How to deal with daycare schedule

[MGardner]

I'm not sure what forum to post this in. But I've talked to many parents on here before that have to put their child in daycare full or part time. My DS (9 months) currently goes 3 days a week. He has a GREAT routine when he is home with me but becuase the napping environment is so poor there he only gets 20 minute naps at most there. I am forced now to send him to daycare 4 days a week now that I got a better job (obviously I wieghed my options and our financial need is too great to pass up the opportunity). I am so nervous about his lack of sleep there. He usually takes the days he is home with me to catch up and takes 2, 2-3 hour naps with me. So now he is going to be missing out on even more sleep. I've tried to work with daycare to move his crib but they are doing the most they can do. He fights sleep and (I'm guessing) that when he is going through sleep cycles and wakes momentarily, he hears other kids and doesn't even try to go back down no matter how tired he is. So since I can't change what goes on there, what can i do at home to accommodate for this? It really stinks that when I pick him up he is either a zombie or so tired that he's unbearable...this also affects his eating....I almost feel like this situation is changing him as a person!

[mari]

Where is he sleeping at daycare and why is there so much noise.  I run a daycare from home and I am obliged to provide a quiet area for any child in my care who needs it.  What does your daycare provide for him?

[MGardner]

The napping area is in the same room as the play area but separated by a half wall, so it is very light and very noisy. It is not a private daycare it is a big daycare center with rooms for each age range. I know this is the worst situation for him but when I was researching daycares I didn't have any children and didn't realize this issue. This one had the best reputation even though it's the most pricey. I currently have him on a waiting list at 2 different daycares, one prides itself on routine and structure so that all the children in the room take a nap at the same time so they are able to turn down the lights and it is quiet, the other one is a home environment where the woman says she would provide him with a separate room/crib for napping. However it is a 2 year waiting list for one and 1 year for the other and we have been on them for only 6 months....so I'm stuck here for now....they tell me that when he is 15 months old he will be moved into a room where they institute a routine and where all the babies go down at the same time, by then I will hopefully have gotten him into another daycare and we'll have to deal with that big change...until then I need to learn how I can deal with this lousy situation...tonight he cried from 5p-7p...the only time I get to see him during the day...i'm so sad....

[Mom2katiebug]

My DD has been in daycare for about 10 months now (started at 5MO and now 14.5MO).  She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it.  DH and I actually talked about hiring one of her teachers as a private nanny, but I just don't think DD would like it as well.  She's gets such stimulation there and she really does like a couple of the girls in her class.  This all comes at a price however and the price is sleep.  DD is a LOUSY sleeper.  Her naps actually improved since transitioning in the toddler room but it's still not great.  We have not had a full night of rest since she was born and I didn't sleep well for the last part of my pregnancy so it's been a really long time!  There are days (sometime many in a row) where DH and I are complete zombies, probably shouldn't be driving and just want to sit and cry cuz we are so bloody tired.  And she's a downright grouch in the evenings - I think cuz she's tired, but also cuz we're so boring compared to daycare.  It's like we signal the end of fun for the day!  We're just waiting and waiting and waiting for her sleep need to drop to the level that she's able to get - currently 11 restless hours overnight
and about 60-90 minutes during the day.  By my calculations, it'll happen when she gets close to 3YO so we're not even halfway there yet.

FYI - The rules in my state require the teachers be able to see the infants at all times so they cannot put the cribs in another room.  The best they can do is half-walls that have plexiglass so that they can still see them.  Most centers do the best they can within the regulations and will dim the lights in the area where the cribs are but it really is a tough sleeping gig for the babies.  Other than the lullabies or white noise machines there's no way to block the sounds.  There's also no way to completely darken the sleeping area - all they can really do is dim the lights in that area, but all of the other lights are full-on.  My DD would take 20 minute naps in the infant room, so the 60-90 minute naps are actually a big improvement for her (all kids nap at the same time, so it's much darker and quieter than the infant room).  If you like the center, the teachers, if it's convenient, and your LO is ready, maybe you could ask that your LO be "graduated" into the next room early?  Another BW mom shared that her center would give her LO a specific winddown walk up and down the hallway and this walk outside the commotion of the room was enough to get better naps for her LO.  I actually had a bad daycare experience (did NOT like the teachers/administrators, inconvenient, not clean, and it just felt like a very cold place) and now really like the center that DD is at.  Some of the teachers I LOVE and others are just okay, but I'm hesistant to change cuz I had such a bad, bad experience before.    But, I think I will go check out another center next week just to be fully educated in my options!