Nursery naps

[eco79]

My 10 month old son was a troublesome napper when he was titchy but from 7 months onward I had nailed naps. I put a lot of hard work in and had a baby who would settle himself for a 45 minute morning nap and a 1 1/2 - 2 hour lunch nap. Off to bed at 6.45pm and woke religiously at 6am.

He started nursery in the 1st week of December and his naps are all over the shot while at nursery. He's been back with us over the Christmas holidays and even with the upheaval of staying at 3 different family members up north, he still slipped straight back to his nap routine.

Nursery say that he doesn't want a morning nap. Then they say he fell asleep while playing at 11am [no surprise right...with no morning nap]. They wake him up at 11.30 for lunch and then he struggles to go back asleep at 12.30pm [when all of nursery have their lunch nap] and only has 30 minutes. Which makes sense if he had a nap at 11am.

I can't bear the thought of my little fella, trudging through until he falls asleep on his face in a pile of toys. I don't know how much I can ask of them in terms of putting him to sleep? They have a little dark room with cots. I've provided a sleeping bag and some of his nap time books but I'm aware that they have other babies to work with.

To add, my son is very happy at nursery, is always happy to see his key worker and always seems cheery at drop off and collection. I also like all the staff in the baby room. But I'm really keen on good day time sleep. During early December he didn't learn a new thing...and then after 9 days at home he can sit up himself and pull to standing and cruise round the room.

Am I expecting too much?

[esme]

You have my sympathy - my 2.5 yr old still needs a daytime nap but since moving from childminder to nursery he has cut them out (too much activity and feels he is missing out!). Now asleep by the time I get him home so whereas I was once bemoaning the fact he wanted 5+ bedtime stories he now dsnt get any :(

[lucyA1308]

I shouldn't worry too much. He would most probably be growing out of needing 2 nap times any way.

I had 1 child who never wanted to nap, and so was quite relieved when baby 2 liked her nap times. Once things got too interesting at home though, it did get tougher. She is now 1 and is down to 1 nap a day. This is fine for us because she can play with her big sister until lunchtime, then nap after lunch. Your little one is not far off 1 years old, and might quite naturally be more interested in the activities at nursery, and will adjust to the nursery routine.

I would say let him enjoy it.

The nursery staff are also very well trained to watch for signs of tiredness, and will put children to nap if they do need it outside of regular nap times, but ultimately it is easier if they can get them all to nap at the same time, rather than each child at different times.

[Strawbs]

My son prior to nursery needed two naps and probably for the first 6 weeks he was there whereas now he has just one and I believe that is age (he is now 14m) and also because the nursery has gotten him in to that routine of one big nap a day.. On weekends he mostly does one 2 hour nap but there is the occasional day he had two naps.. I have learnt to go with the flow with it all as thankfully his night sleeping hasn't been affected..

I think under the circumstances it sounds like they are doing what they think is best ie a quick cat nap if he is exhausted to get through lunch and then try to get him to keep the lunch sleep routine.. I bet he will drop that morning nap soon ish..

Hope that helps, think I rambled a bit!

[eco79]

Thanks all,

I'm not too fussed on when he sleeps...I'd just like him to have more than 55 minutes a day. Still early days I guess and yes I'm sure morning nap will be gone soon.

[minder]

I'm guessing your 10 month old probably has a morning nap from 9am-10am and then another after lunch (when he's at home)?

He's still very young to get through the morning without a nap (IMO) and I'm surprised that a nursery wouldn't pick up on this especially if they have a dark room with cots. Maybe they don't have enough staff to cover the dark room so he is just put down according to the older children.

I would definitely follow this up.

[Yak]

My one went to nursery from 8 months old and has only just dropped his morning nap at weekends at the tender age of 20 months. But the morning nap at nursery never really established itself, despite a lot of trying from his keyworker. His afternoon naps were also on the short side at the start, but definitely did lengthen after a month or two. Sounds like you're doing all the right things - definitely keep talking to them about it if you're concerned at all. (An alternative might be to let him have a longer nap at 11, then keep his lunch for him when he wakes up?).

[hellosailor]

That's a good idea Yak, maybe you could ask them to do that Eco79?

10 months is very young to drop the morning nap, despite the odd baby dropping it early (a sleep expert told me that babies that drop it at 13/14 months are dropping it early) most babies don't (voluntarily) drop it until more like 16-18 months).

The nursery should definitely be supporting his need for a morning sleep so don't feel pushed into concurring that he doesn't need it if you'd like him to have it. I can see if your son started nursery at 2.5 and you were asking them to facilitate him sleeping in the morning when none of the other sprogs his age did then that would be a trickier thing, but 10 months old need to sleep in the morning so they should expect facilitate that, sure they'll be happy to work something out if you keep talking to them about it, and great that he is having a good time at nursery in general.

[RenF]

No advice here, but just wanted to say we're in a similar position.

My LO definitely needs a morning nap and an afternoon nap. At home, she is clearly tired about two hours after waking up (yawning, rubbing eyes etc). At nursery they tell me that they put her down but she doesn't want to sleep, or she isn't tired. I find it difficult to believe, but understand a different environment and stimulation may mean she's different there than at home. My main problem is that if they wait to put her down after lunch then she sleeps for barely half an hour, which just isn't enough sleep (at home as a comparison she'd have between two and three hours sleep a day over her two naps). Possibly because by that point she's over tired.

Its difficult, because I think the staff think I'm the crazy mum who is obsessed with sleep! When you know though that your child definitely needs something I think its important not to let it go, and work with the nursery to find a solution. Especially as in your case Eco79 you had such difficulty establishing a decent nap routine, as I did with my LO. The fear of returning to the days of nightmare naps (or no naps) is possibly what keeps us focussed on nursery maintaining the nap time routine.

[Mathilda]

This is really common, my daughter went to nursery at 9 months and dropped her morning nap there soon after, but would still always have it at home until about 18 months! They are just excited about all the activity and don't want to miss out. I think it's best to accept that things will be different on nursery days.