Naps at nursery

[AmericanAbroad]

FTM here, so not sure what's normal / to be expected when starting LO at nursery.

My DS is 8mo and we've just started settling in days at nursery with just morning half-days.

My biggest anxiety about nursery is his naps, as he's not great at napping anywhere but his cot. At home he'll take a 2hr morning nap and then 45min-1hr in the afternoon. But won't sleep in his buggy or in the car - just too nosy about what's going on around him.

So far in the 2 settling in days he's done a 45min morning nap. But then he's really overtired and struggles to go down for his afternoon nap at home with me.

The nursery workers all seem really casual about this..."oh there's just so much going on here! doesn't want to miss out!"

At 8mo he's still supposed to be getting 3hrs and I'm worried it's going to impact his development (as well as mess up his nighttime sleep, being so overtired). Am I being unreasonable to think they should be trying more to make sure he gets enough daytime sleep?

...sorry that became a much longer post than expected!

What time is he napping at nursery? I think most babies have a shorter am nap and a longer pm nap so it will maybe take a little time for the switch round.

At 8mo he's still supposed to be getting 3hrs and I'm worried it's going to impact his development (as well as mess up his nighttime sleep, being so overtired).

I think you will get very stressed if you try to stick too firmly to what certain guidelines suggest is average for babies of a similar age.

Nurseries work magic and get children to sleep. Let him settle in and if you are still concerned after a month or six weeks, raise it with the key worker then.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz He's napped 9:30-10:10ish yesterday and today at nursery.

Usually at home he'll do 9/9:30-11:30...though wouldn't mind if he was just swapping which is his long nap as long as he's getting the sleep somehow!

Tomorrow's he's in for a full day, so will be interesting to see how he does with 2 naps there.

I'm such an anxious worrier I just found it weird how cavalier the women at nursery were about it. But maybe that's just normal?

@AllFourOfThem
Thanks...I do fully know I'm an overthinker, so may easily just work myself up over this. But maybe I'll just need to breathe and give him a bit of time.

My ds has been in nursery since he was just 1. He always has a shorter nap at nursery than he does at home, and over the time hes been in hes adjusted and got used to that. He also found the first few weeks at nursery quite exhausting and overwhelming, but settled in eventually and now thrives on it. I would give the nursery and your little one a bit of time to find their routine before you worry too much.

Exactly what AllFourOfThem said, he's adjusting to new surroundings and that's bound to result in some upheaval. Give him time to find his feet and find a new routine, and then if you're worried have a chat with his keyworker.

Don't get too hung up on what he should or shouldn't be doing at any particular age - no child is exactly average all the time, and they are just guidelines. You'll know if he's not getting enough sleep, because he'll be tired and grumpy.

You need to let it go.

The nursery staff are busy, and since he's had a decent morning nap by most standards they're not going to spend lots of time trying to keep him asleep.

He will probably fall into the nursery routine which is likely to be a shorter morning nap for babies who need it, then a long nap after lunch.

Once he gets into the routine of lunchtime then nap he will sleep a bit longer because they are all sleeping then. My DS went in nursery at 9 months and was bounced in a bouncer for sleeps. He was definitely in a 1 nap routine by about 10 months and slept at least an hour and a half at nursery and that did him fine. Made my day so much easier to plan around too!

It does seem a long time to just have an am nap, if he just wont go down in afternoon I'd just put him to bed an hour early to compensate (if that works for you obv).