Napping at nursery when ds does not self settle, how????

[waffles1]

My DS is due to start nursery in a month for 3 mornings per week. He is not the best at self settling to sleep, does it occasionally although generally i feed or rock (in arms or buggy) so was wondering how have other babies who do not self settle manage to nap at nursery?
It takes me about 10 mins to get him to sleep so not long at all although i appreciate nursery staff probably don't have this time to spare putting him to sleep and i'm just a bit worried about how he is going to get a good nap, and i know what he is like when he's overtired and it's not fun!!
Would be great to hear other mn's experience of napping at nursery for non self settlers!!

DS's nursery let him nap in a pram, they cuddled and snuggled and held him and, finally, he napped a lot better with a load of other babies around than he ever did at home. I think he was just cave-baby, who needed his tribe around him.

At 6, he still sleeps better if someone is in the same room, and has chosen to share with his younger sister.

DS1 was at nursery a while back, he's 6 now, but he wouldn't self settle at that age. He started nursery at 7 months, and they would rock him, take him out in the buggy or just cuddle him. Later he learned to settle with a pat to the back (not that he'd ever do it for me!). No crying allowed . the baby room leader was very anti crying, and would cry herself when parents asked her to leave their children to cry.

Nursery staff do have time to get children to sleep, find a nursery that takes time!

Sorry no advice but marking my place to see what others say. Although my experience of it is that ds would settle for nursery and the cm much better than for me, and seemed to know it was expected, other children were asleep etc. Maybe they were more consistent than me?

My DD was 2 when I attempted to put her into nursery while I did a course (she didn't stay mor ethan a week and I didn't do the course but that's another story. She has never self settled and was still BFed to sleep (we co-slept too). However, she settled down for a nap along with all the other toddlers on her first day there. She followed the crowd. I was really very surprised.

The nursery workers will help the babies to settle, particularly if they're new to it.

Sorry, that's no comment on your consistency - more me musing about myself. I'm not very routine-y.

Surely the nursery workers will be able to rock/cuddle him to sleep? I'm sure they won't let him go too long without a sleep for the lack of this.

My dd isn't in nursery, but settles much better when she's with MIL and sleeps fine in a cot there (co-sleeps at home). Babies are so adaptable.

Everyone realises that they sleep better for other people because a) they don't fuss the way we do and b) they don't tell us the truth :)

Cogito

cogito so true! Although I had to pick DD up from nursery for an appt the other day and I walked in after lunch and honestly - the entire baby room was fast sleep. It's like witchcraft I tell you.

OP neither of mine self settled before they started at nursery but both slept well by being cuddled, rocked or patted plus it didn't seem to affect any attempts we eventually tried at home to get them to self settle (or not as was usually the case )

Thanks everyone, really encouraging messages and has made me feel better about ds settling into nursery and being able to nap :-)

My daughter always self settled fine at home but they had nightmares with her at nursery. I laughed when they said they tried rocking her to sleep because I hadn't been able to do this since she was 3 months. Tbh I think they prefer ones that they can control, my daughter liked to sit in her cot, chatter, then go down 20 minutes later - in a nursery that is rather disruptive!!!! She survived on little or no sleep anyway (and slept beautifully the days that she was not there).

I worried about exactly the same when ds started nursery. I was a bit pfb with the staff when he started about how he really needed a sleep but that he was very difficult to settle blah blah. The little beggar went off to sleep beautifully in a room full of other snoozing toddlers. Sure your lo will be fine

Thanks 40, that's exactly what i can imagine myself saying to the nursery staff too!! I know i'm to pfb about his sleep. Hopefully he does exactly as your ds did, little monkeys! x

DS never slept at nursery. only kid in the room who didn't. He used to enjoy quiet time with a staff member or just occasionally go and visit the next age up room which he liked.

he was a toddler rather than a baby tho, so YMMV.

I could never understand how DD would sleep at nursery as they all sleep on little bed things on the floor and I thought she would never sleep like that but she was absolutely fine from day one.