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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>One Nap Or Two Naps Equals Grouchy
countrymom 05:13 AM 01-21-2012
I don't no what the girls problem is. She is going to be a year next month. So I have had her since she was 6 months old. She is one of those "never happy kids" I have never ever had one, even all my dcps have never seen a child like this before. She cries alot.

parents are complaining that she isn't sleeping at night. So in dec. I had her 4
days and off on fridays, till about 2 weeks before christmas, then mom was off. But then gma got sick so they have been at the hospital. So the dcg schedual has been off till about this week. So she is now back to 2 days here off on wed. and then 2 days here. So I decided to try 1 nap a day. the reason being, because she would nap for half hour to and hour in the morning and then the longest she would nap in the afternoon is an hour and a half. By 3pm she was grouchy, clingy crying kid again and they still complained that she wasn't sleeping at night.

so this week I put her to 1 nap, she is grouchy in the morning, still crying. So in the afternon she will now nap for 2.5 hours but she isn't as grouchy as before, but they are still complaining that she is not naping at night. Yesterdays comment from dad was, "we must have been spoiled because she use to sleep thru the night when she was little) since I've had her she has never slept thru the night. When mom drops her off, I'm finding that she is being dropped off grouchy all ready. I just don't know what to do.

But you ask them if she is like this at home and they say no, but we all know thats not true. She also walks so its not like shes not mobile, she just clings to my leg, I still can't leave a room and she doens''t play with toys unless someone plays with her. I have never ever seen a child like this.

I can't term because I am losing 4 kids between now and sept. and that is alot, and its not like I'm getting alot of calls. So should I put her back to 2 naps or 1 nap, what do you guys do. How long do your child sleep if they have 2 naps, do they get up alot at night. Oh she know how to manipulate her parents at night, she will scream hysterical till they come.
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cheerfuldom 11:47 AM 01-21-2012
I do not let the parents problems at home effect the schedule at daycare. For one, you already know that they hide issues from you so now you cannot even trust what they are saying. I would put her to two naps with one being as soon as she walks in the door. Put her down for at least an hour, maybe two (when's the regular nap time for the rest of the kids?) and then put her down again when the other kids go down. find a place for her to cry it out without waking up the rest of the kids and if she wakes up early from nap, leave her in there until she goes back to sleep (assuming she is safe, clean diaper, etc of course!). I have had several kids like this and putting down for a nap right in the morning is what works. Almost all of them have gone back to sleeping better at home as I INCREASE naps at daycare (never, ever decrease for an exhausted grouchy kid). one of my kids like this really hasn't gotten better at home but that is because her parents offer milk, try and play with her, sometimes let her get up, sometimes let her cry and so this issue seems more of their inconsistency and not my schedule at daycare. I do not offer up the schedule or times of naps at daycare (unless they specifically ask) because they ALWAYS want their kid to sleep less and then hopefully sleep more at home. I just say that we will do naps as needed but there will always be one in the early afternoon with the rest of the kids (thats the nap time for everyone, no exception). as or the clingy, I have one of those two. I pry her off and give her a nudge towards the toys and tell her to go play. Rinse and repeat a thousand times until they give up and go play.
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Heidi 11:53 AM 01-21-2012
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
I do not let the parents problems at home effect the schedule at daycare. For one, you already know that they hide issues from you so now you cannot even trust what they are saying. I would put her to two naps with one being as soon as she walks in the door. Put her down for at least an hour, maybe two (when's the regular nap time for the rest of the kids?) and then put her down again when the other kids go down. find a place for her to cry it out without waking up the rest of the kids and if she wakes up early from nap, leave her in there until she goes back to sleep (assuming she is safe, clean diaper, etc of course!). I have had several kids like this and putting down for a nap right in the morning is what works. Almost all of them have gone back to sleeping better at home as I INCREASE naps at daycare (never, ever decrease for an exhausted grouchy kid). one of my kids like this really hasn't gotten better at home but that is because her parents offer milk, try and play with her, sometimes let her get up, sometimes let her cry and so this issue seems more of their inconsistency and not my schedule at daycare. I do not offer up the schedule or times of naps at daycare (unless they specifically ask) because they ALWAYS want their kid to sleep less and then hopefully sleep more at home. I just say that we will do naps as needed but there will always be one in the early afternoon with the rest of the kids (thats the nap time for everyone, no exception). as or the clingy, I have one of those two. I pry her off and give her a nudge towards the toys and tell her to go play. Rinse and repeat a thousand times until they give up and go play.
ditto ditto ditto...

especially the part about not getting her up right away if she wakes too early. Give her a little while, she may settle herself back down.

