It's Been About 5 Years Since I Had One This Young...

[PolkaTots]

Now that my crew is growing up, I've started to enroll younger ones as the older ones leave. Well this week, I enrolled a 6 week old...Oh boy did I forget how much work these little ones are! She is not on a schedule whatsoever, and it's really causing a lot of stress to the other little ones...especially at nap time Does anyone have any advice how to get a little one on a schedule at daycare so it's easier on everyone?

[canadiancare]

I haven't ever had a child that young. Our Mat leaves are generally up to a year long so the youngest I usually get is somewhere around 9 months.

I don't know what kind of physical shape you are in but I think a belly snuggy and a bouncy chair would be my best friend.

[Heidi]

I just started one this week, it's been TWELVE years for me! My "baby" is 12...wow!

Anyway, I won't even try the schedule thing yet. I set up her pnp in the main room nearby so I can keep an eye on her. She did sleep a few hours at a time both days so far this week, and then just needed eat, cuddle, and changing. She seems like a mellow little person so far...we'll see.

Does your little one seem to think she needs to be held all the time? Mine seems pretty content to lay in her pnp (basinett style) and look around the room for some period of time while awake. I try to mix it up and give her cuddles and stop by for visits without picking her up as well.

[Holiday Park]

In order to get their body rythms into a more natural "schedule" that fits with daycare start by having mom put baby to bed at the same time ad wake baby in the morning at the same time. The bedtime can be pretty late starting out, if needed. But needs to be sone ealier and earlier , gradually. Make aure the baby's awake time is bot ever more than 2hrs. A lot of babies this young can only stay awake 1.5 hours before it actually becomes HARDER for them to fall asleep from becoming over-tired. Also, make sure to feed baby after naps, not before (again, can be slowly trainsitioned if baby already eats before naps) .
Try to get FULL feeds (no snacking) every 2-3hrs . At first Lay baby down awake but (NOT hungry) dry &already fed , after giving lots of attention so baby doesn't feel boted from not getting enough attention/ has been mentally stimulates enough and gets used to falling asleep on his own. Combine all those things and the baby will gradually , but quickly fall into a pattern where having them on a schedule is easy. So the routine ends up being sleep/eat/play , repeat . As baby gets older /grows, his/her awake time increases and he/she can go longer stretches of wake time with longer stretches of naps in between. So at first there may be 3-4 naps in one day but by 18months they are on 1-2 naps and on a pretty consistent schedule.

[Holiday Park]

Does your little one seem to think she needs to be held all the time? Mine seems pretty content to lay in her pnp (basinett style) and look around the room for some period of time while awake. I try to mix it up and give her cuddles and stop by for visits without picking her up as well.

This is what I did with my youngest son, and my daughter from the very beginning so they never knew any different and didn't expect to be held in order to fall asleep. In fact my daughter at age 2 would ask me to leave her room at bed time if I got to chatty with her so she could go to sleep because she was tired and so used to falling asleep on her own .
The reason why Was because my older boys (two oldests) I allowed to fall asleep on me as infants and co-sleep . They had such a rough time transitioning to their own beds at age 4.5 and so stressful on them to feel like they "needed" that. I am not against those who co-sleep , or do attached parenting. It just isn't for my family and I was using that as an example because that style of caregiving is so not compatible with daycare where there are other kids and a shedule that they all need to be on.

[Heidi]

This is what I did with my youngest son, and my daughter from the very beginning so they never knew any different and didn't expect to be held in order to fall asleep. In fact my daughter at age 2 would ask me to leave her room at bed time if I got to chatty with her so she could go to sleep because she was tired and so used to falling asleep on her own .
The reason why Was because my older boys (two oldests) I allowed to fall asleep on me as infants and co-sleep . They had such a rough time transitioning to their own beds at age 4.5 and so stressful on them to feel like they "needed" that. I am not against those who co-sleep , or do attached parenting. It just isn't for my family and I was using that as an example because that style of caregiving is so not compatible with daycare where there are other kids and a shedule that they all need to be on.

I think it's cool that you've seen both sides of the argument! To me, neither is right or wrong, but it's so hard on a kiddo to co-sleep at home and then be put in a crib at daycare.

My first child had neonatal siezures and was on Phenobarbital. He slept very easily and very well (through the night at 6 weeks). Even when he outgrew the siezures and meds (sometime around 6 months), he was pretty easy going.

I still don't know if it was the meds or just him, but he set a precidence for the other 3 and all the dc kids to follow. I never had an issue with bedtime for my own kiddos, either, really. I've also gotten the "get lost" message when I get to chatty...