Nap Time Help For 12 Month Old

[childcaremom]

I have searched the threads and found some good ideas but would like some more input from the experts. I want a solid plan in place for tomorrow.

Dcb is 12 months. Walking, running, climbing. Very independent throughout the day. Eats well.

No routine for sleep. No schedule. I knew this going in and told them I would be working to get him on to mine.

He is used to having a bottle and being rocked to sleep. Did not know this when I signed them and am realizing that this child is heavily reliant on this. I refuse to do this here and, well, I can't.

I am also transitioning him to one nap per day from 2. As I said, his schedule is heavily variable and if he naps in the morning, it could be 8-9, 9-10:30, etc. Afternoon nap can be as late as 3. Does not jive at all for our day.

So I am looking at a nap time of 12-3.

Our pre rest time looks like this. We eat lunch. Tidy up but stay at the table for stories. While reading stories, I give him his bottle. As in, place the bottle on his tray and he drinks or not.

Mom has said that she plans on transitioning him to milk within a month so that means a sippy cup here and no more bottles.

He has only been here 3 days. Day one: he refused to hold bottle. Day two: he fell asleep in high chair and I transferred him to pnp. This is the only day he actually napped. Day three: he finally held bottle on his own but did not nap. Cried and cried. If I went in, he only got more worked up. I removed him from pnp eventually.

So this is stressful for me as I explain to parents that babies should be able to be placed in the pnp awake at nap time and be able to fall asleep on their own. I leave it up to parents how they want to do this but I've never had a baby cry for longer than 10 minutes before falling asleep. I also do not put bottles in the pnp with children. Food is at table only.

I need help on how to do this.

He gets upset when I go in. He can pull himself to standing. He watches the door to see if it opens. He is visibly tired but fights sleep. It is a lot of crying.

I am open to all suggestions. He is my only young one right now but I possibly have another one starting soon and I have 2 resters (non-nappers) that I need to be available to. I do not want to start any more habits that I need to replicate here.

Do I speak with parents about this? Try to get them on board. Explain what I am doing? Also, his older sister is home and likes to remind me that he needs his bottle and to be rocked.

Help!

[childcaremom]

Ok, is it reasonable to:

Allow him bottle in high chair to self feed while we are reading stories. We all sit around the table for stories so he is with us.

Say night night to our friends, place him in pnp, close door.

Go back in in 10 mins, rub blanket near his face, then exit again.

Repeat above step.

Take out if still crying in 30 mins and try again in another 30 OR just leave him in pnp for the duration of rest?

Or just not go back in?

[Indoorvoice]

Ok I had very similar issues with a 13 MO dcg when she first started. She's now 16 months and we have zero sleep issues here now.

For the bottle issue, the first week I fed her a bottle and laid her down awake. 2nd week I fed a sippy cup and laid her down awake. The 3rd week, I started giving her her cup at the table with the others. She didn't even fight it.

To get her to fall asleep on her own, I stayed with her the entire time the first couple days. Then I started staying with her just until she fell asleep. When she would wake up, I would hush her and then let her cry back to sleep. Any time she would cry, I would go in there, but I would tell her it wasn't time to wake up and leave her be again. Someone here had the idea to start playing music when it was time to wake up so that she would understand the music ended nap time, and not the crying. That helped tremendously. By the 4th week or so, she would only wake up once during nap and then put herself back to sleep. I never ever pick her up when she is crying. She only gets picked up when she is calm.

The last thing I did was put her in a sleep sack. This makes it hard for her to stand up in the pnp, which in her case , was really distracting her from sleeping. Now that it is difficult for her to stand up, she gives up and stays laying down, which helps her get into nap mode.

You may want to bring this up to parents especially if you are considering terming over this. They at least need to know that it is an issue. But don't expect help from them. They've created these issues, and they probably aren't in a hurry to fix them if it makes their life easier. Kids can learn that things are different at daycare than at home. So either plan on correcting these things by yourself, or term. In fact I often explain to my little dcg that I know mom does it differently, but at daycare we sleep by ourselves. It seems silly to talk like that to a baby, but I really do think they understand and it has helped me.

[Thriftylady]

Ok I had very similar issues with a 13 MO dcg when she first started. She's now 16 months and we have zero sleep issues here now.

