How important are naps?

[Fluttershy80]

After months of avid reading I am finally posting myself to get some insight into my situation and any helpful advice..

I am going back to work full time next month when my DS will be almost 10 months. Not long after he was born I already contacted a local CM whom I had heard great things about, wanting to get in early as I knew she booked up quickly. Luckily the timing worked out well and she would have space for three days opening up once I went back to work. I decided the remaining two days he could go to nursery and it would be a good mixture of interaction.

I already have a DD (5) who went to only nursery when she was younger but we thought a CM might be better logistically for us having two children and so she could also help with some drop off/picks ups.

CM has come across really well and we've met up a few times as well as seeing each other often at the school gates. However recently I've started worrying about naps and how she will fit them in. He still has two a day, one hour in the morning and another two in the afternoon. The morning one I am more flexible with as he can sleep fairly well in carrier or pram for a short sleep but he only manages his longer afternoon one in a cot. The CM likes to get out and about often and I'm now worrying she won't be at home often to give him his naps. She doesn't currently look after any babies, although both other children are under 3. I'm meeting her next week so will speak to her then but I'd like to know what is reasonable to expect from a CM? Of course I don't want to ask her to stay in all the time just so DS can sleep but I also think he will be really overtired and grumpy if he doesn't get enough. I have always been fairly strict with naps though so I'm welcoming any opinion that he will cope fine with more sporadic ones and adapt to the new routine.

Part of me is starting to wish we had gone for nursery full time where they can follow our routine at home more closely. The nursery we've gone for is very small so he will be getting a lot of 1:1 attention there and his key worker visited us today who is lovely. I would never let down the CM though as she didn't even make me sign a contract, relying on good faith, so I suppose I just want some reassurance it will be fine and some pointers before my chat with her.

Many thanks

Child care workers usually have magical nap powers. I'm not kidding. DD would nap for 2h with her CM, and be transferred from mat to buggy for school run. With me, I'd be lucky to get 30 minutes boob snooze.
If you like the CM, ask them how they plan to fit in the naps.

I second PP. My little one will not nap for love nor money unless in his cot or on a long car journey. Nursery on the other hand he will go and find a buggy get into it (screams bloody murder if I put him even near one) and naps in the room full of other toddlers. He would never on his own free will go and put himself to sleep at home but at home has a fairly structured routine. I'd say talk with the CM but dont stress too much your little one will fit in naps.

I agree they usually have ways to get them napping! Also your baby at that age will probably be fine with a little less sleep (I use 3 hours as max total nap time for my similarly aged DD, some days she only manages an hour and half of naps). After a day at nursery my DD is tired no matter how well she's slept, she does get a bit more upset as bedtime is closer on worse days for sleep but generally she's fine and a happy little thing who mostly sleeps well at night (a few recent exceptions but she has got a cold!)

According to our's not very, he pretty much dropped them all by the time most other children were thinking about going from two day naps to one.

Ours slept like a gem at night due to over 2 weeks of sleep training.

One thing that helped us was writing out the daily routine and following it, naps, eating etc all done around the same time. I just googled childs age and example routine and picked the one that worked best.