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Parenting
My DD only naps for half an hour unless it's a contact nap. She's started nursery and isn't really napping much at all.
Pugletpops · 18/03/2023 16:08
For the days she's not at nursery I try to get at least one 2 hour nap, but it needs to be a contact nap. Obviously the nursery staff can't do this. She wakes around 7.30am and they offer her nap around 11 - 11.30, but she only ever does half an hour. Then they can't ever manage to get her to do a second nap (which I understand, I often struggle with the second one), so she often goes from waking at about 12pm, to bedtime at 7 - 7.15pm. So far it hasn't affected her night sleep (she sleeps so brilliantly through the night), and she's in a great mood when she comes home from nursery. But yesterday, a day she wasn't at nursery, she slept in the pram for almost two hours, which she NEVER does, ever. She also woke up an hour later than usual that morning, so I'm wondering if she was catching up on sleep. Does anyone think eventually she'll nap longer at nursery just due to sheer exhaustion? Of course I don't want it to happen that way, but I'm back at work and I can't really instruct the staff to do a two hour contact nap.
She's always been like this with her naps, and aside from CIO, I've tried everything to lengthen them. Like, anything you can think of: sleep suit, white noise, blackout curtains, Ferber, wake to sleep, crib hour, lengthening wake windows, shortening them, a set schedule, following her lead. I ended up getting very stressed and obsessing over the perfect schedule and realised it wasn't worth my tears and gave in to the contact nap. But like I said, often she is going about six hours between waking from her nap to bedtime, and I'm just hoping this is safe to do for a baby her age.
I have noticed in different countries the advice varies - I usually post on reddit which has a lot of American users, and their general consensus was that I really need to get her to nap again in the afternoon or bad things will happen. I find the UK audience pretty much say, you know your baby, not all babies need so much nap sleep.
Bringmethesleep · 18/03/2023 16:14
How old is your daughter? My little boy only contact napped before starting nursery at 13 months. They got him to nap in the pram on his first settling in session! He's been there for about 4 months and now naps happily on one of the floor cushions. So my experience is that things can be completely different at nursery...different environment, different people, new habits.
Invisimamma · 18/03/2023 16:20
She's not upset after nursery and she's sleeping well at night. Keep doing what you're doing, nothing bad will happen.
Personally I'd use nursery as an opportunity to wean her off the contact naps at home as being back at work you'll have less time for it.
After age 1 most babies and toddlers transition to an longer afternoon nap instead of 2 naps anyway.
Pugletpops · 18/03/2023 16:32
Sorry, probably an important detail I missed - she's 11 months!
drainedofalllife · 18/03/2023 16:34
Definitely from the ‘not all children need the same amount of sleep’ camp. If it’s not affecting her night sleep I really wouldn’t worry!
And we weaned my DD off contact naps in favour of pushchair naps, except that meant going out for a walk in the pushchair in driving rain, snow etc. Wish I’d kept the contact naps.
Can’t wait to be done with naps. DD dropped to 1 nap of varying (invariably sub-1 hour) length by 10 months. Dropped that by 2. Freedom. Then we had DS 😂
FrizzledFrazzle · 18/03/2023 16:58
I'd just go with it. It seems like she sleeps longer when she is tired and her night sleep is fine, so don't stress unnecessarily.
It might be that after a few weeks at nursery she either lengthens her first nap or accepts a second one, but if she's managing with just 30 minutes and a weekend catch up, that would be fine too!
sociallydistained · 18/03/2023 17:11
The nap is too early for just one nap a day but too late for two naps a day. Can they push the nap out to 12:/12.30? Doubtful I guess
DragonbornMum · 18/03/2023 17:24
At 11 months my son was barely having a reliable 2 hour nap.
As she's sleeping fine at night I would say just keep doing what you're doing; she needs time to settle into nursery.
WeightoftheWorld · 18/03/2023 17:32
Hi OP, both of mine have been poor nappers outside of the home. DD started nursery at 9mo and DS at 11 mo. They both really struggled to nap there tbh. They both had two naps initially but as you say, they'd usually be 30-40 min long each. Both my kids would be BEYOND exhausted by pick-up time, I have many memories of the poor loves just crying throughout eating their dinner in their high chair afterwards through sheer exhaustion. It was so hard and heart-braking. Add to that my DS didn't sleep well between 11 and 15 months either so you can imagine how tired he was. Both of mine went to nursery 3 days a week initially. They both definitely tried to 'catch up' on sleep on the days they were with me, they would have generally more daytime sleep on the first day they were with me after nursery for sure.
It definitely isn't ideal for them to not get enough sleep whilst they are there but it can't really be helped and it gets less of an issue as they grow older. It got much easier with DD when she was about 18m old and went to 1 nap at nursery and managed ok on that (even though she was having 2 naps at home until she was over 2 iirc). DS is 17m and has been on 1 nap at nursery since he was about 13 months which seems ridiculously young. He's been coping better with the lack of sleep I'd say the last 2 months or so. He just seems to have overall needed a bit less sleep than DD did.
Regularsizedrudy · 18/03/2023 17:35
Mine only ever had 30 mins at a time. It’s fine. Your baby knows best.
chillih · 18/03/2023 18:02
When my son started nursery at 1yo he only had short naps too. Now he's a bit older (16m) he sleeps like a log in their cots for up to 2 hours! He'd never do that at home, in his cot at home i'd only get 30 mins out of him and for a 2hr nap it would have to be a contact nap or in the pram.
I think since your baby is sleeping so great at night and is in a good mood, she must be fine, don't worry about it 
she might start sleeping more there as time goes on like my son too!
MerryMarigold · 18/03/2023 18:09
Where I used to work in a hurry we put all the kids down at about 12 after lunch. Even the bad nappers got into a routine of sleeping because the others were sleeping. Younger babies (eg. 6 months) might have had 2 naps but I think by 11 months she could have the same nap time as the 1-2 year olds and might want to copy them.
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