I have a 7 month old dcg whom I've had for 5 mo; and I've had sleeping issues with her from day 1. She consistently wakes after about 40 min or less every single naptime. I finally had her on a decent schedule, sleeping about an hour and a half each nap; when she stopped sleeping through the night at home and her parents started feeding her to put her back to sleep. This was about 2 months ago; and the naptime problems have persisted every since.

She gets here only a half hour prior to morning nap; during which she gets her breakfast of baby food and a small bottle (since her last bottle was usually around 3am). Then it's time for her first nap. She wakes 30-40 min into nap every single time; most of the time to poop. I usually do CIO to get her back to sleep; and I can never smell her poops b/c they usually have no odor (I swear to you... it is true!!). If I go in there and check her diaper; she gets upset and she will never go back to sleep. If I leave her alone and let her cry for just a bit, she usually will go back to sleep. But then when she wakes, she has super crazy diaper rash b/c she pooped during her nap. And her poops are always super loose; usually a diarrhea consistency. Another concern of mine... since she is on baby food, her poops should be much more solid IMO, right?? Her parents have only ever given her veggies thus far... no cereals at all as far as I know. Do you think this is why her stools are always so loose?

So I am always torn between changing her diaper and having a very tired baby; or let her CIO and let her have a diaper rash. One more thing... afternoon nap is much the same; she wakes up 30-40 min into nap and poops. Even though she has a bottle a whole hour prior to 2nd nap. Best case scenario would be to be able to change the time she poops; but I have no idea if that's possible. I'm so frustrated. What to do? Any suggestions??

Reply

I have this problem. So I go in and change them and let them go back to sleep, they do have to cio for a bit, but they do go back. But it drives me crazy.

Reply

I would have the parents feed her breakfast before they bring her to daycare. Then she will have time to digest and have her BM before nap time.

Reply

I agree, parents need to feed her breakfast. Also, they need to figure out the food issues. Prolonged runny stools are not normal and not okay. It might be worth it to stop food completely for a week and then slowly introduce ONE food every 3 or 4 days....that way you can figure out what it is that is actually bothering her and causing bad diapers. Once babies start eating, their poos should be more solid....not more runny. The diaper rash and runny stools could indicate sensitivities or allergies. Has there been any formula changes? Are you sure they aren't giving her regular milk at home?

Reply

Her internal "schedule" seems pretty consistent. Could you possibly hold off on nap for 30 or so minutes until she poops? As much as I"d love to always have all of mine on the same nap schedule, sometimes babies just need to eat poop and sleep on demand.

Reply

I agree, maybe even give her a nice little belly massage or run her legs to get her bowels moving might help speed up the stuff

Reply

I definitely could try prolonging her morning nap and put her to bed once she poops. The afternoon nap is not flexible though. I put them down about 12:45 and have to wake them up at 2:45 to pick up my DD at the bus stop.

About her food issues; she really has always been this way. When she was only on formula; it usually seemed pretty typically loose. She has never switched formulas. When she started baby food; it just stayed the same. I expected it to become more solid; but never did. Sometimes (about 2 times a week or more); it's actually just colored water. And yesterday, I fed her squash for her morning breakfast and when she pooped in the afternoon; I swear it looked exactly like the squash...it looked completely undigested. Same color, texture, everything. Is it just me; or shouldn't it look at least a bit different going out than when it came in?

I am definitely going to talk with dcm about it and see if we can either start from square one; or ask her to document everything she is eating so we can correlate the really bad diarrhea diapers with the food that may be causing it.

Reply

I think holding off on nap for 30 minutes would be your best best. Good luck!

Reply

holding off nap doesn't work, I've tried it too. Its seems like the minute their body relaxes they poop. Also, when you feed her baby food do you put cereal in it to thickin it up. I always add rice cereal in it, so its thick. Try doing that. Baby food is really runny and it will make the poop runny too. Is she eating maybe too much fruit.

Reply

I have one that almost always poops during nap. Doesn't matter when the nap is either. Some days she goes without nap at home because mom does not want her pooping during nap time and they just wait for that poop all day.....she HAS to nap here. She is barely 18 months.

Reply

She's not getting any fruit at home; mom is really adamant about "starting" with vegetables. I quote "starting" b/c she started food 2 months ago. She also is not getting rice cereal at home; so I hate to give it to her here. I don't want any reactions to first time foods here. I do think that may be a reason why her poops are so runny. I haven't confronted mom about why she isn't using cereal at home; I just know that all she gets right now is vegetables.

Reply

I do this with my 10 month old - he usually naps about 30-45 min. after eating. I often tell him to hurry up and poop so he can take his nap, LOL!!!
Babies nap on demand here so there is no strict morning nap time and 9 times out of 10 I wait till he poops and then put him down.

Reply

Well, your dcg just exactly like my daughter when she was baby. She have zero odor when she pooped from birth to 9 months when she started to eat real foods. Anyway, I would avoid to feed her vegetable with rice cereal. Just feeding her rice cereal with formula or juice, that would be it. I feed my daughters vegetables only when they were babies from 4-7 months then I started feed them fruits after that. Please don't use carrot or squash that causes her loose. Also, carrot can cause her diaper rash. Just feeding her carrot and squash once a while like dinner only. Hope it helps!

Reply

I've had quite a few kids in my care go poo in their nap, even a 2 year old! I have the same routine with all of them. Chage in dim light very little or no talking and right back to nap. This works most of the time for me, maybe i have just gotten used to it?

Reply

So, I tried putting her down for her morning nap 30 min later. Didn't work; 40 min into her nap she woke up. Of course, I didn't smell anything (never do); but decided to change her anyway. Low and behold. Poop. Loose, but not diarrhea. However, she had another BM later on that was super runny watery diarrhea.

So when dcm picked up I told her I thought the diarrhea may be caused by one of the foods she is eating. I asked her if she could start keeping track of the foods she is eating at home and any diarrhea at home; so that together her and I might try to see if the diarrhea is linked to one of her foods. She got an alarmed look on her face that I couldn't quite read. She was silent for a minute; and then said "So... should I just stop feeding her at home and just have you feed her?" WHAT?? Why on earth would she want to stop feeding her at home? I told her that I thought she needed the nutrition of the baby food and not to stop feeding her; just to keep track of it so that perhaps we could see a pattern of a certain food causing the diarrhea. Geez.

Reply

So every single parent still brought their kids to daycare Monday...even though at least half had the day off! - Feel like a dummy for not having it in the handbook.

Reply

We have an 11 month old at our center who has had NOTHING but runny, blow-out stools from day one. She's on fruits and veggies, and we've been giving her stuff like bits of bread, etc.

I'm 90% sure its because her mother packs her bottles with cereal, so much that she's had to tear open all the nipples so she can get it through.

I'm know this isn't right, and I've voiced my concerns, but it still goes on. Like a lot of stuff.


Sooo hoping for this other job to come through...

Reply