Will my kid ever sleep at daycare??

[Anonymous]

I would love to hear what a BH center would say about moving a child to another room for a nap. That would totally screw with their ratios and cost more money. They ratio has to fit the youngest child in the room. So, if your child is 16 months and the ratio is 1 to 4 and then she goes into a 2 year old room, where the ratio is 1 to 8, they have to hire another person for that hour or two your baby is sleeping in the 2 year old room.

[Anonymous]

When kids are napping ratios are different -- at least in VA

[Anonymous]

Not in DC

[Anonymous]

OP - I'm in MD so not sure what the rules are, but I'm going to ask about it when we go in tomorrow. They have quite a few "floaters" at my center so I def don't think they'd need to hire someone special. We'll see what they say. Thanks for the input all.

[Anonymous]

Our DD is also at a BH and has similar problems napping there. Right now, for example, she regularly takes two naps at home with me, totaling about 2 hours, whereas at daycare she regularly will take only one nap that lasts between 20-45 minutes. This type of thing has been going on since she started at 5 months (home: 3 naps, totaling 3 hours; daycare: 2-3 naps, totaling 1.5 hours, and sometimes even less).

The issue for our DD is that she has always been super alert and curious. She has always had trouble settling to sleep when there were things to look at/noises.

We kept her at BH because her teachers were awesome and she was otherwise thriving. That type of environment is perfect for her because there is always something going on. To be honest, I think she gets bored at home on weekends, even though we play with her and take her on outings.

She is about to transition into the toddler room, so I'm hoping that the daily quiet nap time will help her sleep more.

[Anonymous]

DS is not at BH but has had the same problem at his center. He has always been a great night sleeper which is the only reason I haven't pushed harder for his teachers to get the naps together. There is one big room and none of the infants were put on any kind of schedule so they nap when they want and the others might be up playing. It has been frustrating at times but we love every other aspect of his center so we never pushed the issue. Plus he moves to the toddler room in a couple months so we're hoping at that point he'll get into a routine with all the other kids.

At our center the teachers in our infant room have always said it's impossible to get 6 infants on any sort of schedule. Isn't that kind of bogus? I hear from others that their center or in-home daycare makes it happen so I wonder why ours can't.

[Anonymous]

DD also does not nap well at daycare, but sleeps well at night. She catches up on naps on the commute there and back. She naps better at home on weekends (two 1-2 hours naps), but if we have company or she is having fun playing her naps are still short. I think in the infant room there is so much activity that she can't wind down enough to sleep. She seems to be an anomaly in her room, so it's nice to hear that others are having the same issues. She is so well-taken care of and has bonded with her caregivers so well that I have not considered trying another daycare, plus she's in a good mood in the evening after the nap in the car. I would prefer she follow a more "textbook" schedule, but she's thriving so I guess it's working for her. I do hope she will settle into a nap routine after moving into the toddler room in a few months.

[Anonymous]

DS is at bright horizons and is 14 months. He is in the flex room and they all nap together so he takes about 2 hour naps. He moved at 11 months, but prior to that he was in the infant room and basically never slept more than 30 minutes.

I am actually surprised BH is allowing a 16 month old to be mixed with infants (it is not something my center would do). I guess I don't get why they said they had a spot for you if it seems like they didn't since they can't move your child up on time?

[Anonymous]

Its nice to hear others have had similar problems and that it may improve when she moves to the toddler room.

Like I said, DD is in the middle of the age group for the "infant" room, with at least an 18 and 21 month old in the same class (6 kids total).There are maybe only 2 kids who are markedly younger than her (as in not walking yet) and no really young babies. Since they are all on their own schedule and choose and do their own activities, i don't feel like its stunting her growth or development to be in the "infant" room. It seems more just a label than anything else.

I'm going to talk to them tomorrow and see what they are willing to do.

[Anonymous]

My son is 15months and in his class they take regular nap everyday at the same time. He goes to the School of Children in Arlington

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why your toddler room is so full. You only have 6 infants? And it goes up to preschool? And your kid turned 1 in... September? Didn't kids leave for preschools?

Or maybe my experience is colored since our BH is in DC, where maybe more kids move to preschool (or free prek)? PS starts at our BH at 2.5-3, and we have 2 toddler rooms of 12 each, one young, one old, so there is plenty of movement.

[Anonymous]

Im a PP with two bad daycare nappers who improved in the toddler room. If all the kids are on the old side for 'infants' it seriously seems like they should be moving to some sort of schedule. At our center, they did that once most of the babies in the room were over a year. My son was one of the youngest (so arguable less well suited to the scheduled approach) and that's when his napping started to improve.

Is it possible to talk to any other parents in the room about the situation? If you're not the only one who has a problem, you might be better able to advocate for them adopting a schedule more like the toddler rooms. Regardless, Since your baby is only there 3 days a week, I'd make a real effort get them to put her down at the same time every day and mimic that schedule exactly during your days at home, at least for a few weeks to try to get her settled into a consistent routine. That was key for us when we were only using daycare a couple times a week.

[Anonymous]

It was explained to me that there just isn't much movement other than in summer when kids leave for kindergarten. my BH goes up through pre-school and MD does not have free PK, so kids leave late summer for kindergarten and everyone can move up then. its also attached to a government agency so i think most parents keep their kids there as long as possible because most of them work in the building and that's very convenient. its a pretty small BH overall and there is a younger toddler and an older toddler room.

i don't know any of the other parents really but i think it makes sense to act more like a toddler room, unfortunately the two infant rooms (one younger, one older) are essentially one room with a divider. i don't know if its BH policy nationally or what but I know they are not allowed to turn off the overhead lights if anyone is in the room.

i'll chat with them tomorrow and see what they say.