No schedule to strict schedule

I have a little boy starting in two weeks. He's never been babysat before and he's never had a second person put him down for his naps. He's also not on a schedule. His parents are sort of hippies and "feel bad" making their son do something he doesn't want to do. He's 11 months old. They are aware that my daycare has a strict napping schedule and they like that. My only worry is how difficult it is going to be to get him on the same schedule as everyone else and how to put him down for naps. I would really like to avoid making him cry himself to sleep, but she says he's never fallen asleep on his own - that he's asleep by the time she puts him in his crib. I don't have time for that.

For the next two weeks, he'll be coming over for a few hours to get used to being without his mom, but I'm just a little weary about getting him on a schedule.

How can I do this relatively easily without causing too much stress to the child and myself?

Tell her she needs to start doing YOUR schedule at home. Stop rocking him to sleep (since you can't do that), be strict of the schedule. Tell her this is a must if he is going to have a comfortable transition.

Check in daily or every other day to see how its going. If she knows your on top of it she might be motivated to do it.

Make sure she knows how hard it will be on baby if she doesn't start this at home

And continue it on weekends after he has started care.

Consistency is a MUST

Ya I agree with flex.... Give them your schedule and tell them to follow it even on weekends in order to help with a smoother transition time.... Tell her to put him to bed in a playpen instead of his regular bed and move it to difference rooms in the house....when he starts coming to your house start with the schedule right away cause if you do it one way only he will know what to expect right from the beginning .... I would really impress upon her that she needs to follow your schedule to help her child adjust easier....when I transition I always like to get a nap or two in before the parent actually goes back to work ..... Good luck

Thanks Ladies!
Well, I think I was handed my first test haha They brought him over to spend some time here this afternoon to get used to me and my house, and they brought him tired. I'm not sure if they did it intentionally or not but he was sure tired! He was fine for the first 5 minutes, then he started looking for mom. I don't know his cues so I thought he was just missing mom but then he started closing his eyes! I rocked him for five minutes while singing (I shouldn't have sung, I think it kept waking him up) but it only took me 10 minutes to get him down. I held him for 5 minutes longer and then put him in the playpen. He's been sleeping there for about 15 minutes now. He's my first client and he'll be the only one for a few weeks, until the rest start, so hopefully, by the time everyone else comes, he'll be on my son's schedule. I've planned on getting each child to start on a different week, so I'll have a week to get used to them and understand their cues.

I'm so happy it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I'm still a little nervous as to how he's going to be when he wakes up, but my son will be up by then.

I'm going to take your advice, write down our schedule and ask that they follow it. Now that I know I can GET him to sleep, I wonder how long I can keep him up. He arrives at 7:30 and naps aren't until 10, so, we'll see.

Thanks again for the adive! I get a little nervous telling parents what to do with their own child, but I have to realize I am the one who will be with them the majority of the time now so I need to be able to make both of our lives (as well as the parents) easier. :)

Just be sure that you don't get into the habit of rocking him to sleep unless you are prepared to do that for every nap. Once you have the other children in your care you may find that you are unable to continue and will have to re-tranisition him with naps.

It'll get more difficult as more kids arrive so I'm with ashleigh. Dont rock him to sleep.

I look at it another way. If he's full-time that is. I have children here who never nap on the weekends according to their parents. Yet, they are so used to my routines and know exactly how their day will transition here and my cues for naptime are exactly the same every day, busy morning, lunch, quiet time, snack, play. There's a lot more to it but that is the basics and they understand that. Their bodies are used to it. And you can bet those children who ahem, never sleep on the weekend are the first ones asleep here, go figure!

Also, don't stone me ladies, but I do rock the babies for the first few months as they have their bottle before naptime or as I'm singing my sleepy songs for them to relax. But then they go right into their beds and have to learn that's it for the hugging and they better learn to settle and sleep because I need my break.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Momof4

Also, don't stone me ladies, but I do rock the babies for the first few months as they have their bottle before naptime or as I'm singing my sleepy songs for them to relax. But then they go right into their beds and have to learn that's it for the hugging and they better learn to settle and sleep because I need my break.

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*Gets out whip* come here momof4 . . . got something for ya . . .

KIDDING! (hehehehe I break myself up sometimes)

Here's hoping the child is as laid back as the parents and doesn't really care one way or the other what happens - if he is hungry he wants to eat, if he is tired he sleeps, ..... you can dream anyways.