LO eats and sleeps better with the sitter?

Toni79 · May 2013

DD eats and naps so much better at the sitters than at home with me or DH.

Am I the only one this happens to?

The thing is that she is the only kid there during the day, so its not like she's looking at the other kids eating and sleeping and just going with the "crowd". My sitter is my cousin. She is a SAHM, and her kids are in school most of the day. She used to work at a DC center before being a SAHM, so I trust she knows how to watch other people's kids.

For example ...

Food ... For breakfast I'll pack 4 oz yogurt or cereal and if she's still wants more she'll have some cheerieos. For lunch I pack 3 oz puree and 1/4 cup of diced finger foods. At the sitters, she usually eats most if not all her food. I was packing less, but since she was always finishing it, I started packing a little bit more. At home, I'm lucky to get her to eat half that! At first I thought it was just because she was tired come dinner time and wasn't too interested in eating. But I've noticed its the same on weekends when I'm home and on Monday's when DH is home. I know my cousin isn't forcing her to clean her plate either, becasue usually there is a little left over (like 1-2 bites worth). Or she'll tell me that LO would get mad at her that she wasn't spooning it fast enough. Or she'll tell me that she ate all but 1-2 bites worth. etc.

I wonder if its because when DD is home with me, she knows I'll offer BF? Whereas at the sitters, she knows she can't get the boob anytime she wants. Also yesterday DD refused to eat her diced green beans with her fingers. She wanted my cousin to spoon feed them to her? Huh? Usually at home its the other way around, and DD wants to feed herself and wants nothing to do with the spoon.

Sleep ... We sleep trained when DD was about 7 months. At night, she goes down for the most part pretty well. Naps are a little hit or miss. At home I'll lay her down and she'll cry for a few minutes before she falls asleep. And I feel like she wakes up crying 75% of the time! At least once a week she'll refuse a nap for us (either she'll cry and we'll do multiple check ins and finally end the nap after 30 minutes or she'll play for 30 minutes without falling asleep so we end the nap). If we have company and I try to put her down for a nap, forget it.

However at the sitters, she goes down and rarely cries. If she does its literally for 10 seconds! And she always wakes up happy! And she never refuses a nap (ok maybe it happend once!). She'll even go down for a nap after the kids get home from school, no problem!

What gives?

piphigirl · May 2013

I can't explain the food thing. I think my DD eats better for her nanny, too.

What is the difference between the sleep environment as your house vs. the sitter's? Is one darker? Noisier? Softer? Does the sitter have a different nap routine or put her in a different sleep sack? Any of these might be a key to the nap issue.

JayandEmm · May 2013

I heard children are worse for their parents, because they know we'll love them no matter what.

Maybe the same is for babies? I like to tell myself this.

Toni79 · May 2013

Yeah. This is what I was thinking too!

Toni79 · May 2013

piphigirl:

I can't explain the food thing. I think my DD eats better for her nanny, too.

What is the difference between the sleep environment as your house vs. the sitter's? Is one darker? Noisier? Softer? Does the sitter have a different nap routine or put her in a different sleep sack? Any of these might be a key to the nap issue.

Glad I'm not the only one with the food thing!

As far as sleep ... Its hard to say. I'm sure there are slight differances, but nothing major. We have a crib at my cousins, its a differant style and a differant matress, but both matresses feel the same to me. I use a sleep sac for nights, but during the day (at home and at sitters) she goes down without the sac. At home she also has a humidifyer running and her sheep sheep (times out after 40 mins). At the sitters she has the same sleep sheep but no humidifer. She takes her taggie with her for all naps and bedtime. The rooms are probably the same darkness level and probably the same nose level. I'm not sure?

I feel like if I ask "hey, why does my kid fuss less at naptime for you and wake up happy versus when she's with me", it makes me look like I don't know my own child.

When DD first started going there (at about 6 months old) she was napping in her bouncer. And she napped great then too. I was surprised at first, but my cousin said that alot of kids sleep better at DC than at home.

Weird???

LissaLynn0682 · May 2013

Welcome to my life. DD sleeps awesome for the sitter....and she usually sleeps great for DH. For me? Helz no.

Usually the sitter gets a 2, 2 hour naps. Sometimes a 3 hour nap. DH gets a 2 hour nap when he is home with her on Mondays and Fridays.

I do the same routine they do to put her down for naps but she screams and screams. I almost never get more than 45 minutes out of her. I'm super frustrated but on the same token....maybe she just misses me since I work FT.

Summer vacation starts soon for me. Little girl will have to learn to nap better for me or she will be one tired bambino for the next few weeks!

rp-chicago-mom · May 2013

JayandEmm:
I heard children are worse for their parents, because they know we'll love them no matter what.

Maybe the same is for babies? I like to tell myself this.

This. It's about trust. It means they trust you much more than anyone else.

Toni79 · May 2013

Baker_Bride:
JayandEmm:
I heard children are worse for their parents, because they know we'll love them no matter what. Maybe the same is for babies? I like to tell myself this.
This. It's about trust. It means they trust you much more than anyone else.

I understand that idea. However if someone I didn't trust was trying to feed me some unrcognizable food and leave me in a room to sleep, I'd probably fuss even more! LOL!

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