New 8 month old baby starting with me (CM) very soon - no sleep routine at all.

[Alliwantisaroomsomewhere]

I have a little girl starting with me in a few days' time and she is 8 months old. Little one falls asleep about 3 times a day for 30 min at a time wherever she is. She sleeps well at night mostly, but mum has said that during the day she could be awake for up to 6 hours, screaming with tiredness.

I know I should start as I mean to go on with her! But how do I encourage her to sleep without it being awful for her. I will not leave her to scream herself to sleep. That is not an option. I have 1 or 2 other little ones on the same days at her so I will not be able to stay with her all the time. Also, during a settling in session the baby's crying when I tried to get her to sleep upset the other little one.

Any suggestions? Mum says she cannot just be left in a cot to sleep - I am not judging the mum on what she does! I did virtually the same thing with my DS and while I regret it now, he is a fine lovely boy .

So how have other childminders managed babies that scream and won't sleep?? I would ideally love the baby to get into the usual routine of short sleep in the morning and a longer one after lunch. But of course you cannot force someone to sleep!!!

Is the baby used to being in a sling? That's how I mananged a similar-ish situation with a 12 month old baby who would only fall asleep at the breast. Carrying him in a sling calmed him down and allowed him to relax while not 'forcing' him to sleep - sometimes he would fall asleep quite happily in the sling.

Failing that, I have tried putting him in a double pushchair with my 3 year old and wheeling them both around the neighbourhood until he is asleep. Doesn't take long if he is really tired, and he is a much happier boy if he has had a bit of a nap (I know that encouraging children to sleep in pushchairs is frowned upon but it works for him and his mum is happy with it).

I am not an experienced childminder, by the way - just passing on what has worked for me. Somebody else will probably have much better advice.

Am a parent, not a CM but wondered if this might help?

DS was 9 months when he started at the CM and had always been fed to sleep for every nap and sleep and I was so worried about it. I had a text on the first morning at 0930 from the CM to say that he had fallen asleep whilst having a cuddle without any problems whatsoever! He continued to have a regular sleep whilst at the CMs and would happily be put in a cot to go to sleep but screamed blue murder at home if I tried to do the same.

He still regularly falls asleep in the pushchair now on the school run so I think he just has a CM routine and an at home routine.

my DS was 7mo when he started at the CM, and he had no sleep routine at all (not for want of trying...). She spent the first week putting him in the travel cot upstairs and letting him scream then told me he wasn't sleeping well, and we ended up agreeing that he would be patted to sleep on the sofa next to her (like her other charge, who is a few weeks older than DS). Now he takes himself off to the sofa at nap time, curls up, and goes to sleep.

for the first few weeks though, he slept best in the pushchair on the school run, and then curled up next to CM with his dummy firmly placed in his mouth :o

at nursery (we had issues getting CM or nursery with space for him 5 days a week, so have split care) they used a pushchair in the porch bit, and now he's in the 2-3 yo room, he takes himself off to a mattress and kips there quite happily. Still a bloody nightmare to get to sleep at home, mind...

It is essential that a routine is developed for your other mindees and for you to achieve all your eyfs goals. So as above with green bananas, it sounds like you best option. then the sofa and eventually sleeping in cot with a bottle for each stage. You could always try sleeping on top of a bean bag, with you laying and patting alsleep as another option. I hope it all works out well.

Thanks for all the advice! The mum made no mention of a sling so I don't think that that has been used.

I certainly agree that the little one needs a routine so will see what I can do to establish one - the sooner the better, I reckon.

I really do not want children sleeping downstairs on the sofa, though. All my other children that I have had and currently have, sleep well upstairs. Wish me luck! I may develop really strong and lean legs (if only!) running up and down the stairs to see to the LO during sleep times!

I really don't think it is safe to put a baby to sleep on a bean bag, nor on the sofa for that matter. The dips and crevices associated with both are a suffocation risk.

The options seem to be:

Sling
pushchair - maybe try some longish walks at the same time each day?
A floor mat - sitting or lying beside her might help
Holding/rocking/patting her to sleep, then slowly changing the routine.

I always used a bouncy chair to start with, rocking it sat right by baby, to going to rocking it with foot while I read to other mindees, to just putting baby in with a blanket, to finally putting baby in travel cot. Usually worked.

I aggree to leave a baby alsleep on the sofa or beanbag would be unsafe. But it's a great way to get a baby to sleep, because you can scoop them up and lay them in a cot and the baby wouldn,t disturb other mindees.