Bit worried nursery won't manage - advice please?

[PumpkinPie2013]

Morning

I'm due to go back to work full time mid August (doing a few days before that but dh is off then).This means my lovely ds will have to go to nursery from 8am until 3.30pm/4.45pm latest each day.

Sadly going pt isn't possible - believe me I've tried the maths so many ways but even after childcare we are better off with me working. Pt or sahm mean we would struggleSo, we have chosen an excellent nursery for ds which I'm happy with.

However, I'm starting to panic!!! Ds has never been a good daytime napper - he fights it majorly.Over the last few days he has got into a pattern of nap around 9am (45 mins ish) plus an afternoon nap of around 1hr 30 mins but the time is a bit variable at the mo.

Problem is he usually either falls asleep on me after a bottle or in the pram/car. Tried putting him in his cot awake but he either gets upset or starts gurglingI can usually put him in his cot once asleep and he will sleep.He sleeps great at night and can usually self settle unless he is teething/has a cold and needs an extra cuddle.

My issue is - what will nursery do?? Obviously I don't expect them to go for a drive or walk with him!!Anyone experienced similar and been ok? I could take his pram to nursery each day so was wondering about trying to rock him on the spot to sleep as a nursery nurse might be able to do that?

Any tips gratefully receivedI know it's a daft question but I'm so worried.

all the parents I know with older children tell me not to worry about how they get them to do things! Apparently kids who never nap at home, never nap in cots, always nap on boob, they will ALL nap at nursery! Leave it to the experts and don't worry :o)

I worried about this with DS1 and I needn't have. They managed to get him to nap without issues, as well a eat stuff he wouldn't touch at home! Our nursery has pushchairs so they have used them to get him to sleep if he was fighting it. Because nursery is a different place with different people the routine is also a bit different, it's just what works there iyswim.

Aw thanks claire honestly that has made me feel better!

Thinking about it now a friend's dc was ebf and she went back to wotk when he was 10 months.

They tried for months to get him to drink from a bottle/cup and he wouldn't have any of it - full on screaming/clamping mouth shut etc. She was so worried he wouldn't drink at nursery.

When she picked him up after his first day the nursery nurse said 'oh yes, dc has had x oz of milk and some water with his lunch'

My friend was gobsmacked! So maybe it will be ok x

My dd never ever napped at home, only in the buggy and only if it was outside and continually moving.

She went to nursery at 9mo... she napped there twice a day from her first day. In a room full of other children all in various states of sleep/crying. I couldn't actually believe it, so they took photos for me .

Do not worry at all about the naps - they're professionals and have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, with any luck, they'll get him into a nice routine for you!!

Thanks to you too ipswich

My dn wouldn't nap any where other than the car for dsis, she napped fine at nursery so try not to worry

He'll be fine. When my ds went to nursery he was EBF (though did take a bottle of ebm ok) and fed to sleep for all his naps with no routine at all.

He went to sleep fine for them with a cuddle and a muslin (which he never had at home), and as a toddler would sleep on a mat with everyone else which he would never have done at home

My non cot napping 13 month DS naps much better at nursery. Has two naps both over an hour. He also eats things he'd never touch at home. It's a mystery to me. The do cuddle him to sleep sometimes though.

He will definitely be fine but if you're worried why don't you go in and have a chat with them about what they do? It might reassure you to know exactly what happens. My children didn't nap at nursery but they were a bit older when they started. Most of the little ones where they go nap in pushchairs and I often see the nursery staff taking them for a walk (esp new ones until they're in swing of things then they fall asleep in pushchair without being taken anywhere).

Dd1 wouldn't sleep. The nursery assured us that they had ways of getting them to sleep, they put them in the pushchair, rock them etc. We did tell them that she just didn't seem to need sleep. She started when she was 9months, a month later they admitted that they were stumped as she was the first baby they had encountered that just wouldn't sleep for them. It was fine though as she just had a bit more value for money and they occupied her in the other room while her comrades slept. This was one of the reasons we chose nursery over CM as at least they could take it in turns to have breaks. She still needs very little sleep at 9yrs.

They will do what they can to settle him and they had pushchairs to push them in. They want him to sleep so that they can have quiet time too, though will probably try to get him to sleep when all the others do so might be worth asking when they have their rest time.

It is amazing what nursery can get them to do! Mine always had a finely timed routine while there, which was completely different to home where we were much more lackadaisical. I recall on a few occasions having to pick up at nap time, all these little sleeping bodies lined up on mats, lights down, carers observing quietly. Very eerie when I consider some of the napping battles we had at home. I don't know how they do it, it's like magic!

Don't worry too much - you don't say how old he is but it's three months away in any case so things change (it may change again). Both mine were having two naps a day at the times you mention when they started nursery but both never napped first thing at nursery, there was too much to do and see, and then flaked out after lunch.

I worked as a NN for a long time and believe me the bag of tricks is huge
The presence of other children having naps in a quiet darkened room works well, staff who are there purely to make sure they go to sleep, back rubbing, tummy rubbing, rocking in buggies, occasionally a walk out if needed, the whole works. But basically it boils down to the fact that nap time becomes part of the nursery day and they fit in with it as a group.
We would round up the nappers 5 minutes before, do toilet or nappies, have the beds and cots ready for them with the blinds closed, help them to take their shoes off and tuck them in. Because there would be sometimes 10 or 12 children having a sleep they were kind of carried along by each other IYKWIM.