Yet another nap post/..

[kimg]

I have a new 13 month old girl that has been in my care for 2 weeks now. She sleeps from 5-5 everyday, and has 1 - 2 naps per day. Each nap is only 25 minutes long (she;s in her pnp for 40min before she wakes up, but parents requested she go to bed with a bottle, and it takes her 15 minutes to finish it (I've watched her)). She woke up a little later today, so mom said just one nap. She was upstairs for about 30 minutes before she woke up, and she's been upstairs talking to herself with the occasional cry for the last hour. Is her 5:00 bed time messing up her naps during the day?? I've never heard of a baby going to bed that early consistently. Luckily, she was ok staying in her pnp for the duration of nap time today, but most days she isn't. I try to keep her in there as long as I can, but it's usually about 1.5 hours. Can I tell her mom to try keeping her up a little later to help me out during the day??

[5 Little Monkeys]

You can suggest it but whether they do it or not will be up to them.

5pm is an extremely early bedtime IMO. When do they see their child?

[mickyc]

she is sleeping from 5pm until 5am! WOW that is too long. at 13 months she shouldn't be sleeping that long. I would say 10 - 11 hours at night and one nap for 2-3 hours would be sufficient. I would say her night routine is definitely disrupting her daytime naps for you. Sad part is sometimes the parents won't keep their child up longer. I had one who wouldn't nap more than an hour for me but it was because mom was letting him sleep on the way to my house, again on the way home and then sleep for 4 hours on Saturday and sunday afternoons. When I suggested keeping him awake in the car and only letting him nap for 2 hours on weekends she couldn't believe I actually expected her to wake her child or keep him awake in the car. Hopefully your suggestions don't fall on deaf ears. I would maybe mention that if she doesn't eventually sleep that you may need to terminate. That usually gets parents attention. Give her a timeframe (maybe a month) in which mom needs to help transition her to less night sleeping and longer day sleeping.

As for bottles in bed - I actually started a discussion about it a week or so ago. I have since started weaning my 2 daycare kids off bottles in bed. I feed it to them in their sippy cup after lunch. A few tears but they are sleeping well. I didn't even bother telling the parents.

[KingstonMom]

Yes that seems like a crazy sleep schedule to me. but as Little Monkeys stated, parents will do what they want to do.
Ideally, she shodul be getting weaned off of 2 naps soon and onto one 2.5-3 hrs nap daily.
Is there any way you can feed her bottle before she lays down for nap (There was a previous thread about the dangers of going to bed with a bottle, especially for liability reasons).

[kimg]

She gets picked up between 3;30 and 4:30 - so not much time together at night. But she gets up at 5 every day and doesn't get to my place until 830, so they have a few hours together in the mornings.

[kimg]

This is the first parent that I've had that has instructed me to give their DCK a bottle and leave, it didn't even occur to me to question it. Then I read that post, so it was very timely. I tried giving her the bottle before her nap, but she took forever to drink it while I was there, and I had other children requiring my attention. She drinks, then plays with the nipple, then drinks some more - so frustrating when you want them to just finish it. I could try giving it to her with her lunch instead of milk (which she doesn't really drink anyway), and just deal with the crying.

[KingstonMom]

She drinks, then plays with the nipple, then drinks some more - so frustrating when you want them to just finish it. I could try giving it to her with her lunch instead of milk (which she doesn't really drink anyway), and just deal with the crying.

She is probably not hungry for the bottle because she has just had lunch.
I have a 14 month old still on the bottle and he has it in place of a morning snack. Milk is very filling and if they aren't drinking it back then take it away, they are not needing it.

[mickyc]

This is the first parent that I've had that has instructed me to give their DCK a bottle and leave, it didn't even occur to me to question it. Then I read that post, so it was very timely. I tried giving her the bottle before her nap, but she took forever to drink it while I was there, and I had other children requiring my attention. She drinks, then plays with the nipple, then drinks some more - so frustrating when you want them to just finish it. I could try giving it to her with her lunch instead of milk (which she doesn't really drink anyway), and just deal with the crying.

I give my 2 kids (16 months and 12 months) a time limit to drink their milk. If they don't finish it then it gets dumped down the sink. They really don't need a bottle after 12 months old. I never really thought about it either when I first started giving them their bottle at bed but I really wanted to wean them off but both parents were very hesitant to start the process. So I have taken it upon myself to wean them here. Milk (actually they are both still on formula) now goes in sippy cups and they get it with lunch. Whatever is left (which is usually a lot) gets dumped down the sink. They go to bed with nothing. I was amazed at how only a bit of crying (5minutes) and they go to sleep.

[kimg]

I give my 2 kids (16 months and 12 months) a time limit to drink their milk. If they don't finish it then it gets dumped down the sink. They really don't need a bottle after 12 months old. I never really thought about it either when I first started giving them their bottle at bed but I really wanted to wean them off but both parents were very hesitant to start the process. So I have taken it upon myself to wean them here. Milk (actually they are both still on formula) now goes in sippy cups and they get it with lunch. Whatever is left (which is usually a lot) gets dumped down the sink. They go to bed with nothing. I was amazed at how only a bit of crying (5minutes) and they go to sleep.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that tomorrow and see how it goes. Of course she isn't hungry as she just finished lunch - duh, I can't believe I didn't think of that! (I know that sounds sarcastic, but it's not, I really never considered that).

[Crayola kiddies]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that tomorrow and see how it goes. Of course she isn't hungry as she just finished lunch - duh, I can't believe I didn't think of that! (I know that sounds sarcastic, but it's not, I really never considered that).

Ha ha ... Sometimes things are almost too simple and we can't see them .... I would put her liquid (hopefully milk and not formula) in a cup and forget the bottle .... The sooner its gone the better!