Daycare and EASY Routines--need advice

[Livingmom]

We have had our dd on a pretty good routine all summer and by August it was all starting to click. Of course that is when both my dh and I had to start work again (we're teachers) and start our dd in daycare. Our daycare person is very nice and our dd seems very content when we bring her home--but we are having some difficulty trying to get our daycare person to understand and follow the routine-- (It has only been two weeks so far. . .)

Right off the bat, I want to say that I totally realize that she has other kids that she needs to care for also--so I know that it may never be exactly the way I would like to have it done.

Here are our "problems" (and I mean this lightly--because our dd seems happy all the time.)--

Every morning before we drop her off, I write in a notebook her "Ideal" day. (The way I would attempt if I got to be with her.) Our dd is basically on a 3.5 hour routine--working on moving to a 4 hour routine.  Our daycare lady--even after reminders--hasn't really followed that routine. My biggest concern is napping. Today my dd went 4.5 hours at daycare between feeds because she let dd nap for 2.5 hours. I very rarely let a nap go past 2 hours long when she is at home with me.

Then when she finally woke up from that nap she still waited 1/2 hour to eat. In the afternoon she ate at 3:30 after an hour nap and then was put back down for a nap at 4:10.

What do others think of this? Am I expecting too much from my daycare?

Another example: DD never really learned how to take a pacifer when DH and I were home with her this summer and we never really pushed the issue. She used one ONCE IN A WHILE. I put one in her diaper bag for the daycare to use if needed and now Zoey takes a pacifer whenever offered. We did request that the pacifier only be used at nap time when she was in her crib.

Anyway--When her routine is not followed at daycare it makes it hard to determine what to do when she gets home as far as eating, sleeping, and activity. Fortunately, so far, dd has been doing great at home for us--sleeping through the night, going to sleep on her own, etc.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[Noelle]

Hi!
I like your dd's name  :wink:

I think finding a daycare the will do it exactly how you'll do it is hard     That being said...I do/did the same as you (write down an ideal day).  And my daycare lady has read the BW book (I loved that she did that for me) - maybe yours could/would too so that she would understand it better?  Or maybe just a couple of chapters?  Just a thought.....

That being said, what I do is when I go to pick the kids up I always ask how her naps were, when was the last time she ate, etc.  Unless it is WAY off schedule, which I agree you are hitting that mark...I just tweak it a bit.  If the last time she ate was 4 hrs ago, I feed her half a bottle to make sure she isn't hungry up until the last bottle at bedtime.  If she feeds later, I push the last feed back 15-20 minutes.  I have learned that kids are pretty adaptable in that way.  If she drinks 2-3 ounces less at night, she probably still won't wake up because she has been "tanked" up.

As far as the pacifier goes...if she doesn't really need it I would just take it away..??

Oh yeah too...does your daycare believe in waking a sleeping baby?  I told mine that as long as she gets her two bottles in and the last one not being past 3:30 (that's usually 4.5hrs between feeds) that that was ok with me - and that if she ate any later her bedtime was screwed up and that if she had to to wake her up for that feed that was ok because it makes bedtime easier.  And even if bedtime is fine....you would think she wouldn't want you to have a hard time at night and thus wake to feed her to help you/make you happy  :lol:  :wink:

[Livingmom]

thanks for the suggestions. My DH and I were talking about buying the BW Book for her to read--so we will probably go ahead and do that.

Also, I will continue to write down the ideal schedule, but will make it clear that she needs to get her bottles in by 3:30 and that she should wake a sleeping baby if needed. I am pretty sure that she is uncomfortable doing that--but we do it all the time at home and dd is always happy to be up, eats well, plays and goes down easily for her next nap--it is almost too easy sometimes. (of course now that I said that--every thing is going to change :wink: )

What do you think of naps that last longer than 2 hours? I see 2 hours as a perfect size nap if dd can do it. Any more than that usually ends up going into a feeding time or just screwing up the rest of the day.

anyway--thanks!

[Noelle]

Hey Judy
You'll have to let me know how everything works out with your daycare.

As far as 2+ hour naps...for me, it all depends on how the day was going.  Zoe, since I can remember, usually only sleeps around 45 minutes in the AM...so I let her go 3 hrs in the afternoon (she's 8.5mos).  When she was younger and taking 3 naps, if her first naps weren't great I would let her go 2.5 hrs if need be.