To ask how I’m going to get my baby to nap at nursery?

[Blueskyfordays]

Baby has had her settling in sessions at nursery. They showed me the room where they nap, it had a white noise machine on, music on and one of those light machine things.

Now to be fair, DD has always been a brilliant napper, we’re very lucky in that so long as it is dark and relatively quiet, she will go to sleep. We do sometimes put some baby music on for her for her daytime naps but she doesn’t need it, she will sleep without it. She‘s never needed those twinkly/ disco light ball things. We do have one but whenever we’ve put it on for her, she won’t sleep as I think she finds it too bright/ distracting.

I mentioned to her keyworker that she doesn’t sleep very well with those lights machines on and she said ‘oh a few of the other children need it so I’m afraid the lights will have to be on’ fair enough, so the last couple of days I’ve been trying to get her to nap with the light thing on. OMG, she’s just spending hours crying in her cot which she’s never done, ever. She’s getting so upset and overtired, each time, after an hour and a half of trying I’ve given up and turned it off and she’s gone to sleep within minutes.

She starts nursery next week (only for a morning at first, but she will need her morning nap there as she’s not being picked up til 1) and now I’m really worried she’s not going to nap because of that bloody light machine.

I know, I know, hardly a first world problem but I’m wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue and if so, did your baby eventually just get used to things and nap?

Should I keep trying over the next few days and persevere? Trouble is, by the time it’s been an hour and a half, the time for nap is gone if you see what I mean and we’re due to go out or whatever and I also worry about her getting so overtired thah it affects her (brilliant) night sleep 😳

It sounds like you worked at some poor nurseries.

All babies are different op and nap schedules etc are different for each child. I have 3 and the difference between each sleep pattern is so different. Oldest stopped napping around 8/9months, he would sleep from 7pm - 10am. 2nd we had to stop letting have a nap at 1year or he would be up until 12/1ish.. Even falling asleep for 5mins in a car or on the couch and thats him, still now and he’s nearly 4. Never slept through the night for us but would at his grans house. Ds3 is 1 and has 1 nap but sleeps for 2/3hrs and depends what time he’s awake from. He been going down at 7 since 8weeks and wakes between 6-8 depending on wither the the middle one wakes him during the night or not so i time it from between 3-4hrs after he’s woken up that morning. Will only sleep in his cot, doesn’t sleep in his buggy if we are out. will go for a nap in a travel cot if i am not around but won’t if i am 🤔 lol kids are funny wee things

You are making things worse. Don’t change anything at home, she’ll adapt.

You would be surprised at how quickly babies settle down to nap at nursery. It becomes part of the routine. With that said, if they don't settle, we let them get up and play for a bit and they then nap later on. X

@Mumtothreegirlies What a ridiculous thing to say. Of course it should matter to OP how her daughter is emotionally during the day.
Glad you don't look after my kids.

What a horrible response. And what horrible job choices you made to work at such vile places, and to go along with that behaviour.

OP my daughter has thrived at nursery, and if she sees her keyworker in the village she runs to her to give her a big cuddle. Yours will be fine I'm sure.

Yuck. Fortunately most nursery's bars are well above "watched enough to keep her safe" and they don't disregard emotional wellbeing and development just because their parents aren't there.

I felt similar when my son started nursery at 11 months, but about milk feeds rather than sleeping. A friend said to me, you are paying them a fortune, let them figure it out. It sounds so simple but it really helped my mindset. And like everyone else said, he was fine, no issues at all. Nursery staff have magic powers

And I say that with the confidence that my son was at a well run caring nursery with excellent staff. I meant more they can easily be in two separate routines (nursery and home) and that works perfectly fine.

What she does at home and what she will do at nursery are 2 very different things!
At home DS2 (17 months) still needs 2 naps 1 around 9.30 the other around 2.30-3pm.
At nursery he goes from 5.40am til 12pm without a nap! There is so much going on that honestly they are completely different. You might find she naps a bit more at home for the first while too the days after her nursery.

DT’s are now in their early 20’s but still keep in touch with their key worker. She was also our babysitter for years. High quality nursery care is available - @Mumtothreegirlies - sounds like you chose the wrong place to work at

My son dropped to 1 nap at about 18 months, I think it’s different for everyone

It's the first stage of letting go.

She will find a new routine at nursery which suits her and their schedule.

Your anxiety is normal, no one wants to leave their young babies in unknown childcare, but that's the way of the world for many these days.

I was so worried about my son napping at nursery. At home he’ll only sleep on me for naps and I have to rock him to sleep every night. At nursery they put him down, give him his dummy and he sleeps soundly for 2 hours! Try not to worry, nursery will find a way to get her to sleep xx

As everyone else has said, she'll be fine. My 2 boys weren't great nappers at home and conditions had to be absolutely right for them. However they both napped really well at nursery. One of the nurseries we were briefly at (we moved) just put a load of mats down on the floor!! I would never have believed he would sleep like that but he did...for 2+ hours!!
Def keep things same at home though, they can used to different things in different places

My dd refused to nap at nursery. They said to me with a smug smile don't worry, we will get her to nap... a week later they said to me that she was the first child that they had ever known to not sleep during the day! I had the smug look when saying I did warn you...

Chiming in with all the other voices saying not to change things at home. Like lots of others here, my son (now 19 months) will only nap at home in his cot in the pitch dark with white noise on, and has been this way since around 5 or 6 months. At nursery he naps in a pod on the floor with the other kids in a barely-dimmed room without any struggle. I think part of the magic nursery touch is seeing all the other kids round them sleeping, like some sort of group peer pressure!

That said, your LO's schedule at nursery might look a bit different from home - they might nap for more or less time, or take fewer naps. When my son first started his naps at nursery were a lot shorter than at home because there were so many exciting things he wanted to get involved with; he was happy though, and didn't suffer for having a bit less sleep. Eventually the novelty wore off and he started taking a longer nap.