concerns about 1 year old moving to new room in nursery

[joanneg20]

Hello

Genuinely want advice on this from others who've sent children to nursery and particularly from nursery workers.

DS is 10 months, and has been going to nursery 3 days a week fromm 6 months. He likes it a lot, and I've been happy with it. Until now he's been in the baby room (which is small - max of 6 babies and usually less) but at exactly 1 year, he has to move to the next room which is, I think 1-2 years, or maybe 1-2.5 years.

Anyway, my concerns about this are:

1. He can't yet move at all, and doubt he will be able to in 2 months time. Both me and my husband were very late walkers and never crawled!

1. This is my main concern! In his new room, they sleep on mats on the floor, and only have one nap a day. DS still needs his morning nap and is a nightmare if he doesn't have it.

1. It's just much busier and more toddler-ish, which would be fine if he could move but I worry that as he will be the only non-moving one in there, it might be tough for him.

Please tell me your views, and am quite happy to be told I'm being precious and just to stop worrying. (I'm usually quite a non-anxious mum, within reason!) As I say, it's mainly the sleep thing. 1 year just seems very young to sleep on mat rather than in cot, and being forced to have only one nap. But maybe it's very common... tell me what you think!

well it is a couple of months away - they do change a lot in that time.

Before my DD moved rooms I was worried about her sleep etc but actually she slotted in with the new routine just fine (as she did when she first started nursery) so try not to worry about that aspect too much.
I also could not imagine her sleeping on the mats either!! To my surprise I found out she'd already moved from cot to mat before changing rooms and there'd been no issue whatsoever - do you know for a fact he's actually still in a cot?

I might be worried about him not crawling and moving up - just that he might be a bit lost in the crowd - have you asked about the possibility of him staying back until he's crawling at least?

Is he there full-time or can he catch up on sleep on other days if he's only there a couple of days?

Talk to them.
Ds has just moved up to the toddler room at 1.5, but in ds1's, they did it like yours.
talk to them about not moving and the sleep.
ds2 has always had 2 naps at home , but only one lunchtime nap at nursery. for the last 6 months. and i could never work that out. becasue he always falls asleep ont he way home from the school run of ds1, at about 9.45. but he has occassionally fallen asleep at nursery mid morning, but they were fine with it.
Just talk to them. please. it will be fine. you sare worrying unneccessaarily. really you are .

Great, thanks both. Had hoped people would respond saying I was worrying unnecessarily so I will of course talk to them. He's only there 3 days, so can catch up on sleep on other days and in fact already does sleep less at nursery than he does at home.

Will they definitely move him up at 12 months? Most nurseries tend to look at an individual child's development rather than just age when moving rooms, as it's no good for either child or the staff if they're at a different developmental level from the rest of the group.

I work in a nursery, and although the groups are based on age, some children move up a bit earlier or later depending on their development - for example we have an under 1s room, but one child is still in there at 14 months as she isn't moving at all yet and wouldn't get much out of the toddler room at the moment! Ours sleep on mats from about 18 months and are fine - there's always an adult in the room with them, and adults to pat or shush them to sleep.

If your DS still needs a morning nap, then the nursery must give him the opportunity for a morning nap. Ask them how they'll handle it, but I should think he'll still be able to go into one of the baby room cots for a morning nap if necessary.

the nursery where my DDs went move them up when they are walking, and are that bit more independent.
i think it is quite a tough move, so don't let them move him until you are ready. (you might have a fight on your hands due to under 1 ratios, it makes business sense for them to move him and get another under 1 yr in). does the fee drop at 1 yr? if so, offer to keep paying the under 1 fee.

i was worried about the mats too, but the DDs actually slept well on them. the girls had a great technique of back rubbing/eyebrow stroking which got them all off to sleep. they very quickly move into the 1 nap a day routine, but if he is tired mid morning they will let him nap/rest in a quiet area i am sure, raise it, but i would be amazed if not.

Ratios are the same for under-2s, it doesn't change when they turn one so that shouldn't be a factor.