How long between waking and 1st nap?

Melissa2216 · May 2012

DS just switched to the toddler room at day care, and they all nap at the same time there after coming in from playing outside (usually around 10:30 or 11am). DS wakes up at 6 or 6:30, and I was concerned about him going 5 hours without a nap, since he usually naps every 2-2.5 hours at home and still takes 3 naps per day.

I spoke with one of the day care ladies about this, and she agreed to give him an earlier nap and try to gradually push back the time rather than forcing him to adjust immediately. So the plan was to have him take 2 naps there rather than one (plus an evening nap if needed when he gets home).

Well, when I picked him up on Day 1 of the new room assignment, I found that he had taken ONE nap from 11:35-12:20. They didn't even try to put him down earlier. They said "we wanted to see how long he would last." I was livid. (plus there was an issue with his bottles, but that's another story)

5 hours seems really long to me...how long does your LO go between waking and the first nap? And if your LO is in day care, do the babies all go down at the same time? What time?

gymnst1013 · May 2012

N generally has between 3 and 4 hours of awake time between wakings. He's been slowly increasing the time between. And if we are out and about doing things, he can go longer.

sunshine336 · May 2012

The awake time before her first nap of the day seems to be her shortest awake time- 2.5 hours tops and she gets extremely clingy and cranky. Later in the day she goes longer, but that first nap happens pretty much at the 2 hour mark.

I SAH with M though, so I cater to her. Personally, I'd be mad too. The DC said they were going to give her an earlier nap and then they didn't. She may have been fine for them while there, but they could have set her up to be super cranky the rest of the day- for you. If they said they'd give her 2 naps, then they should give her 2 naps.

waterfall11 · May 2012

DD wakes up between 6:30 and 7am and usually takes her first nap at 10am, so approx 3 hrs of wake time.

babydoll22308 · May 2012

My LO usually goes about 3 hours. She wakes between 7-8 then takes a nap between 9:30-10:30 for an hour and a half. Then she goes down between 2-3 for another 1.5 hours. Then is down for the night between 7 and 8.

I personally dont think its ok that they changed his nap schedule after specifically talking with you about it. it seems that maybe they werent thinking and forgot to try and put him down? I dunno, but it would irritate me as well.

klv · May 2012

About 3 hrs. I would also be annoyed in your situation.

Melissa2216 · May 2012

babydoll22308:

I personally dont think its ok that they changed his nap schedule after specifically talking with you about it. it seems that maybe they werent thinking and forgot to try and put him down? I dunno, but it would irritate me as well.

Nope. It was intentional. The person that agreed to do an earlier nap was pretty low on the day care totem pole, and I think she was overruled by the lead teacher who wasn't there in the morning when we agreed to the early nap.

I dealt with the lead teacher when I picked him up and I definitely conveyed my frustrations...I think she complained about me to the director, because the director called me to address my concerns. When I explained why I was upset, she agreed that they should have contacted me before straying from what we had agreed to. I told her that he doesn't fuss much, so he may "seem" ok, but I wanted to make sure they're giving him what he needs, and not just doing what is easy.

On Day 2 and 3, they arranged it so he had 2 naps. I know with the ratios they are struggling to accommodate us, and I appreciate their efforts. But I just don't believe that he went 5 hours without showing tired signs. I tried to push back his 1st nap today at home, but by the 2 hour mark, he was exhausted.

RobinSparkles81 · May 2012

between the wakeup and a.m nap is usually between 2 and 3 hours. Then she'll be up for about 3 to 4 hours before her afternoon nap and finally about 3 hours before bedtime.

cassoppea · May 2012

gymnst1013:
N generally has between 3 and 4 hours of awake time between wakings. He's been slowly increasing the time between. And if we are out and about doing things, he can go longer.

This is us too. Just depends on how she's feeling and what were doing that day. We've also never been people to plan out lives around her naps so she's adjusted accordingly.

