how long did it take your child to adjust to daycare noise & nap well?

[Anonymous]

DS is having a hard time napping with all of the noise & excitement at his new daycare. I'm sure this is normal, but I'm just wondering how long the adjustment period might be. With the huge caveat that every baby/kid is different, can you please share your experience with the transition? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

DD took about 2 weeks to start napping reguarly and about a month to start napping really well. i actually became concerned that the daycare might be mistaken when they sent home reports that she was taking at least 1 and sometimes 2 2-hour naps a day, but i have since confirmed! that place just really tires her out. she is 6 months old now, naps 3-4 hours total at daycare.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter went down for naps quickly as soon as she started daycare. But, she started at 12 months old, in a toddler room, when they all nap at the same time. And that said, still usually doesn't sleep as long as she does at home.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. He naps well in the afternoon when everyone is quiet, but the morning naps remain elusive. He goes 4-5 hours without sleeping and then for only 30 min. I am concerned, but it has only been 2 weeks. Sounds like I need to give it some more time.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, my DD adjusted within a week or two. I tried to compensate by putting her to bed a little earlier since she hadn't napped that well.

[Anonymous]

Never adjusted! DS has been going part time (3 days a week) since 4.5 months old and at 9 months old still only takes a total of 1.5 hrs of naps at daycare compared to the 3 hours he takes on his days at home. I'm hoping when he transitions to the toddler room and they all nap together it will get better.

[Anonymous]

Never really adjusted; like the PP, she sleeps about 90 minutes total at daycare v. 3-4 hours at home. I'm told that the transition to the toddler room, where they all nap together, really makes a difference. In the meantime, she's definitely catching up on her sleep at home. I suppose home is more boring than daycare, so it's easier to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Never. DS naps much more when he's home with me than he ever does at daycare.

[Anonymous]

My 7 month old takes a 30-45 minute am nap and 1.5-2 hr p.m. nap at daycare (recently dropped his short third nap there). This has been his schedule with them since he started, with off days here and there. He still naps in a swing or bouncy seat there - I was so uptight about this in the beginning but I've NEVER seen any of the babies nap in cribs so what can you do. On the weekends he'll take 2 1.5-2 hr naps and sometimes still catnap in the evening.

[Anonymous]

A few weeks. And both of our kids napped much better at daycare than at home. It turned out they just liked the background noise. We thought it odd, but we bought a whitenoise machine for their bedroom and voila, great home nappers!

[Anonymous]

Never as well. Didn't sleep well at all at a daycare center. Way too much stimulation. I am a big believer in the importance of sleep (having in the past done research on the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation) so we switched to a small in home family place and he started sleeping well again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7 month old takes a 30-45 minute am nap and 1.5-2 hr p.m. nap at daycare (recently dropped his short third nap there). This has been his schedule with them since he started, with off days here and there. He still naps in a swing or bouncy seat there - I was so uptight about this in the beginning but I've NEVER seen any of the babies nap in cribs so what can you do. On the weekends he'll take 2 1.5-2 hr naps and sometimes still catnap in the evening.

This sounds like my son. Does the difference in naps cause you concern? I don't care as much about where he naps, since he goes down fine in his crib at home, but the difference in nap duration is making me worried. Again, it has only been a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

^^^ Oh, and did he sleep longer at night to compensate?

[Anonymous]

Mine never did- he would have a few one-off long naps, but they were generally between 30-45 minutes (and sometimes only one per day). Then he switched to the toddlers room and he takes one 2-3 hour nap after lunch. He's still taking two naps at home- 2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

I still feel guilty about his terrible sleep, but he was still a really happy guy and the set-up worked so well (and continues to do so), that I'm glad we stuck with it. It's hard, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7 month old takes a 30-45 minute am nap and 1.5-2 hr p.m. nap at daycare (recently dropped his short third nap there). This has been his schedule with them since he started, with off days here and there. He still naps in a swing or bouncy seat there - I was so uptight about this in the beginning but I've NEVER seen any of the babies nap in cribs so what can you do. On the weekends he'll take 2 1.5-2 hr naps and sometimes still catnap in the evening.

This sounds like my son. Does the difference in naps cause you concern? I don't care as much about where he naps, since he goes down fine in his crib at home, but the difference in nap duration is making me worried. Again, it has only been a few weeks.

By Friday he does seem overtired, and although he goes down fine at 7 every night he is inconsistent with whether or not he'll wake for a feed, wake too early and not go back to sleep, etc. With daycare I have to force myself to look at the big picture instead of the details - he's a happy, healthy kid and his daycare teachers seem to really care for him, so even though it bothers me some I try to let it go! I do the best I can when he's at home with us.