Childminder and naps

[TheLadyIsNotForNapping]

I'd appreciate some advice from childminders if poss.

My dd will be 11 months when she starts going to her childminder in January.

For months now she has not been a big napper, and tends to have 3 x 40 min naps a day (sometimes two longer ones but this is quite rare). Morning and afternoon naps are in her cot, then she has one around 4.30pm in her pram. I have tried and tried to extend dd's naps but it is just the way she is at the moment it seems.

Obviously I've no idea what might change in the next two months and what her pattern will be. But she's been pretty consistent so far!

My worry is that the childminder will expect dd to be on a "good" nap schedule with a long nap after lunch. And that my dd will disturb the other children when she pings awake after 30 or 40 minutes.

I'm prepared for the fact that dd will have to drop her late afternoon nap as I don't expect cm to trudge out with the pram every bleedin day as I currently do.

What I want to know is, is this all old hat for childminders, or could this be a problem?

This is my first child so I am completely clueless about all things childcare related!

It shouldn't be a problem, its nice if all children nap after lunch as it gives me a chance to catch up and prepare dinner etc but its certainly not expected.
I actually quite like going for a short walk after lunch if the weather is nice, the younger children will fall asleep but if they wake they don't usually disturb the sleeping ones.
Routines change as children get older and new ones start I just go with the flow, you may be surprised that your child will settle into a routine at the childminders as they often do.

Do you know what other children your Cm will have with them when she starts? Childminders generally can only have three under 5yos at once, and only one can be under 1yo. So it's likely that your daughter will be the littlest (at least to begin with) and the Cm will at most have two toddler/preschool age children during the day. But it could be that your daughter is the only little one, or there may be just one toddler, or a mixture of all three on different days during the week.

How complicated nap-juggling will be all depends on the mixture, but if they're a good Cm then they will work with you and the other parents to ensure that all the children are happy. Obviously things like school runs have to be taken into account and children do have to be flexible to a certain extent - eg if a child only sleeps in a cot and has to have a sleep every morning from 10-11am that would impact on the others because you couldn't get to groups in the morning or have days out.

Have you spoken to the Cm to see what sort of approach to naps she takes now?

Quick reply before mindee wakes up and we go on the school run.

I honestly wouldn't worry and just talk to the CM about it. A LOT will change between now and January :) One of my current mindees started with me at 8 weeks old and slept for 45 mins, played for 45 mins, slept for 45 mins and so on. This changed to morning and afternoon nap and now they either don't nap or just nap after lunch. I (and most cms) will accomodate your child's needs as much as thet can but not always able to do cots. It'll be fine, I'm sure :)

Oh and agree about nap juggling. When I started back when ds2 was 10 weeks old, I had 4 aged 19 months and under and they all had different needs but it was fine :)

children esp babies have a natural sleep pattern and often stir/wake after 40mins

mb and i ignored our dc when she started to do this as she just cant have a sleep anyother time coz of school runs/after school activites and babs with 40mins sleep is hell

took a few weeks of training but she soon stopped and sleeps 2+hrs a day now

but whatever happens your cm will give her the care and attention she needs, but may not be the same way as you do it as has other children/routines to consider

Thanks so much for the reassurance. The childminder has 20 years experience working in childcare so is no doubt an expert at nap juggling!

On any given day she will have two toddlers (age 2-3) in addition to my lo.

In terms of the morning nap, cm walks all the kids in a triple buggy (!!) to groups each morning so this should give dd a chance to nap if she's still taking a morning nap at that point.

She doesn't do school drop off/pick up.

The lunchtime nap... well it remains to be seen. But thanks again for making me feel less angsty about it. I'm absolutely prepared for dd's routine to change- perhaps she'll magically fall in with the toddlers and sleep for 2h after lunch. Doubt it but I can dream...