Routine when starting day care

[Anmarnad]

My DD is 16 wo and has started her adventure at the day care last week. She has been on EASY since the beginning and most of the time has been quite regular (with some short nap problems here and there). Next to starting a day care she also seems ready for 4 hour EASY - we have been trying it for the last couple of days and she has had no problems and is eating well. What worries me, however, are her nap times and lack of rhythm. She seems to be napping only 45 min at the time, play a bit, then again 45 min (which sometimes pushes her to eat 4.5 hours later and that stresses me out). Ladies at the day care put her down a bit randomly as well. The effect is that every time I come to feed her (I work really close) she is sleeping.  As the day progresses she is sleeping only 45 min and able to be up for 45 min or so and then sleep again. So instead of EASY we have a very random EASASE, never predictable, never the same . I wish I could be at home to help her settle into 4 our EASY and help her sleep a bit longer and find a good rhythm again. Do you have any tips for how to maintain/set up a routine when LO is at the day care?
Thanks!

Anna

[Papaya]

Hugs, it's very common for LOs to have trouble napping when they start daycare. What A times are you aiming for now? The average A time for a 4 month old is around 1hr45 - 2hrs. 

What is the napping situation like at daycare - do they have a darkened room? Can you talk to them about putting her down at the times you ask them to?

[Anmarnad]

I have been at home today and our day looked like this:

7 am - feed
8:45 - 10:30 - sleep - i had to help her get back to sleep as she was waking up after 45 min, but she drifted off again
10:45 -feed
12:15 - 13:55 sleep
14:30 -feed
15:45 - 17:10 sleep
18:30 -feed, bath
19:30 sleep
and we will do a dreamfeed at 11:30.

So i guess not a bad day. But yesterday at the day care she  could sleep only 30 min or max 45. I think they pick her up too Early perhaps. There is a darkened room, but what if some other kid wakes up too early everybody is up...

[Papaya]

That looks like a great day today! It is quite common for LOs at this age to have some trouble transitioning at the 45 min mark - it's just a developmental thing. Most grow out of it by 5/6 months. If she starts to wake more after 45 mins, you could try stretching the A time by another 5-10 mins to see if it helps.

Is there white noise in the room at daycare, to mask the sound of the other LOs? I think it will likely just take some time for her to get used to the new environment.

[Anmarnad]

Thank you very much for your advice! She is still waking up after 45 min (now also at home) and we are struggling with it quite a bit. But I followed your advice and took the "white noise machine" with me and placed it in her bed at the day care. It's not really helping, mainly because she just doesn't want to sleep, but at least I have a feeling I'm doing ALL I can. :-) I increased her awake time till 2 hours now - still nothing (I achieved a 65 min nap this morning though! :-) ) In the meantime I'm waiting for this phase to pass...