What happens with naps? For those who work in nurseries.

[Lelophants]

For various reasons I now won't have to use a nursery, but a lot of my nct friends are and are preparing to return to work. With a lot of us ours babies only contact nap. After being fed to sleep of course! I'm also still breastfeeding and he isnt a fan of a bottle.

How on earth do you manage? Stresses me out just thinking about it!

Also I might need to use one at one point so would love some reassurance

Nursery staff are voodoo witches. That’s all I can assume. My son who naps well but will insist upon sleeping in his pushchair at home is just put down on a little floor bed and stays there!

I wish they could divulge their secrets!

This worried me when DD started at 13 months. She was breastfed to sleep for naps and night unless we were out and she was in the pram/carrier.

Her first day at nursery she trotted on to the sleep mat thing, rolled over and slept for an hour and a half. I was gobsmacked- they showed me pboto evidence. Apparently its pretty normal when the parents aren't around!

When my DD started nursery at 11 months she was still fed to sleep and, unless she was in the car or out in her pushchair, would only nap whilst laid on somebody despite our best efforts. Within a fortnight of starting nursery she’d nap on a mat on the floor at nursery (yet wouldn’t entertain her cot at home!)

I think nursery workers must be magic

Same with all mine they were rocked to sleep at home , at nursery they just lie on the little mat with the blanket and off they go to sleep. How wonderful ( she says through gritted teeth 😉)

My children slept amazingly at nursery, they are literally miracle workers. My daughter often slept in the main room (rather than the sleep room) where everyone was still playing and would still have 2-3 hours sleep!

I trained my son to fall asleep on his own before he joined the nursery precisely because even with the ratio of 1:3, it’s impossible to be putting everyone to sleep at the same time.

DS does half days so I’ve seen what goes on at nap times. Some children adjust to the new environment and learn to fall asleep on their own even if they’re still in all types of habits at home. Some children get help with falling asleep (usually stroking) and some just look overtired and miserable. I’d also say it also depends on specific staff members as some are much better than others at getting little ones to nap.

I am a nursery practitioner, we are trained to magically make babies nap. I work in the baby room, naps generally just happen. At end of lunch we dim the lights and play white noise, one member of staff starts nappy changing, one clears up the lunch bomb site and the other settles the babies to sleep. I can generally get 2 babies asleep at the same time. One in my arms rocking and one on the sleep mat where I pat chest or stroke head. It helps if baby has something from home, blanket, comforter or sleepbag.

In our nursery the smaller ones go into cots in the sleep room and are checked very regularly. Once they’re about 18 months they just sleep on a mattress on the floor with a blanket (or can use own grobag if desired) and they all just fall asleep! Some instantly and some patted to sleep for a while. A couple sleep in buggies if that’s what their parents have said works best and can be rocked back and forth if needed.

We would pat/stroke the little ones to bed. In the toddler room if they wanted to run about and play it would be a firm but gentle touch pressing down. Wriggling around would be a quiet/firm ‘sleep time’ and then placing them back in the same position.
Some children would be allowed back out if they genuinely weren’t sleepy.
Peer pressure is a wonderful thing! You got to know quickly which children needed help to sleep and which would settle alone. They would have their own comfort item/dummy etc

I had to feed both of mine to sleep and if I dared try to out them down and do anything they'd instantly wake up and howl. At nursery I'd often collect them at nap time. They were always sound asleep on their little mats, resisted waking up (I sometimes carried them out to the car still asleep in my arms) and most grumpy that I'd woken them up I don't know how the nursery workers do it but I expect not having a working boob and sleep-deprived parent on hand helps.

DS did sleep in a lie-flat bouncer for a few weeks when he first started nursery but quickly joined his little friends on floor mats.

Mine (only napped in a buggy at home, with white noise and being rocked to sleep) was a horror in the baby room. They used to have to jiggle the cot vigorously to get her to sleep.

Once in the toddler room she just laid down happily on the sleep mat and went to sleep.

Nursery ladies are magic. Just make sure to choose a nursery that will accommodate your baby’s nap timings, and will follow your wishes WRT how they fall asleep.

