a big (very welcome) change for us! We did have to shift bedtime 30 minutes earlier for the first week or so, but now she's back to her regular bedtime.

rmeddy

My 19 month old has been going to daycare for about 5 months now. She started in the infant room where all the other children were taking 2 naps a day. At that point she would still take 2 naps (1-2 hours long) at home, but would only take 1 45 mins nap at daycare. This would obviously cause her to be more tired at home, but not horribly. They didn't force her to nap if she didn't seem to want to. Now she is in the toddler room where they only take 1 nap. She still is adjusting to the napping arrangements (they nap on mats), and is still only doing about 45 mins nap. On the weekends and other days that she is home, she has been taking either 2 shorter naps (1 hr) or one long nap (2-3 hrs). They do say that at daycare there are so many new things (toys and other kids) that they get over stimulated and don't want to take naps in the morning. It may take a while, but your LO will adjust to the new environment and be like mine who cries when I pick her up now b/c she wants to stay and play! Other thing is that most daycares understand the concerns and anxiety parents have. My daycare was GREAT...very helpful in what I can expect my daughter to be doing. If you're concerned, make sure you ask them. They may be able to give you some tips on things you can do at home to help make the transition better.