I would bet money that if she is waking at night, someone at home is encouraging it somehow. She is getting a payoff of some sort...
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countrymom 06:17 AM 01-22-2012
thanks, she gets here at 730am, should I put her to bed then or wait till 9am. All the other kids go to sleep at 1pm.
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LittleD 07:26 AM 01-22-2012
Originally Posted by countrymom:
thanks, she gets here at 730am, should I put her to bed then or wait till 9am. All the other kids go to sleep at 1pm.
Have you tried putting her to bed when she gets there for 30-60 mins? Most kids this age still need 2 naps I find. by about 14-16 mths I usually try to transition to 1 nap at 12:30-1pm as they are taking 2 1 hr naps a day and it messes with my schedule.
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countrymom 03:24 PM 01-22-2012
ok, I will try tommorrow to put her down, as soon as mom leaves. I thought by keeping her up would help with her crying but it didn't. I think she should be sleeping for a long time too. but the parents say to me that she's never been a sleeper during the day.
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cheerfuldom 06:07 PM 01-22-2012
she's "never been a sleeper during the day" is parent-speak for "we have no clue how to put a baby on a routine, teach good sleep habits or enforce something if our child is crying and doesn't want to nap"

kids NEED sleep. I know a lot of moms who say their child was a bad napper and that sort of thing but really, I have never met a youngster that couldn't be taught good sleep habits with a consistent caregiver and further, never met a kid who didn't need a nap (talking about kids 3 and under). the best thing you can do for this exhausted unhappy child is get her sleep while in your care. Many of the kids I take care of stay on two naps till 18months. I would be in no hurry to transition this one to one nap.
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Meyou 04:50 AM 01-23-2012
She sounds overtired to me. I would also go with more sleep, not less. I would put her right back to bed if she was cranky in the morning.

Whenever parents bring up the not sleeping at home thing, I recommend a good routine and tell them that any child who falls asleep here needs a nap and I won't keep them up.
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trobin2355 06:17 AM 01-23-2012
I had one of those babies I put up with eight months, finally I terminated him, the one and only I've had to terminate. He would have been fine if I let him sleep all day long, but that was not possible with other kids wanting to go outside to play etc. The new daycare provider has told me he sleeps all day long at her house. Ridiculous. For you situation all I agree with the other posters about laying down right away for nap and then again when the others nap and not getting her/him up when they wake up right away.
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countrymom 06:24 AM 01-23-2012
thank you so much ladies. Well, apparently she didn't sleep at all last night, mom said it was either she was sick or was teething (ya whatever) well what they don't know is that on saturday night, I drove by their house on the way home and it was 1030pm and they weren't home, I guess not having a normal sleep schedual can cause havoc for a child. So today mom says that gma is coming to get her because she was too crabby for me to deal with (?????) dcg came at 745am and I put her to bed at 8am and she is sleeping, I'm going to wake her up, so she naps for gma in the afternoon. But the funniest thing was,,,,,, mom says to me, that after her nap she seems to be grouchy, hmmm I guess waking her after an hour doesn't work does it.
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DaisyMamma 06:33 AM 01-23-2012
Dont worry about what not sleeping at night, it's not your problem. Just sympathize with them but worry about the daytime. I have a 13 month old who has similar sleeping trouble. I put him to bed 1/2 hour to 45 min. after he arrives and he naps later when the other kids do. good luck
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cheerfuldom 06:38 AM 01-23-2012
i wouldn't wake her. let her sleep as long as she wants because it is likely that grandma won't put her down for a decent nap.
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Unregistered 10:21 AM 01-23-2012
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
i wouldn't wake her. let her sleep as long as she wants because it is likely that grandma won't put her down for a decent nap.
I would do 2 naps- the first nap would be right after breakfast if I were you. I had a child who was 11 months old who was a morning crankster. One day, mom told me that they keep him up until 10pm so he will sleep through the night. He wakes up at 6am... that is one sleepy child! So now he naps 2 hrs in the morning, and 2 hours in the afternoon- 7:30 until 9:30, and 1:30 until 3:3:30.
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Tags:consistency, grouchy, nap issues, naptime routine, routine - lack of
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