Possible termination coming

[mickyc]

Been there done that! I had a boy start in May. He would cry and cry. I talked to mom about it. He was on one nap at home but they were letting him sleep as long as he wanted. He wouldn't sleep at my house all week and then on weekends he would sleep for almost 4 hours both days. They would also let him sleep in the car on the way to my house and on the way home (30 minute drive to my house). It was so frustrating. I would tell them they had to keep him awake in the car and only let him sleep for 2 1/2 hours on the weekends but it never did work, they still kept letting him sleep. I worked so hard trying to get him sleep trained. We got it to the point where he would sleep for an hour and then I would just go get him (tried to just let him cry for a good month and it never helped). Luckily for me he would just lay on the couch for the rest of nap time. He ended up getting an opening in a center after 4 months with me. I was so annoyed that after all my work with him and hanging in there (oh I sure felt like terminating!) that they ended up leaving.

I say tell mom you are going down to 1 afternoon nap only and that she needs to nap. Tell mom you will give it a month to see how things are progressing and then you will talk again. If after another month she hasn't adjusted then give notice. Be firm with mom and make her realize that all kids must nap at your house (especially at 12 months old).

I currently have a 12 month old who wasn't doing well at morning naps. I just told mom that we were cutting them out. She was totally fine with it.

[gravy_train]

I actually opened my daycare about 2 months earlier than I anticipated because I met a great family who needed care immediately. It ended up working out really well BUT for about four months I had my own 10 month old and my 11 month old daycare child who did not know how to nap and it was awful. I tried everything I could think of because I had never let me own kids cry it out and it didn't sit right with me. I came on here, sought advice and then took the advice that was overwhelmingly inn favour of the cry it out method and after about three weeks my own child was napping and after about 2 months the daycare child was napping.
I made up a naptime song and sang it right before naptime every day. After a few weeks , as soon as they heard the song they new what was coming. I would sing the song while changing them, sing it on the way to the playpen, give the child a kiss and hug, tell them to have a nice sleep and close the door. I also used black out curtains (actually I just taped garbage bags to the window to block the sun) and white noise. At the end of naptime I would put my cheerful face on, burst into the room with a big smile and a 'wake up' song and continue with our day. My own child goes to sleep so easily now and it is amazing! The daycare could has moved on to a centre but she became a pretty consistent napper, and if she didn't nap, too bad - she stayed in her crib until naptime was over. Good luck! I know how hard it can be when your break is spent listening to crying.