11 month old...refusing naps at nursery

[6strings1song]

I am hoping someone will be able to offer advice or atleast reassure me that it will get better or something!

My DS is 11 months old and has been at nursery 3 days a week since the start of September. He has always been a crap napper and literally only needs 30 minutes twice a day. Apparently I was the same as a baby. He has had a rough 3 months, a stomach bug, hand, foot and mouth and a chest infection. This has meant his nursery attendance has only been about 60%, even missing his whole second week. Consequently everything is very disjointed and no routine.

Since last week, nursery have been unable to put him down for a nap. Completely unable to transfer him to the cot without him waking up, so zero sleep!This has coincided with recovering from his chest infection. Before this, they managed to get him down for about 20 -25 minutes, albeit only once a day, but atleast it was a nap! I get the impression he is being whingey and clingy all day due to being overtired.

At home he usually contact naps or gets bf to sleep. Prior to him getting ill (in August) we were able to put him down in his cot for about 30 minutes, he would go down drowsy and roll over and go to sleep. Since all the illnesses, this has gone completely to shit. My husband tried at the weekend and had to give up and contact nap him.

We sleep trained for night sleep and either sleeps through or at most he will wake once a night, feed and straight back to sleep. Usually asleep for 11 - 12 hours. Since recovering we have had a rough couple of nights, where there has been lots of crying and difficulty resettling him if he wakes, which is unusual.

Does this sound like a classic sleep regression which will naturally resolve or have all the illnesses ruined all our hard work? My frazzled brain means I am slightly worried he is going to get expelled from nursery for being a difficult baby or something! I go back to work next week, so his days there will be longer by about an hour, which makes me sad for him and feel guilty. ☹️

Honestly? I think you need to start at home.
Sleep training for naps therefore going down awake and self settling.

Nursery are good but they can't contact nap and there's alot going on so the babies easily distracted by others and noise. I think his best chance to sleep well there is to be napping well at home.

My little boy sleeps anywhere and everywhere, fully self settling when at home for naps/night but he was stilllllll be a little bugger at daycare and never naps as long.
They won't kick him out though, I bet there has been worse!!

@BobbyDazzler11 How did you sleep train your son for naps? We did Ferber for nights, so could do the same for naps. I guess it will be a grim weekend of crying and stress, but be worth it.

The silly thing is that he used to be able to go down awake and self settle. We worked hard on it over the summer in preparation for nursery, then it all went out the window when he got ill. So I guess we know he is capable, it is just getting it back.

I don't expect nursery to contact nap him, but had heard so much about these "magical powers" the staff have to get even the most contact napping/feeding to sleep babies to sleep, so I wasn't too worried as I knew DS didn't exclusively need those things. He will nap in pram, carrier and car too...but obviously not an option for nursery.

@BobbyDazzler11 yes pretty much Ferber but I only went to 3 minutes personally for check ins. It worked well though!

Totally get it, always hard when they get sick and they want some extra love.

Yeah I haven't seen the magical powers . His naps can be awful there somedays!