Naps at Daycare
The time has come… whether you’re heading back to work, need some daytime breaks, or you need a babysitter for a few hours, it’s now someone else’s “job” to put your child to sleep!
Napping at daycare can feel especially stressful for parents since daycares generally have one set nap schedule that they don’t like to veer from. The reason why they do this versus other methods is out of simplicity. It’s simple to have all of the kids napping at once since they usually need to have supervised naps. This allows for clean-up to happen in the rest of the daycare while 1-2 workers manage the nap room.
However, there are a few sleep requirements you’ll want to check before signing on with a daycare.
Make sure they don’t transition babies to 1-nap before 12-months old.
I’ve seen lots of daycares transition babies to 1-nap before 12-months of age and this is simply too hard. It’s exhausting for the child because their awake time isn’t quite 5 hours yet, and there is frustration on the parent’s end when they pick up their baby…who then naps on the way home - making bedtime tricky. 12-months should be a absolute earliest your baby transitions to 1-nap unless otherwise directed by your sleep consultant.Check to see how dark the nap room is.
When you go do your walk-through, have them show you how dark the nap room is. Is there light coming in because they don’t have blackout curtains? Will they allow for a SlumberPod (discount code: midnightmama) if it isn’t dark enough?
I know that the daycare nap setting isn’t going to check every single box, but we definitely want the room dark enough that you wouldn’t be able to read the words of a book with the door shut.Do they allow a noise machine or have one set up already?
There will be lots of kids napping in the same room, so it would be ideal to have 1 (or more) noise machines set up so the kids aren’t waking each other from their own little noises. If the daycare doesn’t have a noise machine set up, ask if they’d allow one. We know that noise machines help prevent wake-ups from external environmental noises (hello other kids!!), so having one going while your child is napping would be super ideal.What is their protocol for naps that are going on too long/short?
Ask the daycare provider what their policy is on naps that are going on for too long. See if they’ll agree to wake your child up by a certain time if they’re sleeping really well. It’s the worst when you’ve just picked up your child after a long day of work - and then they aren’t ready for bed until TWO hours later than normal - just because they had a super long nap.
I would also ask the daycare provider what their policy is if your child wakes up before an hour has elapsed. Would they agree to leave your child for 10-15 minutes to see if they’ll go back to sleep? Do they have to immediately get them up?What will your child sleep on?
This is one of the most IMPORTANT questions that you could ask. What will your child sleep on? I’ve seen some daycare facilities nap BABIES on mats or cots on the floor - when developmentally the child still needs to be in a playpen or crib. I’ve also heard of daycare facilities who allow children up to age 3 to stay in a playpen or a crib (yay!).
Asking these different questions during your daycare walkthrough is crucial to ensuring you’ve checked the boxes for good sleep.
It’s very common for the adjustment to daycare to be hard for your child. This is a completely new environment, with way more stimulation than their usual home-life, and they aren’t sleeping in their familiar sleep space. As they get used to going and get used to the workers and the routine at daycare, they’ll become more accustomed to what happens there and sleep shouldn’t be too big of an issue at all. However the most important part of this is that you are clear about your expectations and you communicate effectively. Daycare can’t help you if they don’t know you need help!
If your child is about to go to daycare and they are already a terrible sleeper, consider taking my Baby Sleep Course! This will teach you everything you need to know about getting your child to sleep through the night, take great naps, and master night wakings too.
But most of all - try to let go of some control when you send your child to daycare. Those workers have a lot of children on their hands and they can’t possibly accommodate every single request and demand from parents. Give them (and yourself) some grace and remember that these things take time.
Best of luck!
Bailey