Definitely magic 😁 both mine napped amazingly at nursery when still napping. My 4y doesn't nap anymore, but the odd time that he does. He just lays down and sleep by himself.

magic.
they do the absolute opposite what they do from home, mine did anyhow.

mine were gremlins at home, but at nursery absolute saints. They sleep i guess in a "pack". follow each others lead. god knows
those nursery workers are saints

magic.
they do the absolute opposite what they do from home, mine did anyhow.

mine were gremlins at home, but at nursery absolute saints. They sleep i guess in a "pack". follow each others lead. god knows
those nursery workers are saints

When I worked in a nursery, every single parent who came for settling said their baby wouldn't sleep. They ALL did. The odd one or two needed to be rocked in a buggy and one would only sleep in the travel cot, but out of maybe 100 babies that was it.

When I became a parent my baby was fed to sleep and held for naps, I told the nursery he wouldn't sleep, guess what?! He did, of course.

They see everyone else, get their comforters out (good idea to introduce one before nursery) and the practitioners sit with them and pat them, stroke their faces etc. Just works!

I have no idea how they do it but they do. Both of mine would only nap on me, once in nursery they would sleep outside in a pram, and when they were toddlers they would sleep on mats with their own blanket! It amazed me how they got 20 toddlers to lie on mats and all go to sleep at the same time!

@Blizy

I am a nursery practitioner, we are trained to magically make babies nap. I work in the baby room, naps generally just happen. At end of lunch we dim the lights and play white noise, one member of staff starts nappy changing, one clears up the lunch bomb site and the other settles the babies to sleep. I can generally get 2 babies asleep at the same time. One in my arms rocking and one on the sleep mat where I pat chest or stroke head. It helps if baby has something from home, blanket, comforter or sleepbag.

Blimey! Well I am very impressed!

Any nursery workers also mums? Would be so interesting to see if there are the same differences with own children.

Utter miracle workers in my sons nursery. DS dropped his nap before most of the children in his room, the rest all went to sleep and he played quiet games inside without waking the others or 1-2-1 games outside.
When he was napping he just laid on the floor with the rest and dropped right off.
But, he does go to a wonderful nursery full of wonderful staff.

It amazed me how they got 20 toddlers to lie on mats and all go to sleep at the same time!

Tis witchcraft. They used the same magic to make my DD eat a wide variety of food that she won't even taste at home.

Naps were also a massive source of stress for me before DD started nursery at a year old. At the time she was cuddled to sleep and then transferred to a cot in a dark room where she would sleep for 3 hours from 10.30-1.30pm. I actually discounted a couple of childminders I liked because they did school pick ups at lunch time and I couldn’t have my DD’s nap disturbed! I also discounted a couple of nurseries as they only had mats to sleep on and I knew that wouldn’t do

As it happened she completely changed her nap schedule whilst at nursery and went for an hour before lunch and an hour later in the afternoon. She also happily slept in a pushchair to begin with (having never slept in a pushchair) as a younger baby was in the cot, before happily transitioning to a mat a couple of weeks later. She still had the same routine as before at home though and still will not sleep in a pushchair for me no matter how exhausted!

We’re about to start nursery again (a different one) and I’m still stressed about naps as she’ll now be in the toddler room and I’m worried she’ll miss lunch with this 3 hour nap she still has plus I’m not sure how it’s possible! This has reminded me that I’m sure she’ll be fine

I've been a nursery nurse/ Early Years teacher for 20+ years.
I can get a room of 10 toddlers to sleep in approximately 20 minutes. Back rubs, nose strokes etc.

I have had 4 children of my own -all fed to sleep, contact napped!
Then they've gone to nursery and slept like angels for their practitioners.

Magic definitely

DD1 was a terrible sleeper from day 1!!! Would only sleep on somebody.

I tried the nursery's techniques but even then it didn't work at home....

My dc went to a nursery where all the children were encouraged to nap after lunch, even the rising 5s who were about to start school. Dc1 had no problem sleeping there (or anywhere else, for that matter) but took longer to fall asleep as he got older. One weekend I was groaning about my difficulty getting dc2 to settle for naps, when dc1 asked why I didn't dance him to sleep like they did at nursery. This took a while to unpick. Turns out that the Muslim members of staff used the quiet time supervising the sleeping children to say their prayers. Ds had no idea that they were praying, he thought they were doing a dance that sent the children to sleep!