My toddler refuses to nap at nursery

[katiechops]

Hi there,

Wondered if anyone can suggest anything that might help as my 22-month DD is refusing to sleep at nursery.

She's always been a great sleeper at night and at home she will sleep for 1 - 2 hours from about midday. Admittedly at home she usually crys for 5-10 mins before going to sleep, but she settles herself down.

She always used to have a sleep at nursery, but for the last two months or so has been refusing to most days, so she's getting really tired and grouchy in the afternoons. The nursery staff are getting quite worried about her and are having to spend a lot of time trying to get her to sleep.

I think that she's finding it difficult as she's a very inquisitive little person and hates to think that she's missing out on anything. Also the kids sleep on little mats, so she can get up and run around rather than being confined to a cot.

Any advice much appreciated!

Does your nursery have prams or buggies. If so they could push your lo to sleep (OFSTED is a bit anti this but they don't have to deal with overtired children in the evening). Otherwise ask them to leave her (restrained) in buggy with cuddly toy + some books to look at. If she is not asleep at least she will be resting

Well, when I go to collect ds from nursery after lunch there are always a few children that won't lie down, so I think it's quite common.

My ds sleeps for 2 hours at home after lunch, but most he will do at nursery is 1hr, mostly it's 25-45 mins and last week her refused altogether. Don't think there is anything they can do....as long as she is getting chance to lie down in dark and recharge, maybe that's all they can hope for. Can they try her in a travel cot for a couple of weeks to see if it makes a difference?

My dd is the same. She slept for just 10 minutes this week. She was tired when she got home and went to bed early. They have tried putting her in the cot but she just cries. Last week she just crashed out on the floor for 35 minutes whilst playing through sheer exhaustion. We were going to ask if they could push her around in the buggy as that usually works, didnt realise there were regulations about doing things like that.

They've tried getting her to sleep in the buggy, but she usually just climbs out whilst they're pushing her!

I'll ask if they can try putting her in one of the travel cots from the baby room and tell them to leave her to cry and settle herself for a bit (although they might not want to do this if she disturbs the other children!)