For the bottle issue, the first week I fed her a bottle and laid her down awake. 2nd week I fed a sippy cup and laid her down awake. The 3rd week, I started giving her her cup at the table with the others. She didn't even fight it.

To get her to fall asleep on her own, I stayed with her the entire time the first couple days. Then I started staying with her just until she fell asleep. When she would wake up, I would hush her and then let her cry back to sleep. Any time she would cry, I would go in there, but I would tell her it wasn't time to wake up and leave her be again. Someone here had the idea to start playing music when it was time to wake up so that she would understand the music ended nap time, and not the crying. That helped tremendously. By the 4th week or so, she would only wake up once during nap and then put herself back to sleep. I never ever pick her up when she is crying. She only gets picked up when she is calm.

The last thing I did was put her in a sleep sack. This makes it hard for her to stand up in the pnp, which in her case , was really distracting her from sleeping. Now that it is difficult for her to stand up, she gives up and stays laying down, which helps her get into nap mode.

You may want to bring this up to parents especially if you are considering terming over this. They at least need to know that it is an issue. But don't expect help from them. They've created these issues, and they probably aren't in a hurry to fix them if it makes their life easier. Kids can learn that things are different at daycare than at home. So either plan on correcting these things by yourself, or term. In fact I often explain to my little dcg that I know mom does it differently, but at daycare we sleep by ourselves. It seems silly to talk like that to a baby, but I really do think they understand and it has helped me.

I wonder if bringing mine 13 month old one out of the playroom and into the living room would help at naptime. As it is, she can see me from in there the door points right in here. I am not about to sit on the floor for 2 hours though.

[Indoorvoice]

I wonder if bringing mine 13 month old one out of the playroom and into the living room would help at naptime. As it is, she can see me from in there the door points right in here. I am not about to sit on the floor for 2 hours though.

I tried bringing her out in to the area where everyone sleeps and it was a disaster the first time so I put her back into the pnp room where she is the only one in there right now and I leave the site open a crack. I thought she would sleep if she saw everyone else was, but no, she just wanted to wake everyone up. You can always try though!

[childcaremom]

Ok I had very similar issues with a 13 MO dcg when she first started. She's now 16 months and we have zero sleep issues here now.

For the bottle issue, the first week I fed her a bottle and laid her down awake. 2nd week I fed a sippy cup and laid her down awake. The 3rd week, I started giving her her cup at the table with the others. She didn't even fight it.

I like this idea.

To get her to fall asleep on her own, I stayed with her the entire time the first couple days. Then I started staying with her just until she fell asleep. When she would wake up, I would hush her and then let her cry back to sleep. Any time she would cry, I would go in there, but I would tell her it wasn't time to wake up and leave her be again. Someone here had the idea to start playing music when it was time to wake up so that she would understand the music ended nap time, and not the crying. That helped tremendously. By the 4th week or so, she would only wake up once during nap and then put herself back to sleep. I never ever pick her up when she is crying. She only gets picked up when she is calm.

I can't stay in with him as I have non-nappers who get up after a period of quiet time.

The last thing I did was put her in a sleep sack. This makes it hard for her to stand up in the pnp, which in her case , was really distracting her from sleeping. Now that it is difficult for her to stand up, she gives up and stays laying down, which helps her get into nap mode.

You may want to bring this up to parents especially if you are considering terming over this.

Not considering terming at this point. I think (hope) this can be resolved.

They at least need to know that it is an issue. But don't expect help from them. They've created these issues, and they probably aren't in a hurry to fix them if it makes their life easier.

I plan to discuss this with them so that they are aware that I am not going to be doing the same things here.

Kids can learn that things are different at daycare than at home.

This is what I plan to tell them. That it may take a while but that he will adapt.

So either plan on correcting these things by yourself, or term. In fact I often explain to my little dcg that I know mom does it differently, but at daycare we sleep by ourselves. It seems silly to talk like that to a baby, but I really do think they understand and it has helped me.

I talk to them, too

Thank you

[Rachel]

I haven't read all the responses, but he's only been by you 3 days, give it time! I nap my kids from around 12 months old 12/12:30 to 3. It takes them a bit to be able to stretch and get used to the schedule, but once they settle in it's much better for everyone. I actually prefer napping them on matresses so I can sit next to the child and there is nothing to stand up on and screech. Within a week they get used to goign to sleep on the matress, and staying there until they are told to get up