Magenta728 · May 2012

Looks like I'm in the minority, but I wouldn't be upset about it. DD's awake time varies. Sometimes, she's ready for a nap after 3 hours, and sometimes, she won't nap unless she's been awake for 5-6 hours. Now that she's getting older, her awake time is def getting longer. Her naps are a little longer, and she takes 1-2 naps/day. I should add that I SAH and don't have a strict schedule. Every day is different.

march2008 · May 2012

Around 9 months, DD started to drop her second nap of the day, which is very young for that. She would wake up around 7 am and gradually her morning nap pushed from 10 am to 11 am. It would last like 2-3 hours, though! With it being so long, she no longer needed a 2nd nap of the day. She did that for about a month, until she switched things up on me 2 weeks ago while we were on vacation. She's now back down to 2 naps a day (usually) but there are still days like yesterday, where she only took 1 nap a day again.

DH thinks there will be a transition period where she flip flops from 2 naps to 1 nap and I agree. I think that's what's going on with her right now. I also SAH, so I am able to be flexible and follow her cues. I do try to plan things around her nap times because it makes for a more happy baby (and momma!), but it's not always possible, especially when she's always changing.

amanda1680 · May 2012

M usually wakes up around 6:30, I nurse, then put her back down. She doesn't fall back to sleep, but I get her out of bed for the day around 7:30. She goes down for her first nap around 10 and falls asleep usually within 15-20 minutes. So I guess it's technically almost 4 hours of awake time.

ishka338 · May 2012

My LO will usually wake up around 6 or 6:30 too and then he'll stay awake for at least an hour or 2, but lately he's been going longer. He has done a few times that he doesn't go to sleep until 11-ish.

CarlaAndJames · May 2012

Her morning nap still seems to be 2-3 hours from her wake time, then she goes a lot longer between nap 1 and 2. (usually around 4-5 hours).

I'll be in the minority though and say I wouldn't be mad at daycare. Our kids are just so different there, if he's super distracted and wanting to play, it may be that he did just fine and they can make all the adjustments at once since he's already adjusting to the huge change of a new room/routine. Plus I'm guessing the toddlers don't nap separate from their playing area, so trying to get LO to nap while all the other babies are playing may be fruitless. Did the one nap cause him to have trouble sleeping at night? If not, I'd just go with it.

Sleepdeprived2011 · May 2012

What concerns me is that they have already moved him to the toddler room. Babies at this age are still not ready to drop that second nap, and in the toddler room they cannot cater to the needs of the child as much as the infant room. That's just my understanding after working at a daycare for five years.

ajc0121 · May 2012

It just depends. Some days if she is super crabby she goes down at 9:45ish (wakes anywhere from 7-8). But most of the time we are at either a playgroup or some type of activity and she doesnt get her nap until 1130 or 12. Sometimes 1. Just depends. But I will say, she does do really well with that stretch as long as we are out doing something with other people.

emilys629 · May 2012

Sleepdeprived2011:
What concerns me is that they have already moved him to the toddler room. Babies at this age are still not ready to drop that second nap, and in the toddler room they cannot cater to the needs of the child as much as the infant room. That's just my understanding after working at a daycare for five years.

This is my issue as well. Why is he in a toddler room... he's not even a toddler! It feels like DCs are always ready to rush them to that next room. Can he go back?

To answer your question, he goes down about 2.5 hours after he wakes.

bookkitten · May 2012

We're still at 2 hours after waking (though today he woke up super early so I stretched it to 3). Then 3-3.5 hours until his afternoon nap and about 3.5-4 until bed.

rainstar752 · May 2012

DD usually wakes up around 6:30a, and then takes a nap at 10a, but at daycare it's often closer to 10:30 or 10:45a.

I guess I wouldn't be that upset- it kind of sucks that he's already in the toddler room though (is he walking- is that the reason why?). I'd be more worried about no afternoon nap- though it's happened before at daycare, DD tends to be a mess if she goes all the way from her morning nap to bedtime with no sleep in between (this actually used to happen fairly frequently- she'd be up 8 hours at a time! But that was because she couldn't sleep well at daycare).

Melissa2216 · May 2012

CarlaAndJames:
Her morning nap still seems to be 2-3 hours from her wake time, then she goes a lot longer between nap 1 and 2. (usually around 4-5 hours).
I'll be in the minority though and say I wouldn't be mad at daycare. Our kids are just so different there, if he's super distracted and wanting to play, it may be that he did just fine and they can make all the adjustments at once since he's already adjusting to the huge change of a new room/routine. Plus I'm guessing the toddlers don't nap separate from their playing area, so trying to get LO to nap while all the other babies are playing may be fruitless. Did the one nap cause him to have trouble sleeping at night? If not, I'd just go with it.

