6mo old - bad naps at daycare, great at home?

[Tammyj]

Hey all, trying to stick to the routine, but bad naps at daycare are throwing me off. (She naps great at home!) She is 6 mos old next week. I'm not sure if I should keep her awake, move bedtime, etc.  She falls asleep on her own well and she can easily stay up for 2+ hours during "A" time.

Here's here schedule:

Wake between 6:15-7
Bottle 6oz at 7:15
Play
Possible nap between 9-10am at daycare, or maybe not even until 11!  When she does nap, it's either 20m, 30m, or max of 40m long.

Next bottle 6oz 10am, or slightly before
Play
Nap 11:30 or so, and again for 20-30m

Jar food at 1pm
Play
Bottle 4oz around 2pm
Nap around 2:30, again 20-30m long

Bottle 6oz next around 4:30-5pm
I pick her up and she's asleep immediately at home for 45 mins if not more, which throws off my schedule.  Do I wake her since it's close to bedtime or let the poor thing get some rest and delay bedtime?

Next bottle 6oz at 6:45-7pm. 
PJs, book, place in crib awake.  Falls asleep within 10-15 mins on her own.

Dreamfeed at 10:30. Sometimes she wakes before and fusses, sometimes not. Easily back to sleep.

Fusses around 1:30am - pacifier and back to bed
More fussing possibly an hour later.

3am bottle.  I'm winding this down. (Was 6oz, now down to 2oz, will continue to drop and the move to water)

Then fussing once every hour until wake up.

Please - FTM here.  Need guidance from experienced moms.  All advice welcome! Thanks!!

[lauradj]

Hugs for you!  Sorry no one has been able to help so far.  Day care naps can often be a little dodgy, especially given your daughter's age.  However, it looks like you're doing everything just fine.  A little cat nap to get her through the evening is not a terrible thing.  Is there a reason her nap times a day care vary so much?  Are you able to request they put her down at a specific time?

[becj86]

With daycare, we had to make allowances for the overstimulation and drop the a time right down and cross our fingers for a longer nap as L got used to it. He did take longer naps eventually but it was a long time. Also had to ask for a quiet corner for him to go to for 10 min before nap.

What is daycare's stance on routine? Do they have a room routine?

[Tammyj]

Hey all,

Thanks for responding.  Daycare will do whatever I ask (thankfully!), however they usually go by my daughter's cues when fussy. I think my daughter is used to quiet time at home with a darker room, and daycare is loud (although they do turn the lights off at certain times. 

Daycare said it's common and that once she's walking she will sleep better? Is that true?

[becj86]

Sounds like a load of nonsense to me... L was walking when he started and he still slept badly at daycare

It may be worth trying to build a routine around when they turn the lights off, since the others will be sleeping too and it will be quieter for her to sleep when the others are too. Do you know the times?

Is she in daycare 5 days or only some days?

[Mama2Athena]

No advice except to let you know my DD went through the same exact thing.  She started at 4 months and up until 13 months (when she transitioned to 1 nap), her daycare naps were usually 40 minutes long.  There were days where she'd have 3 30 minute naps and I would have to drive her around the block (at pickup time) to get that 4th nap in.  Otherwise, she would not make it through the evening.  Sometimes she would take a nap in the car until 6 PM, have dinner/bath and go straight to sleep at 7:30 PM.  At home, she'll nap for 2 hours easily.

After she transitioned to 1 nap at daycare, her naps started getting longer (about 2 hours).  I think the difference is, in the infant room there were no scheduled nap times so she had to sleep amongst crying babies.  Once she got to one nap, the daycare would put all the kids down at a dedicated time in a quieter room.  She is now 2.5 and still naps for 2 hours each day at daycare.  Hang in there, it'll get better.

[Tammyj]

becJ, she's in daycare 4 days a week.  She seems happy, just tired when she gets home. It's like she can finally relax.  I'm also hoping once I increase her solids, maybe that will help?  Her naps have also decreased - she's up for 3+ hours after she wakes up in the morning (!)

Thank you Mama2! It makes me feel better to know she's not alone, and that it gets better! I was concerned about the lack of sleep for developmental reasons, but it sounds like that concern is unfounded! Thanks again!