My LO started daycare this week, and I went back to work part-time. I have noticed since her integration to daycare (the week prior) that she is no longer able to get herself to sleep (where before she was able to do so totally independantly).....I put it down to the transition to daycare... but I am starting to feel A) like a sucky parent who breastfeeds her child to sleep and B)like I don't know how to deal with this new set of behaviors.
Here are the details.
My LO is 11month and 2 weeks old, she is able to stand and walk and she always sleeps through the night. She was at daycare for 4 out of 5 days last week, for btn 5-9 hours.
The daycare woman is aware of the BW technique we use, and she says my daughter naps well with her.
With me, she plays in the crib for a few minutes and then proceeds to cry in frustration, always on her tummy, she never stands up and the volume and pitch just keeps increasing.
I try to use the technique we used the last time she had a sleep transition: first verbal comforting, if this doesn't work, I go in to the room and place my hand on her back, when this doesnt work, I offer to pick her up, where upon she grabs my hands and pulls herself into a standing position. I then pick her up, hold her for a min. or so in horizontal position and then tell her, "its just nap time" and place her back in her crib. Before she used to calm herself in my arms and eventually once I placed her back in the crib, my touch on her back was enough to get her to sleep. This no longer works. Can you please give me suggestions for how to work through this with my LO? I feel so guilty breastfeeding her to sleep, but I have been sick with a bad cold for the last week, and feeling tired from being newly back at work.........that I only have a reserve of about 20-30 minutes for trying to get her to sleep in this manner and then I just cave.
Yesterday I thought, hey maybe she just doesn't need 2 naps anymore. On my daycare providers recommendation, I cut the am nap... watching all the while for fatigue in my LO.... they never really appeared, besides a bit of grumpiness. Then, I couldn't get her down for the afternoon nap, ended up breast feeding her to sleep and then she only slept for an hour:) All that to say, I checked out what the forum said about 2-1 nap transition and realized that I believe she still needs 2 naps based on the criteria described.
So there it is, please feel free to describe in detail how I might manage these new behaviors in my LO. I have read the section in the babywhisperer on this topic..........however, she never stands up without my assistance.....so that doesn't work in our case. Please advise me:)
Here is our normal schedule, which I am sure is not identical to the daycare schedule:
Awake at 6:30
Play till 9:30 then nap time (she normally sleeps 1-1.5 hours)
10:30 wake up, BF
She naps 1:30-3
3-5:30 play
Dinner at 6pm
Bedtime 7-7:15
