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I am currently trying to work on a new daily schedule for my group of daycare kids. As of right now I have two 12 month olds and one 14 month old. They all take two naps a day. I am just wondering what time your daycare kids go down for their naps, for those that still nap twice a day.
I start nap time at 12:30 p.m. That being said, they usually don't fall asleep till 12:45-1 p.m.
I don't do morning naps if the children are 12 months or older. They just get a really long afternoon nap! I find it works better for the rest of us! That being said, if a little one falls asleep during our morning walks, I do let them sleep.
I agree with Play and Learn that 12 months + do not have 2 naps.
I have 3 x 15 month olds (one is my own) and 1x 2.5 yr old. We have lunch at 11:30 and by 12:15 all of them are sleeping until 2:30.
I sometimes hear the older one chatting in her bed, that is fine, but nobody comes out of their rooms until 2:30. This works well for everyone and we have happy, energetic kids to play with outside in the afternoon.
It did take some getting used to for one of the younger ones, who was used to having a couple naps per day, but soon enough everyone is on the same schedule here!
It is a necessary break for me to clean up, out my feet up, and recharge my batteries.
I still do the two naps for those that need it. If it starts to interfere with the afternoon nap then that is when I shorten it or cut it out. Normally we do story and snack from 8:30-9:00 and then morning nap is 9- no later than 10:30. That is when we go down to the basement playroom and the older kids get to do our group lesson stuff. Any baby that wakes is brought down to join us. Lunch is 11:30-12:30 with diapers and naps right after. Kids are allowed to sleep till 3:00. Often those that have a morning nap are not down till 1:30 and especially if they require a bottle before bed as I do that after others are down. It gives me a chance to sit and relax too - I like cuddling the little ones - my own are 18 years old and up.
A lot depends on the hours the kids are in care. Some of my daycare kids arrive starting at 6:45 so they have been up almost an hour by that point. By 9:00 they have been up 4 hours so time to sleep.
Mostly I find parents don't get the kids into bed soon enough at night so what they are really doing is making up for night sleep with a 2 hour morning top up. And as I said, as long as they sleep in the afternoon they can sleep all morning if they want. We don't go out till after afternoon naps because of morning schedules but that doesn't bother me.
When I had my morning napper (teachers kid) she arrived by 7, she had a bottle at 8 and down for a nap at 8:30 depending on how long it took her to fall asleep, I usually get her up at 9:30 otherwise our afternoon nap is shot. Lunch and then bottle at 11:30, afternoon nap at 12 or shortly after as we have to be up and out the door by 2 for the school run. She rarely slept a whole 2 hours, usually only 1hr. Then she goes home at 3:30. By Sept she will be 15, almost 16months, so the morning nap will be done, (it was on its way out when she was here in June)!
I was wondering about this too. Right now, I have two the same age...22 months, and our nap time is 12:30 til 2:30 or 3. This is working out very well for us.
I have two new kids starting next month though, and both still have two naps. I did make it clear in the paperwork though that I would not be sitting around the house for AM naps, as I have two active toddlers, and we are on the move every morning by 10 at the latest. The new parents were ok with AM naps in the stroller.
lilac, I really like the idea of getting the little one down by 8:30 or so, and then only an hour...then we could be gone again by 9:30 or 10! I will try this. Maybe this will get them to phase out morning nap altogether before school starts. I do have three kids of my own, but my oldest is more than capable of getting them all there safely and on time. However, I'd rather walk them, as it's just a nice ritual, and it gets me out of the house early in the morning as well.
Guess we'll have to see...
I will allow a morning nap as long as it doesn't begin to interfere with afternoon nap. I currently have an almost 19 month old that still goes down for a quick sleep in the morning. I put him down after snack at 9:30, and limit it to an hour or less. Afternoon nap is immediately after lunch, which is between 12 and 12:30. Wipe up, diaper change, and typically all the small ones are in bed and asleep by about 1. Whatever time I put them down, quiet time lasts for 2 hours from that point. A couple of them struggled with it at first, but now when I am wiping thier hands and faces they are asking for "seeps" and waving night-night to the other kids!
I originally had hoped this little one would sleep in the stroller on the way to/from school in the morning, but forget it, its too exciting with the kids around!
Mine all just have one nap from 12 months on. If they fall asleep in the stroller, I let them sleep for half an hour or so and then wake them up so it doesn't interfere with afternoon nap. They adjust pretty quickly. We are out most mornings, so I wouldn't be able to give them morning naps at home as we leave by 9am normally to head to the park or playgroup etc.
