Napping at childminder's

[ldurant]

Hi there. Any advice on this would be much appreciated! My 21 month old son started off as a very poor sleeper and only napping whilst rocking to sleep/in car or buggy, then at 9 months we did some sleep training and now sleeps really well most of the time (7pm-7am and 2hrs during the day). But since the trouble of getting him to sleep we have given him almost silence, and darkness, otherwise he wouldn't go off or wake up early.
I know this was a bad habit but he just wouldn't /won't sleep otherwise. So now he's going to a childminder, with other noisy kids around and out of his usual habits, she battles to get him to sleep. Even a two hr walk in the buggy on an outing didn't work.
I know that mums say once kids go to childcare they adapt and nap with all the noise and children around but how long does this take?! Admittedly, he's only been there 2 months but it feels like a long time picking up an upset, grumpy boy who refuses to eat because he's so tired!
She has tried a buggy shade cover, putting him in travel cot, making it dark etc. Is there a way for me to break the habit and help him sleep more easily/deeply? Or could he just be a light sleeper?
Help! Thank you

Where do they put him to sleep? I put my mindees upstairs with blinds/curtains shut and baby monitor on. There's no way they'd sleep downstairs but some cm have children who will.

Mine sleep downstairs. I have a dark room and a quiet room, but not a dark, quiet room. New mindees who are not used to the noise usually start off in the quiet room and then move to the dark room (where they sleep better). Does she have a room at the other end of the house, where she can use a baby monitor and pop her head round the door every so often?

Upstairs in the travel cot, curtains shut, and baby monitor when I had LOs.

During my 11 years of childminding I cared for several little ones who needed a dark, quiet room in order to sleep and usually this would be mentioned at the interview stage before the child started. I had a bedroom upstairs with dark curtains to black out light and kept as quiet as possible (all play downstairs). Also after lunch when babies needed a quiet sleep I would do quieter activities with any child/children who didn't sleep and we called this 'quiet time', usually stories, puzzles, arts/crafts. After a busy morning out and about at toddler groups, singing groups, running around outside etc all the children needed a quiet period to recharge their batteries.

Every childminder operates differently so perhaps your child needs a different setting. Your childminder may be fabulous at many things but is perhaps not suitable for your child's individual needs. Some childminders have very busy, noisy settings, others adapt their setting for busy and quieter periods.

When initially meeting prospective parents I would find out as much as possible about their childcare requirements/needs and if I felt I couldn't provide the appropriate care would be honest from the outset, especially regarding daily routines, facilities etc

was sleep discussed at interview? did she say she would use a dark room?
it is very restricting for some cms to have to have a child in complete darkness and quiet, particularly with other children around.

I do put one of my mindees down to sleep in a dark room, as she sleeps in the afternoon after i have done my groups, and that works for me as she sleeps very well. Another is a very poor napper, both at home and with me and would freak if i did the same with her, so i normally put her in her pram (same as what parent does at home) or she will sleep on the move (cat nap is a more accurate description)

At 21 mths your ds may not need a sleep very much longer and imo he certainly shouldn't 'need; to sleep in complete dark and quiet - you could help your cm by getting him out of this habit at home rather than her having to change her whole day to get your ds to sleep....

if you are happy with her in all other respects, i would say just go with it - by the summer, i would expect your ds to not really been sleeping much in the daytime anyway and i don't think its fair to expect a cm to be in during the summer holidays with lots of other children anyway.