No Nap at Nursery??? What should I do?

[ireneee]

Hi there,

I just wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this.

My LO is going to move to the next room at nursery next week. She is now 19 mo.

So we went to have a settling in visit yesterday and I was speaking to the new carer and asking her if naps are like the current room, where they go for a nap after lunch and sleep on a little mat on the floor and she told me that they don't do naps in this room. If the kids fall asleep, they let them sleep but they don't try to "make" them have a nap.

I was a bit shocked by this. I guess that some of the older kids don't have a nap anymore but surely they should still cater for the younger ones? I did ask again, but she said the same thing: if they "crash out" then they let them sleep.
I know my LO will keep going and going if given half the chance so it looks like she will not nap at nursery and then will fall asleep on the way home - I will pick her up around 3.30pm.

She will be there 3 days a week.
At the moment, naps on nursery days are anything up to an hour and a half but at home, she can nap for 2 hours, sometimes more.

I don't really know what to do except see how she copes with this once next week arrives. I can do early bedtimes on nursery days but I don't really want to pick up a miserable OT child! Maybe let her catnap on the way home just to make it through dinner and up to bedtime? But then what can I expect at the end of the three days?

I guess I could ask them to let her sleep but then if not all the kids are napping, she will not settle either.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any advice???

TIA
Irene

[sianie]

Hi....

Bit surprised the nursery is being so inflexible!

DD (26 mths) goes to nursery 2 days a week, she moved into the toddler room when she was 18 mths & they still have naps for those children who need them. 19 mths is really young to stop napping & if I were you it might be worth talking to the nursery manager about it? I would have thought that they should be taking into account the needs of each child & there must be other children of a similar age to your LO in the room who also need to nap? Wonder what their parents say....?
 

[rach321]

That does seem very young to expect them not to nap or just run around until they drop! I'd be double checking that with the manager too.  My LO is in the toddler room and whilst they all have meals together with the older toddlers, the younger ones are taken off after lunch to nap on their mats.

[anna*]

That does seem really young for there to be no scheduled nap. My LO is 33 months old, and I'm worried about his nursery going to no nap when he turns 3 years old!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Bit surprised the nursery is being so inflexible!

Totally agree - that's just unacceptable. If you were to say "DD still NEEDS a nap, she goes down at X time. How will you accomodate this?" how would they respond?

[clazzat]

When dd1 moved up to the preschool class in her nursery (age 3) where they don't have a scheduled nap time, I asked what they were going to do about her nap and they said that they take the ones who nap back into the nursery class after lunch to give them a chance to nap if they are going to.  I'm very surprised that your nursery is being so inflexible about this as 19 months really is very early to go to no nap.  As it turns out, my dd has stopped napping at nursery, but they still take her through to the nursery room to have a lie down because *I* think she needs it.

[Tweakster]

It's really not realistic for them to expect a 19 mth old to have no nap at all, or to have to go until they drop/crash.  Can they nap your LO back in the old room at nap time?  How many kids are in the new room and how many carers?  What are the ages of the kids in the new room?  Finn is moving to his new room too but they have the same nap regime until age 2.5: 12 - 2:30  Some kids will do the full nap, some not and they are allowed to do quiet activities on their own such as read books if they do not nap or wake early from a nap and other kids are sleeping. 

If she's used to a reasonably substantial nap, she will not cope with it just being taken away.  At the very least they should institute a rest period for everyone, so that activities cease and any kid that needs or wants a nap can take it.  To expect a young toddler to manage their sleep with stuff going on around them is pretty inappropriate.

(((hugs))) I think you need to push them on this

[ireneee]

Thanks for your replies (and for confirming my thoughts!).
I thought the same - it's too early to have no nap!

The room is a mixed age group but there are quite a few of them who are around the year and a half mark so I think there will be others who will want to nap too. I know that there are going to be about 8 other LOs who are younger than my LO so I can't see that the whole class is not going to sleep

Yes, I think I will have to push for this. I found it odd that her carer seemed so sure that no one has a nap!!!! That's a good idea to ask if she can go back into her old room for nap time - I'll see what they say next week - we start the in new room then!!!

Thanks again!