Toddlers naps at nursery vs home

[Oaktreelife]

My 2 year old DD has been sleeping in a bit later the past few days. I don't know if it's the warmer weather or some other reason. Normally I'd be thrilled, but she attends nursery in the mornings and I pick her up after she wakes from her nap there. Due to sleeping in late, she has not gone down for her nap at nursery on time, and they have given up trying to get her to sleep after 45 minutes and called me to pick her up.

I wfh in the mornings and this cuts off a good 1.5hrs from my time, plus DD hasn't napped and she's miserable.

On the days she is at home her nap is fine as we put her down in a sleeping bag, lights off, blackout blinds closed etc, and she always drops off around noon no matter what time she woke that morning.

At nursery she has always struggled to get down quickly, and usually her naps are much shorter (one cycle) as they don't have any blackout facilities and they just lie on the floor together etc, so I think she finds those conditions harder to sleep in.

Has anyone else found this?

Is there a reason why you pick her up after her nap (or no nap), rather than a specific time?

That's a bit of a weird set-up! Surely you pay for her to be in between certain hours, not based on when she naps?

They ring you to pick her up if she doesn't nap? How strange. It's their job to look after them unless they are unwell. Kids survive without naps at age 2.

Why do you have to pick her up early, I don't understand?

I use to have the opposite problem, DD would sleep for hours at nursery, then be impossible to get to bed. To be honest nothing really improved until she dropped the nap entirely, then at least we could plan our day without that variable.

Is there a reason you pick her up after her nap instead of a set time? Normally they keep them to a set time, and if they're awake they just deal with it, and encourage quiet play or take them in the garden until the others wake. It ratios should be the same wether the kids are awake or asleep, so they presumably have staff until after the latest time they can have her, so no reason to send her home early.

Your nursery sounds awful. Why are they getting you to pick her up early just because she doesn't nap? Is she OK otherwise ie not crying and distraught?

My dd dropped his naps from 18mo. Nursery supported this and never called me to collect him early? I would say nursery need to keep her until the agreed time. If she can't sleep then they need to set her doing a quiet activity like looking at stories, colouring, blocks or something.

Agree wholeheartedly with others

My DS goes for a couple of half days and they used to try and get him down for a nap at 12 and I'd collect him at 1. Around 2ish he would sometimes not nap. I still picked him up at 1! He just played with the non mappers until I got there

It's quite normal to start not needing them at this age and you mind find she naps every other day - they do get ratty but soon get used to it!

Can't you just wake her up earlier? I have a toddler a bit younger and I have to wake her every day to fit in with childcare drop off. I leave her to sleep at weekends. I'd prioritise your work and her nap time. Wake her up earlier and then tell the nursery staff you've done it and that she needs a nap today at usual time.

Alternatively arrange a specific pick up time with nursery so your work doesn't suffer and then pick her up and put her down for a nap when you get home. That's what I do with my lo. She does mornings at nursery and then home to nap.

So the set pick up time is "officially" 1.30pm. The manager is really flexible however and said if she naps till 2.00 or something she's not going to wake her up. So instead they just text me when she wakes and I come get her (5 mins walk). Normally though, she only naps one cycle so she's frequently awake by 1. At home she would sleep for around 2 hrs 12-2 but at nursery it's more like 12.15-1. However the past few days they've not got her down at all so have called to say she isn't sleeping. I guess they think she will disturb the others who are all sleeping.

It's frustrating though as she is a really solid reliable sleeper at home- solid sleep all night and then regular 2 hrs nap.

Thanks - cross posted.

She definitely isn't ready to drop her naps yet 100%. She's only just 2 and naps like a dream at home. It's the set up there.

Yes I will try waking her up earlier on nursery days I think.

She also told me the room was hot at nursery so that might have been an issue this week.

You're going to have to find a solution to DD not napping while you wfh pretty quickly anyway, if not now. It's not sustainable long term - she'll nap less and less from 2 onwards.

The manager is really flexible however and said if she naps till 2.00 or something she's not going to wake her up. So instead they just text me when she wakes and I come get her

How often has she slept past 1.30 at nursery? I'm going to take a wild guess and say never. Yet she's frequently awake by 1pm. So you're collecting 30 minutes early on a regular basis. The nursery aren't being flexible, and you're paying for hours each week that you're not using. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Just stop collecting early. If she's awake then they'll have to look after her until you collect.

They must have others who don't nap Considering the age range of a nursery so I'd suggest they put her in with the others and you collect at the agreed time? Great that she still naps at home-I wish mine did!

I'd just remind the nursery that you have her booked til 1.30 and will collect her then. It's an awkward time though.

Wouldn't it be easier to bring her home straight after nursery lunch at say 12.30, then put her down for a nap - you then get all the morning, short break for pick up, then a couple of hours nap time to work too

Then when she drops her nap, change the timings again.