Daycare nap schedule not working for us!

kwill3104 · December 2013

Recently my 11 month old son transitioned into the older infant classroom at his daycare and we have been having problems with his schedule every since! In this classroom they try to keep a schedule of Bfast at 8:30, Lunch at 11:30, quiet time from 12:30-2:45 and snack at 3pm. Before going into this classroom DS was on a much different schedule and was taking two naps a day. They tried this schedule with him but from 12:30-2:45 the room is kept darker, sound machine is on, and all the other babies are sleeping so that would mean DS is the only one awake if he stuck with his normal schedule of two naps, one around 10 and the other around 3. I feel that my daycare is forcing him to keep this schedule and its not sitting well with him. He has been taking only one nap there but only for a little over an hour. This means he is way cranky in the car ride home because he is so tired! I try to keep him away because if he naps his bedtime is pushed way back, but I'm not always successful. I want to say something to the teachers and/or director (we have other issues there as well) but not sure what a solution could even be in this situation. How did you transfer your little one from two naps to one? I hate feeling like they are dictating his schedule to me now, not the other way around!

=Lee=B · December 2013

Sadly this is very common in daycare centres (I've worked in a few). I don't have many solutions to offer...are they willing to let him stay in the younger room longer? Or did they bump your son up to fill the younger spot? In my honest opinion an 11month old needs 2 naps and no one wins when they force him to suddenly take only 1nap.

There isn't much you/they can do. The daycare is likely not set up for your child to nap when the others are awake and be awake when the others nap (nap time is the teachers lunch break and prep time etc). The easiest solution is to try and get him back in the other room.

I hope you find a solution that works for you all.

djm31012 · December 2013

ugh i am worried about this too. DS takes 2 naps a day and if one is short sometimes 3! hes still in the younger room at DC but come february he will be bumped up and i just dont see him adjusting to one nap from 1230-230. I will talk to the center about this soon but i agree - ask if he can go back to the younger room, or maybe just for naps be put down in the younger room.

jllmb79 · December 2013

This happened to us at 9 months. DD#1 needed 2 naps but they moved her because she was walking. I asked for them to give her 2 naps but she couldn't nap with everyone else running around. I had a grouchy bear when she came home for a while. I still gave her two naps when she was at home and she only got the 1 at daycare. By 13 months I was able to get her to 1 nap at home as well.

AimeeL85 · December 2013

DS used to go to daycare and we had the same problem. He didn't naturally transition from 2 naps to 1 until he was 18 months old, but at daycare they moved him to the older room at 12 months which was strictly 1 nap. He was always exhausted at the end of the day for those 6 months; thankfully in our situation it was only 2 days a week so he was able to deal. Still, it's annoying, because most babies do not naturally transition until 15-18 months, so most daycares are going against their natural tendencies with this (nothing against daycare, we loved ours, I just don't know why they do this).

Anyway, what I would do is ask if he can continue to nap with the younger kids. He can move to the older kids room, but at his normal 2 naptimes, go back to the other room. It would only be 6 months max but likely not even that long. Since he just moved up and is still used to the other room, I don't think it would confuse him, you could at least try it out. Mention to them that most babies are not ready for one nap until 15-18 months and that you think he still needs to extra sleep. Maybe he could even go back to the other room for another month or two, anything will help.

KKillian1029 · December 2013

He is your child, you should bring all your problems up to them and try and see if they can fix them, maybe they can put him back in his old class for a bit longer or try another daycare if possible I know its hard with trust and money and where the location is. But I wouldn't be worried or scared to talk to them about it

somebuddiesgettingmarried · December 2013

I literally just talked about this with my DCP because I got a note in DD's bag stating that they're planning on "transitioning" her to the bigger kid room soon. They wanted both her eating and nap schedule to adapt to the room schedule, which I totally understand and think is reasonable, but I felt that they hadn't taken into account HER needs/schedule. For example: she is woken up around 6am and gets to DC at 7. They were telling me she would have to wait until 9 for anything to eat, which was unacceptable as far as I was concerned.

So- I spoke with the center director and said that I wanted to ensure they were going to be able to provide the best resources for us. We have developed a transition plan that has some built in flexibility so DD can adapt naturally to this updated schedule.

Good luck!!

Angela814 · December 2013

I agree with Aimee. Most kids don't transition to 1 nap until around 15-18 months. I think having him take naps in the other room is the perfect solution.

Daycare nap schedule not working for us!

Re: Daycare nap schedule not working for us!

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