Napping at Preschool

Both of my girls gave up their naps at 2 1/2. Is it possible that giving up the nap just happens to be coinciding with the new daycare situation? Maybe not, since you mention her behavior is deteriorating at home. I feel for you. I went to back to work full time when my first daughter was 11 months. She was still napping in the morning and afternoon but the babysitter I took her to needed to drive her own child to preschool, so my little one never got the morning nap. It bothered me for awhile, but then I just had to get over it. It's hard. Good luck :)

First I would question a 2.5 y/o child sitting on a cot for 2 hours! Know that at the age of 2.5 some kids do begin to outgrow their naps and that is ok. Just compensate her missed nap time by placing her in bed a little bit earlier. I've had four kids...two older boys napped 2.5 hours each until they were 4, my 4 year old son now no longer naps but has quiet time...since pre-school has started back we place him to bed 30 minutes earlier b/c he is tuckered out. My last child age 2.5 naps for about 1-1.5 hours most days. Today she did not nap and so she went to bed a bit earlier. Sounds like you might want to add more night-time sleep since you won't be getting the nap and tell them to get her OFF a cot for 2 hours!!!!!!

What I have found about child care centers is the nap is scheduled around the lunch time. With my son, in the 2's, it started around 1245, then the 3s room starts at 130. For my daughter in two different centers, they started a little before 1 and went to around 3. You will not get them to change the time or let her give up her quiet time as that is when they take breaks (although some places will let them look at a book quietly). Since we napped at home at 115, it didn't bother me (my kids get up around 6-630 A and went to bed at that age around 630P). I would look at the cot. To me they look very uncomfortable when a child is used to sleeping in a comfy bed. You may want to send in a sleeping bag with her favorite character on it and a pillow and some more plush bedding to make it more comfortable. One center played soft music and had the teachers rub the kids backs that had trouble, which seemed to help a lot. My daughter sleeps with music going all night, so complete quiet was very difficult for her to deal with. i would talk to the teacher and find out what the routine is at nap time and see if they will work with you on some music and comfort measures and then a book if she can't fall asleep. Some kids adjust quicker than others, so I wouldn't put a time table on it. Also, she is at an age where she will start the terrible twos, so could her behavior change be a coincidence? just a thought. good luck to you.

I believe you have hit the nail on the head. I think they are waiting too long for nap time. Normally nap is either 11 or 12 noon. Most children get up early and it needs to be earlier. I would suggest it at the school. If not getting a nap everyday is causing trouble with her. Making her tired earlier i would change childcare centers. Napping is a big thing at this age and she should be getting one everyday. Children that are not happy at the end of the day because they didn't get a nap get into more trouble. If the reason they are cranky and getting into trouble than it's not their fault. So i would not feel it's fair to punish them for something they have no control over. BUT if you don't punish them than they learn they won't be punished. So the solution is to make sure they get a nap. If the childcare center isn't going to make sure she gets one and they can't move nap time to an appropriate time than you should switch childcare centers. 4 weeks is well long enough. She should be adjusted if she's going to be.
(by the way if you stop reading to your children it's hard to get back. I have always read two books a night to my two children. I do it regardless of how things are going.)

my daughter stopped napping even earlier but still had to have quiet time on her mat for at least an hour. although she didn't need sleep she desperately needed rest and that is exactly what your daughter is doing. you didn't say but how is she doing? if she's fine, i'd let it ride.

Hi S.,

My two girls are at a learning center and have been there since they were 11mos and 21mos, respectively. Napping is always a big bugaboo in these places. There are 72 children ranging from infant to 5 in this school, and it is an open floor plan. Nap runs from 12:40-1pm to 3pm (depending on when they finish up lunch). My girls, at home, took naps on seperate floors of the house in quiet rooms. They slept 90-150min without problem. They could not, however, calm themselves down with all the distractions in the daycare. At one point, my daughters started a little party at the toddler end of the room, because the teachers could control the noise better that way instead of trying to keep them quiet on the cots. It has been a battle, but some of the things they have tried is to move their cots to different parts of the room, rubbing their backs, etc. This works to a degree. Now that they are 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 they seem to have outgrown the naps (bed at 8pm and up between 6:30-7:30 depending on how long we can convince them it is still night-night time <g> ) and are now getting "docked" on their behavior charts for not napping. The report that comes back to us is that "she didn't nap," not that "she made a lot of noise at nap time." Like they can control their sleep cycle. Anyway, if your little girl is "sitting quietly" for 2 hours, start to push them to see what they are doing to help her fall asleep, diminish distractions, OR occupy herself while everyone else is asleep. She shouldn't be forced to just sit there...

S.

How many hours at night does she sleep? Poor thing is young and needs her sleep to have a happy attitude. :) If she is getting up at 6 am, she should probably go to bed at 6 pm - my daughter needed tons of sleep when she was 3...12 hours a night. 10 hours MINIMUM. I know that is probably impossible with dinner/commuting, etc...but if you get her to bed by 8 at the latest, she should be fine for the next year or two...And she could possibly get adjusted to the new daycare - but usually it takes a while to make big adjustments like that...I would give it 6 mo. and see what happens...it will be hard on everyone at first (which you have seen), but eventually, she may not even need the naps....although if she does not improve, I would change day cares. I was never one to sleep in a foreign place when I was young either...my brother and I hated day care...but we were a bit older when my mom tried it out. Luckily my grandma moved in with us so it was not an issue for long, but we may have been able to adjust had we been given the time and had to. Good luck!! Let us know how it goes.

My son did the same thing when he started daycare. We sent him with his little blanket but that didn't help. What helped is something as simple as a pillow. He sleeps on a pillow at home and the cots do not have anything to elevate their heads. Once he took his pillow to school he was able to nap like the other kids. It might not work for your daughter but its worth a try.

Well it sounds to me that she is trying to get use to her surrondings and is probably excited to be in a new enviornment. Yes children are required a two hour quiet time. I run a daycare in my home and we have to give the children a quiet time period. They can nap or do a quiet activity (read book, puzzle.....). Just give her time and she will adjust. And on the 1pm most daycares have 1pm to 3pm. Well hope this helped. Take care