Nursery - best hours for naps

[indulgemepls]

Toddler is nearly 2 and naps 12-2pm at home. Looking at half day sessions at nursery, but the session ends / starts at 1pm, right in the middle of nap time. 🤷‍♀️

The nursery opens at 7.30 and closes at 6.30pm.

What would be the best session to use (morning or afternoon) and how would you work around this in terms of toddlers nap? I was planning on mornings as I am most productive in the mornings and would get more of my work done, but then don't know what to do about nap. Should I collect at 1pm and then do a later nap at home?

I did mornings with my DS last year from the age of 2. By the time we got home it was 2pm but he napped well from 2 until 4 and then I generally had to wake him up. He would manage until 7 or 7:30 and then go straight back down as he was still quite tired. It worked for us but not sure how well it would work for all toddlers. Can you try stretching to a later nap? I do find DS is more alert and interested in the morning so I'm glad he has morning sessions.

I wouldn't plan it round naps, your DC will change their nap schedule several times in the next 12 months before dropping them completely.

Set the nursery times to work best around your preferred routine and the naps will settle around it.

I'd want to shift a 12-2 nap as that must be a massive pain for lunchtimes when you go anywhere! Mine stopped napping at all just after 2 but if she did nap it was always after 1pm.
They adapt at nursery, so if working in the morning suits you then I'd pick up at 1 and then do nap afterwards. Assuming the morning session includes lunch?

I wouldn’t plan nursery around a toddlers nap…
id plan it around my life!

an afternoon session is annoying (13yrs experience with kids/school life) as you kind of sit about ‘waiting’ to go to nursery and can’t do much in the morning.

morning session means you have rest of day to do as you please!

At DDs nursery they all go down at 1215 after lunch, DD sleeps about 30/40 mins at nursery - 2 hrs at home at the weekend .

I’d do whatever works for your work and your Dc can work around you.

Also ours nursery also does an alternative session of school hours…. 9/3 or an 8/4 instead of a full day (7.30-6pm) or half days. Does the nursery do that too?

She should be able to adjust to a slightly later nap easily enough. Presuming with a 1pm finish they have lunch there so it’ll be home and straight to bed. My 18MO naps at 12ish at home but if we’re out somewhere, especially if we have lunch out, he’ll go to sleep about 1pm instead. It’s fine, I just wake him at 3 to stay on track for bedtime at 7.

I pick my toddler up at 12.15 from a morning session to ensure I get him home for a nap. This is the best use of time as then I get the time at home while he naps. If he falls asleep at nursery I take a sling then walk him home and transfer into bed.

I would ask the nursery how they manage it for children of this age who are collected at 1pm.

Personally I would do mornings because you work better in the mornings. As an aside, if he goes in the afternoon, could he fall asleep on the way to nursery, have a very short nap and then not fall back to sleep when at nursery, thus creating an overtired child?

Mine both always did mornings, which finished at 12.30. It was brilliant as they’d then nap from 1-3ish when we got home.

Sadly they both dropped their naps around 2/2.5 so I definitely wouldn’t make any major plans around nap time