We only have one naptime here. It is from Noon until 3pm. ALL the children nap here. ALL of them. It is mandatory.
I might have a twice a day napper when they first start but within a month I usually have them transitioned to one long nap.
I have a 15 month old who will only go for a morning nap sometimes but I try to avoid it. If he's overly cranky that is when he goes and usually it is around 9am and I will only let him go for an hour tops. I finally have all the other nappers on the same schedule from 12:30 - 3:00 and I don't want him ruining that. He may not fall asleep right away some days and may wake up a bit earlier somedays, but he still goes down whether he's had morning nap or not. When he first started and had the morning naps I thought it was a great idea. Figured it would be one less body to chase if we were trying to do circle time or something. Now I realize that my afternoon alone time is more precious and I would rather have that. As it was already mentioned, you need to to recharge as well!
I'm the same as most of the above. One naptime 12:00 - 2pm. When I have new 12 month olds start, their parents know ahead of time, that I only do the one nap. They are fine with it. If we're out in the morning and they fall asleep in the stroller that is fine. But I don't put any of them into their playpen for a morning nap. It's amazing how quickly they adapt to the new schedule.
Ladies, need help with scheduling naps. I have a 9 mth, 12 mth, 1.5yr, and two 3.5 yr olds. The 9 and 12 mth old both take 2 naps a day at the same time (9:30 and 1:30) sleeping for about an hour and half during each nap. The 1.5 yr old sleeps from 12-3 and the older kids have full batteries and are non stop!!!! With this crazy nap schedule I feel as though I am going around in circles without any down time for myself. All kids start around 7:30-4:30 so it's a very long day for me. Please shed some light on me as to a better napping schedule. I'm afraid the youngest one needs the 2 naps per day ( my baby) which I am ok with. More concerned about the others. Also, the older kids often need ideas on what to do next. I get frustrated because I offer plenty of structured activities but believe free play is important therefore I have many times in the day where free play is encouraged and they still say "what do we do now" arghhh!!! Help before I explode
Honestly, kudos to us providers!!! It is NOT an easy job. Yea it has perks of being your own boss and being at home but boy oh boy, it gets extremely challenging some days to the point I want to scream!!!!!!
Hello Judy, when I have kids around 1 year old I've found that is easier for them to adapt to 1 nap during the day, but when they are younger than that they really look very tired and cranky to wait until noon to get a nap. How do you transition younger infants to one nap? Your advice would be appreciated!
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Originally Posted by Judy Trickett
Like the others, we have one nap here. We stay active enough in the morning that the younger ones won't have a chance to sleep. We transitioned the little ones out of a morning nap by having early lunch and to bed by noon at the latest until they got used to only having one nap. Then, we were able to move nap back to 12:30-3:00.
Thanks threeholm! We are very busy in the morning, but at some point the babies get really tired. I like your idea of moving lunch time maybe an hour or so earlier for everyone and later move it back to the original hour...
I have 3 that are 13 months, 12 months and 11 months...they all have a morning nap as soon as they get here and I don't let them sleep any longer than 10am or afternoon nap doesn't go well. I also have 2 two year olds and everyone goes back down for nap around 12 30. I am pretty flexible with the morning naps right now just because this weather has been awful and we really haven't got outside in months so it helps pass the morning and the babies still really need it but come nicer weather I will be shortening it so we can get out earlier, or just let them sleep in the stroller.
When I had three of five taking morning naps I found they were hungry when they got up so I started serving lunch - meat, veggie and 1/2 starch at 10:30 when they got up. Then we played together doing active things, music, dance, etc. and then about 12:15 served dessert so to speak with fruit, 1/2 starch and usually a dairy. Then older kids went to bed at 1:00 and babies had a special time and then back down at 1:30.
I was intrigued by the balance day program that some school use and the fact when the babies woke up they were thirsty and hungry but when I put them in their chairs for a snack to tide them over the older kids were just hungry enoguh they wanted food with the babies but I knew a snack would spoil lunch and a drink didn't please them enough so the new schedule worked.
I think this is a good example of there not being a right or wrong schedule and the great thing about home daycare is that we are not tied to convention if that isn't what is in the best interest of our group.
I have extremely busy mornings as well so even children who are 10-12 months old tend to drop their morning naps and adjust to our one naptime of noonish to 2:45ish. Sometimes one or two of them have little power naps in the stroller as we come home from an outing, then I delay naptime until around 12:30 if possible until the small ones are sleepy again. I'm flexible with my schedule.