Daycare expectations

shannonmur · March 2012

Let me start by saying I've got it beyond good at the peanuts daycare. My sister works at the center and she was the only baby there for a bit. I'm also about as laid back as they come mom wise. She eats when she wants to eat and she naps when tired. Maybe I'm crazy but we follow her queues at home sleep and hunger wise and they do the same at dc. I never gave them a schedule and they never asked for one. The babies are all between 6 and 9 months old.

2 new babies started last week and both moms called to complain that their lo sleeping schedule was not being followed. I guess the babies aren't sleeping as long as they do at home during their naps.

I guess my question is am I crazy? Do you have a set schedule you gave to dc? Would you be upset if during the first week your lo naps were off? Is this something you would complain about?

blush64 · March 2012

I was very laid back. I didn't have a strict schedule and things worked well. When doing something new I would assume things would be a little off until we were all used to everything.

BallSox · March 2012

I never gave them a schedule for L and he turned out just fine. As a matter of fact, he kind of fell into a DC schedule at home, which was just fine by me.

shannonmur · March 2012

blush64:
I was very laid back. I didn't have a strict schedule and things worked well. When doing something new I would assume things would be a little off until we were all used to everything.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The new babies have never been in dc before. I just thought it was a little soon for complaints.

MeghanC 1028 · March 2012

BallSox:
I never gave them a schedule for L and he turned out just fine. As a matter of fact, he kind of fell into a DC schedule at home, which was just fine by me.

We did the same. I still follow daycare nap and lunch schedule, it's easier on the kids, me and daycare. I work 3 days a week, DH is home most weekends, so we have 3 different type of days. It's the one constant the kids have.

At such a young age they are probably into exploring their world and others waking them up. I remember mine being so exhausted when we came home from daycare. That is probably what is bothering these parents. They just were so active at daycare they were worn out by the end of the day.

pinkflipflops44 · March 2012

Both daycares I've had my daughter in asked for a schedule. I loosely gave them about how often she was eating and how often she was up normally in between naps but that was about it. I ask every day when she eats/poops/naps so I can have an idea of when she will be melting down at home / if she is constipated and now that she has added meals we kind of try to do those at set times but if she's sleeping it's not a big deal. But yeah, I think it is just understood that an infant is not going to sleep at daycare in the beginning.

ASmallWonder · March 2012

Those parents are going to realize soon that their angel doesn't do things the same at daycare as they do at home. That's just how it goes. There are no other kids or sounds at home to keep their LO from their nap.

When my son started at a home daycare around 15 months I did let her know that he tends to be sleepier than the average bear so if he could get two naps like her younger son, it might make his day better and she did for a while until he decided he wanted to be like the big kids. But I've really always left it up to my DCP to structure the day that makes sense for the group, as long as it didn't mean my kid was legitmately suffering, kwim? Imagine having 4+ infants, all on a different schedule? I'd rather kill myself.

thefarmchick · March 2012

I was fortunate enough that my kids didn't go to daycare until DS was 1 1/2 and DD was about 6 months old.

However I almost wish they would have went sooner, lol. Going to daycare was magic for our sleep schedules. They easily meshed into the same schedules that the other kids did. They went directly to sleep(no rocking, minimal fussing, and slept about the same time)

It made my getting them to sleep at home a lot easier. We pretty much keep everything on the daycare schedule because it works and it's consistent.

mylittlesunshine · March 2012

We basically took DD to daycare and let our provider use her schedule. Actually it worked out really nice b/c DD got on a very nice schedule and we basically follow it (not exactly to how DC does it) when we are home with DD.

TotallyNot_Isha · March 2012

Yeah we work entirely on cues. And our daycare is very firm about doing whatever we ask. So for now, she naps when she falls asleep. We are working together to experiment with a routine that works best for her (as we are noticing similar patterns from the daily report card and her behavior at home). She is starting to get sleeping for a long nap around noon-1pm, and I have been putting her in her crib awake, and so far, she keeps falling asleep. So if that keeps up, we may give it a go at daycare, too. But really, as long as she naps, it doesn't really matter to me when. I feel like, she's a person. Some days, she will be more tired. Some days, she will be less tired. Just like some days, she's hungrier than others. So yeah. Chill out to those moms.

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