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home daycare and naps

gin7914gin7914
in Working Moms

Hello, this is my first time visiting this board and I don't post much in general.  I am a FTM with twin girls, now 12 weeks old, who recently started attending a home daycare.  Last week was their first week attending full days. 

Up to this point they haven't been sleeping through the night yet.  Bedtime has been around 8pm (this is when they finally fall asleep).  They had been sleeping for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours and then are up two to three times the rest of the night, sleeping for an additional 3 hour block and then about a 2 hour block.  It takes a while to get them back to sleep after changing diapers/feedings (they have always seemed to fight sleep at night).  We had started to see some progress with night time sleeping until last week.  Their blocks of sleep are shorter now and they are generally crankier.  Daycare reports that sometimes they nap and sometimes they don't.  When they do nap it's only for short periods of time. 

She has all the kids in one two room open area (two rooms connected by a large opening), with my girls gated off on the one side as the "infant area".  So they have no quiet space to nap, although there is a designated quiet time in the afternoons. 

 I'm concerned that their lack of naps during the day is effecting their nighttime sleep and their general wellbeing.  I'm not sure how to approach this with daycare.  She has 1 to 2 assistants with her during the day, but with two infants I'm sure it's difficult to manage all the other kids along with my girls.  I would really like it if they could work on soothing the girls into naps where as right now I think they just go by "if they fall asleep, they fall asleep...if not, they don't nap".

Am I expecting too much?  Will it get better without intervention once the girls get more used to being there?  I don't want to come across as a difficult/picky mom, but I really want my lo's to develop good sleep habits and a routine.  Not to mention that 12 weeks of sleepless nights for DH and myself are starting to really wear on us...especially now that I've returned to work. 

Any advice or suggestions?  Anyone else dealt with anything similar?    

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Re: home daycare and naps

  • WBMomWBMom member

    I don't have experience with a home daycare but the daycare my kids attended had an area for infants to take naps. It was apart from the main area but the infants were still exposed to the noise,light etc.  It took both my girls a little while to adjust to the new noises and environment.  (I cannot remember exactly how long - maybe 2-3 weeks?) Once they did it they took good naps and could sleep through most anything. 

    I am experiencing this again with my 3 yo - she moved to a new room with more kids and more noise.  She has been there one week and has not napped a single day.  Indifferent  I am hoping for a short transition period again. 

    Good luck!

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  • wheelsonthebuswheelsonthebus member

    I know many states have laws where babies under six months old can't sleep in a separate room during the first six weeks of care. They have to be under the direct supervision of a provider at all times. It's a SIDS precaution.

    I bet your little ones will adjust to being in a noisy environment for naps. I would explain your concerns and see what your provider says. Maybe give it a couple of weeks?

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  • jnealetjnealet member

    It took a few weeks for our girls to get settled into the daycare routine.  Its tough in the beginning but then they both ended up sleeping through the night not long after.

    Good luck!

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  • Mjmksb04Mjmksb04 member
    They definitely need time to settle in, but also keep in mind that some kids just don't nap as well when they aren't at home. My DS was with his sitter and he is the only child she watches and he never napped well at her home. Another thing, I would try moving their bedtimes earlier to see if that helps them at night better.
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  • seahorse102410seahorse102410 member

    There are so many reasons they could be waking up at night but I would give them a few more days to get adjusted.  Mine sttn at 10 weeks and right when I went back to work he stopped.  Unfortunately it just takes time, good luck.  I also recommend putting them to bed earlier.

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  • bluejettabluejetta member

    DD is at a small family daycare where she is the youngest (by 6 months) and she started at 4 months.  I too was concerned about her naps and to help the transition I asked DCP to try to help her as much as possible including:  letting her nap in a separate room, using a white noise machine that we provided, and swaddling her. DCP was willing to do so and I think it helped her get used to the PNP (she had never slept in one before).

    After the first couple weeks DCP moved her PNP out into the main area and she seems to do fine there. Maybe there are some small ways your DCP could help your girls sleep by making it more like home?

    ETA: DD was directly supervised for the first 6 weeks for all naps so even though she was in an different room she had supervision.  Since that "intro" period ended she is out with other kids.

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