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Hi All,
I am not a daycare provider but I've been interveiwing and touring centres and home daycares. It seems like most centres have little cots for sleeping and most home daycares do playpens/cribs and mats for older kids. My son will be about 16 months old by the time he starts daycare and he's a tummy sleeper. Is a 16 month old really able to get a good nap on those little cots? They look a bit uncomfortable and like he would just roll out.....
At 16 months your child would still be in a playpen in most home daycares. Generally I make the switch to a cot or mat (I use crib mattresses on the floor) about age 2 or when the child reaches 30lbs (limit for playpen) and/or makes switch from crib to bed at home. The cots have a sling support to them so they are more comfortable than you might think. Although the toddler size ones are short and do require the child to be curled to sleep on them sometimes most will use the standard size cot and that is something to ask. As far as rolling out the hammock effect of the cot helps to keep them in the middle but do check with each place you go as to when the children move from playpens/cribs to cots or mats.
Cots are quite comfy - as tried by a daycare worker (just squeezed onto one by curling up into a ball) at one time! lol oops!
Once a sheet is put on, and the child has their blanket and stuffie, they will be asleep in no time! It's quite hard to roll off one of those cots, once the childs weight is on it, the bars on the sides are that much higher (if that makes sense! I suppose you could think of a hammock, but not so movable!). We used to have some 14 month old children sleeping on the cots because they became too heavy for us to pull out of a playpen.
I am a home daycare provider (now) and have a 22 month old on a cot - she sleeps great (3-4 hours for me).