Will we have nap problems? If in daycare 2 days wk

If we put the girls (18 months) in daycare 2 full days per week. Will their nap get screwy?

Currently they have 1 nap for 2-3 hrs and I cherish that time. I don't care if they nap well at the daycare..... but what will happen to our home routine? Will it disrupt naps? Anyone experience this?

Those of you with full time daycare, what are wknds like? We were hoping to do 3 mornings per week, but it is becoming more and more difficult to make that work. But I'm so paranoid about naps. Should I give them more credit? Can they handle more than I think they can (at 18 months)? They are growing up so fast! Will they recognize there is a difference btwn daycare routine and home/mommy's routine?

thx for sharing your advice and experiences. We are going to a "test" day this week to try it out. I'm nervous!

 

Hi!

Our twins go to preschool/daycare two days per week and they still nap great. Their school has naptime for the entire facility (infant thru pre-K) from 1-2:30pm. The school gets quiet and shuts down most of the lights. There are rooms that the kids can go to if they wake up early to play or read... but that is quiet time. I know that my kids nap for almost all of that time when they are there. And at home, they still nap 1-3:30/4pm on most days. I was afraid it would affect our naptime at home, but it hasn't at all. Does your daycare have a naptime built in? If so, even if they don't sleep, it will keep them in the pattern of having some quiet/rest time every day. HTH!!

-Catherine

 

My twins are now 18 months old and started going to a daycare center 3 days a week when they were 7 months old. In their current class, the whole class goes down for a nap from 12-2ish. It has not really effected their home schedule, I have actually changed their schedule to follow the meal & nap times they have at daycare.

Overall, they love going. They get to do so many fun activities like art projects, outside play, circle time with stories & music, etc. I currently work PT and am not really enjoying my job but one reason I am not thinking of quitting is that I can't imagine not having them go to daycare. All the stimulation and interaction with other kids & adults has been great for them!

 

Ours go 2x a week and they nap great, 1-3 at school and home sometimes more sometimes less but on the whole pretty normal.

 

I was afraid of the same thing, but ours go to daycare 3x a week and they still nap great. They nap from 12:30 to 2:30 or so at daycare and we have them on the same schedule at home now too. Our facility has video cameras so we can watch them over the internet and it's amazing how well most of the kids do at naptime. They all sleep in cots (they are still in cribs at home) and when it is naptime, they climb right in their cots and are almost instantly asleep for the whole naptime (even though all the other kids are in cots in the same room). I watched them the first few days and it only took two days for them to adjust to the cots, etc. The first day it took them about 30 min to fall asleep, the second day DS was asleep in a few minutes and DD took about 15 min, and by day three, they were both sleeping fine. We brought pillows and blankets from home that they use and seem to like sleeping with, although they don't use a pillow or blanket in their crib.

 

My kids nap better at home than they do at daycare. They've been in daycare since 8 weeks, and consequently never had regular naps as long as they were in the infant room (where they just put them down for naps when they seemed tired). Some days they would only sleep for 20 minutes (total!). This did get better around 7 months or so. When they moved to the toddler room at 13 months, they only got one nap, but at least it was at the same time every day. Naptime is roughly from 12:30-3 -- most days they sleep at least 1.5 hours during that time. At home they usually do 2 hours, occasionally 2.5.

Anyway, every child is different, and I don't know what your preschool's nap routine is like. But FWIW, having a different routine on weekends vs. weekdays has worked out fine for us. They definitely realize there is a difference, but they respond equally well to both. At school they sleep on mats on the floor, which I can't imagine ever working at home, especially with 10 kids in the room! But somehow it works (usually).

When they have bad naps at school, they are a little more tired in the evening, but it doesn't seem to have any kind of rebound effect. They still sleep fine at night, and don't seem unusually tired the next day.

And overall, they love school, and they do so many fun things there that we couldn't really do at home. Plus, the socialization is great -- I never even taught them to take turns, I just realized they had learned it at school when they suddenly started doing it!

 

We do day care full-time (mon-fri), and it's always been a pretty smooth transition from daycare routine to home. On weekends, they nap even longer than they do at day care. They get tired during their week too, so they catch up on the weekends with 3-hour naps. I don't think they nap very well at dc, so in a way that works out to my advantage when it's time to go to bed at home.

Toddlers are more resiliant than we protective mommies give them credit for. Mine adjusted beautifully to their day care situation, after being a stay-at-home mom for over a year. It was way harder on me than it was on them. I was the one crying when I left them each day that first week.

Good luck! Try not to stress over it too much.

:hug99:

Jamie