1. There is a smaller room separate from the main playroom that they use for naps. The cribs are in there.

2. His nighttime sleep is not consistent, but he was exhausted when I picked him up at 4pm and he slept in the car, then slept while I carried him upstairs, then slept for 2 hours and was STILL groggy.

I should also note that they told me giving him an earlier nap would be more difficult when they take the babies outside and N is inside napping, but it was raining that day. The girl even told me that morning when we discussed it that it shouldn't be a problem, since they'd all be inside anyways.

Melissa2216 · May 2012

Sleepdeprived2011:
What concerns me is that they have already moved him to the toddler room. Babies at this age are still not ready to drop that second nap, and in the toddler room they cannot cater to the needs of the child as much as the infant room. That's just my understanding after working at a daycare for five years.

They have gotten a lot of young babies enrolled in the past few months, so the room that used to be from 1-2 years is now more like 10 months-1.5 years, and then they move them to the next room. Nicholas is by far the youngest in the new room. All the other babies are walking/running and he's the only crawler.

Andie_83 · May 2012

gymnst1013:
N generally has between 3 and 4 hours of awake time between wakings. He's been slowly increasing the time between. And if we are out and about doing things, he can go longer.

This is Z exactly.

foxisoxy128 · May 2012

H usually wakes up at 6:45 and lays down for his morning nap between 9:30- 10:00 and sleeps for about 2 hrs.

JsMama11 · May 2012

Sleepdeprived2011:
What concerns me is that they have already moved him to the toddler room. Babies at this age are still not ready to drop that second nap, and in the toddler room they cannot cater to the needs of the child as much as the infant room. That's just my understanding after working at a daycare for five years.

I was thinking this exact same thing. I know J could not manage with only 1 nap. He is no where near ready.

LauraOTR · May 2012

Liam goes about 2-2.5 hours from his first wake-up. If I catch him in that time frame, he will often nap for up to 2 hours. If I miss that time frame, he naps for much shorter, though he can go an extra hour without getting cranky. That's kind of an issue at my parent's house, b/c they almost always miss his window, then wonder why he only napped for 30 min. I tell them over and over, but it doesn't help. Oh well, it doesn't bother me that much b/c he's technically fine with it, they'll just have more "free" time if he naps longer.

But in your case, I'd be very annoyed. There's such a big difference between 11 mo and 18 mo and I don't see how he can be expected to just immediately conform to their same schedules.

helenejr · May 2012

C is awake from 7 - 11:30am naps for 2, sometimes 2 1/2 hours and is awake again from 1:30/2ish till 7.

so thats 5 hours each time. Our day care does what we tell them to, but this works really well for them as he goes down straight after lunch which is served at 11:15am.

ladybug122 · May 2012

2 to 2.5 hours. DD would get crazyyy with 5!

MrsPBNJ0220 · May 2012

sunshine336:

The awake time before her first nap of the day seems to be her shortest awake time- 2.5 hours tops and she gets extremely clingy and cranky. Later in the day she goes longer, but that first nap happens pretty much at the 2 hour mark.

I SAH with M though, so I cater to her. Personally, I'd be mad too. The DC said they were going to give her an earlier nap and then they didn't. She may have been fine for them while there, but they could have set her up to be super cranky the rest of the day- for you. If they said they'd give her 2 naps, then they should give her 2 naps.

This is us as well, DS wakes up at like 8:00 and typically is back to sleep by 10:00. He still takes 3 naps, and as PP said I SAH so I cater to him and what he wants to do. I would have also been livid if they tried to adjust my son's schedule to how they wanted it.

LaRue86 · May 2012

If Avery wakes up before 6.30am he is ready for a nap about 45 minutes later. If he sleeps until 7, he will be good til about 9/9/30 and will take a 30 minute nap. He just started taking a 2hr+ nap from 1-3 and has given up his late afternoon nap.

Be clear on your wishes. He got a craptastic 40 min nap because he was too tired by the time they put him down.

barefoot barista · May 2012

Just recently we went from 2.5 hrs of awake time to 3 hrs. She was fussing and crying for about 15 minutes, so I pushed it back and now she goes down easy again.

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