2.5 yo- not napping at daycare, nw, etc!

[danacarrie]

Hi,
My 2.5 year old is definitely going through something! 
Before the winter holiday, she was not napping at daycare most days, and was cranky in the evening, and sleeping about 11.5-12 hours at night.  On weekends, she would nap 1.5-2 hours and sleep 11.5-12 hours at night.  She then went back to napping at daycare, too.
Over the break, she napped every day for 1.75-2 hours, and slept 11.5-12 at night- what a happy girl!
Now, she is back at daycare, not napping, and we are getting a NW or two.
When she is "on" schedule, it looks like this:
7:30am wake
12:30 or 1pm nap- 2:15, 2:30, or 3pm wake (we wake her at 3:10 if she isn't up yet).
7:45-8pm bedtime.  Occasionally she has a harder time going to sleep if she's had a long nap, but not always.

When she's "off", it looks like this:
7:30am wake
attempt nap as usual- she typically rests quietly for an hour or a little more
7:15pm head to bed, with lights out for sure by 7:30
often she calls us back in around 8:30- I think she has fallen asleep and wakes up, but I'm not sure
11pm or so, short NW
7:45am wake for the day- tired and crabby.

I am not sure what to do.  She clearly still needs to nap, but I can't force it at daycare.  Today I sent her with a lovey and special blanket from home, but I am afraid she will think its playtime even though she sleeps with them at home. 

I also think that when she naps, it needs to be shorter, but with the inconsistent napping, I'm trying to let her catch up.

What am I missing?

Thanks,
Dana

[mickey44]

Hi Dana, does she have all her teeth?  DD1 did this exact same thing when she was getting her molars.  She would be fine at home but would not nap at daycare or if she did nap at daycare it would be short.  We also had the NW!  Since the teeth have come in we have been back on track with the 2 hour naps!!

Also does daycare do anything different then at home?  DD is used to be left alone to fall asleep and at daycare they sit with them till they are asleep so we had to get them to move her to a seperate part of the room and now she is on her own and that helped as well.

[danacarrie]

Hmmm...teeth...
I thought she had them all, but when we took her to the dentist about 3 months ago he said she didn't.  How long does it take for them to come in?  I will look tonight to see if they are coming.  That is a great point!
This has been going on a while, so I am not sure if its teeth, but I guess it could be!

Daycare does nap TOTALLY differently than at home, but it has always been that way (DD has been going there since she was a baby and napped beautifully).  The daycare person couldn't possibly do what I do (a book, cuddle, song, etc) with the other kids.  I am hoping that the associations with the lovey and the blanket will help.  We'll see.

Thanks for the help!!!

[mickey44]

Yeah, DD has been going to daycare since she was 9 months and the nap is totally different there but I found out they were actually rocking her a little when then sat with her so I had to put a stop to that!!!

The teeth took ages to come in!  We dealt with them on and off for well over a month (probably closer to two months).  She still has two molars to go, hopefully they will be a little smoother!!  We gave meds 20-30 min before bed to help deal with the NW.  Can daycare give meds to see if that helps with the naps?