Lack of sleep at nursery a problem, among other things!

[hoylee]

Has anyone else found that their child gets hardly any sleep at nursery?

My daughter is 14 mnths and has a great sleep routine at home. 30 mins in the morning and 2 hours at 12.30. She has been attending nursery 3 days per week since she was 7 mnths and never seems to get more than an hour's sleep all day.

It means she comes home exhausted and screaming and we find it difficult to calm her down and get her to sleep at night.

At the beginning, the nursery was great. Since then, the manager they had has left and they don't seem to be as on the ball, including my daughter coming home with very dirty nappies and a sore bottom on a couple of occasions.

Of course, I have spoken with them and voiced my concerns. I have to trust they are putting her in a cot with her soother and they say they are but she's exhausted so I'm surprised she's not sleeping. To make matters worse she's starting clinging to me and sobbing when I leave her which she never used to do. Could it be a sign that they're not looking after her as they should be? Moving to a different nursery now would also be traumatic. Anyone had the same experience and managed to turn things around?

How many babies are cared for in the room?

With regards to sleep, it's very difficult for the nursery to get the child to sleep as much as they do at home. Remember that it's a different environment, different people, lots going on... DS1 was a very routined baby but his sleep went to pots when in nursery, sleeping less than normal and at weird hours and being over-tired when he got home. It's something I put up with because he had excellent care otherwise. And I know they really try at the nursery to put the child down but if the child refuses to sleep, they just don't have the time (don't forget your child is not the only one they are caring for...) like you do to spend getting her to sleep. DS1 used to make up for it on the days he had off nursery and eventually they outgrow their dependency on their naps. DS1 is now 2.5 and he doesn't sleep on nursery days (only 3 days/week) but will sleep when he is at home so I don't mind!

DS2 is in the same nursery one day a week to give me a break and same thing... He's only 8 months and at home, he will have 3 hours or more a day spread over 2 naps but at nursery, he will only sleep for 45mins-1 hour twice a day (been known to make it through the day on one nap! ). At home, he self-settles. Doesn't happen in nursery, he has to be so tired he drops off in a carer's arms and they put him down then.

The dirty nappies will worry me though. That's just not on. 14 months is also fairly bad separation anxiety stage. DS1 was always very independent and I remembered him getting very clingy at that age...