When it comes to daycare, many parents have no shortage of questions, ranging from “What’s the staff to child ratio at this facility” to “How on earth am I going to beat traffic and manage a 5:30 p.m. pick-up time?!” But here’s one question you may not have thought to ask yourself: “How is daycare going to affect my child’s sleep?”
Some Babies Sleep Better at Daycare Than They Do At Home
Most daycares operate on a schedule for all children, including infants. If you haven’t adopted a schedule at home, you may find that your baby responds so well to this kind of consistent routine that he’s sleeping far better at daycare than he does at home! For instance, babies who struggle with naps at home may nap like a dream while at daycare. If this is true for you, and if you want your little one to sleep as well at home as he does at daycare, consider asking the daycare to write out their schedule and then try to duplicate it at home as much as you can.
Your baby may also sleep better at daycare because she knows it’s expected of her. Children are experts at knowing how to “read” adults. If your child has learned that her daycare caregiver won’t rock/sing/nurse her to sleep, then she’s much more likely to sleep without fuss when she’s at daycare. But at home, it’s a different story! If your child knows that you’ll spend hours rocking her to sleep, then she’ll likely require you to do it. If you suspect this is the case, consider weaning your child off her sleep associations at home (especially since you know she can sleep without them at daycare!)
Some Babies Sleep Worse at Daycare Than They Do At Home
Other babies fall into this category. This is especially true for babies who have highly-structured nap schedules and routines at home. It can be difficult for these little ones to adjust to a different schedule at daycare. For example, if your child is used to napping at a certain time each day, or if he’s used to napping in a certain way (with the shades drawn, with a certain CD playing, etc.), it can be very difficult for him to nap at daycare when that same environment isn’t provided. What’s more, daycare is usually a more stimulating place than home — there’s lots of noise, lots of toys, lots to see and do. This extra stimulation can make it hard for a baby to wind down enough to take a nap.
If this is the case, consider writing out your child’s daily routine and asking your daycare providers to follow it as best they can. You may also want to consider sending familiar items from home that will help reproduce your child’s napping environment. These might include sheets and bedding, a “lovey”, a lullaby CD, etc. A good daycare will be willing to work with you and will attempt to accommodate your child’s needs.
Your Baby’s Temperament Matters
If you’re struggling with daycare-related sleep challenges, it’s important to remember that your baby’s unique personality and temperament play a big part. Some babies are great at quickly adapting to new settings, new people, and new schedules. Highly adaptable babies will likely have no problem adjusting to different settings and sleep schedules, and for those babies, daycare may not present any real sleep challenges.
Other babies, however, are much slower to adapt. Slow-to-adapt babies have a much harder time dealing with change, and they tend to need lots of consistency. If your baby is slow to adapt, then it may be hard for him to transition easily between the setting and schedule at daycare and the setting and schedule at home. If this is the case for you, do the best you can to make the transition between home and daycare smooth and easy, and work to build in as much consistency as you can at home.
When Should You Make A Change?
If your child’s getting less sleep in daycare than you’d like, monitor her for a few weeks. If she seems to be coping well, then make the best of it. If you feel that your baby’s lack of sleep is affecting her health and well-being, however, consider making a change. For example, an in-home daycare with fewer children might be a good choice. Or hiring a private nanny might be an option, especially if you only need care a few days a week, or for a few hours each day. And there are ways to offset the cost of a private nanny. The practice of “nanny sharing” allows families to split the use of the same nanny and share the cost.
Daycare is a reality for children of working parents. For some, it may not affect sleep much (or it may even improve it!). For others, however, daycare will negatively impact sleep. If that’s the case for your child, educate yourself about healthy sleep habits, do everything you can to implement them at home, and then do what you can to make sure your daycare provider is implementing them, too.
Has daycare affected your baby’s sleeping habits and schedule? How do you handle the sleep challenges that daycare creates? Share your story with us!
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Mayrav says
Hi,
We started sleep training my almost 5 month old a month ago at home in the hopes that all of the kinks would be ironed out by the time my baby had to enter day care (we used the Sleep Easy method). She is doing really well and as long and she’s at home, there is little to no protest.
She is only in daycare for two days a week and I feel like it is going to ruin the rest of her sleep at home because they can’t put in the time to do the whole routine, and will just get her to sleep however they know how. This is essentially sending her mixed signals.
Any advice you can offer?
Danielle says
Hi Mayrav,
Congratulations on your success with sleep coaching! It sounds like your daughter is doing great. We completely understand that the transition to daycare can be concerning, though. Many babies transition to the daycare schedule much more easily than you might expect, especially if it’s only 2 or 3 days a week. Even if the routine isn’t the same as the one at home, after about two weeks, most babies adapt and just learn to expect the daycare routine at daycare, and the home routine at home. This is similar to how some babies have a different routine with one parent than the other, or with the babysitter. During the first few weeks, you can offer an earlier bedtime to help her make up any lost nap sleep, if needed. If you do find she’s having a lot of trouble and seems overtired after the first two weeks, you might like to see our article on handling the daycare schedule here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-naps-2/daycare-nap-schedules-2-tips/
And of course, please feel free to write to us at that time if you need more help: [email protected]
Thank you so much for reading The Baby Sleep Site, and please let us know if we can be of further help!
Lacey says
My son is 8 months old and goes to daycare every day. He has been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks old but we hit the 4 month regression around the time he started daycare. His naps got really short but it didn’t change nighttime sleep. However the past month or so has been hard. He wakes up once a night almost every night. Sometimes it’s for 10 min and sometimes for 30. I usually just let him fuss himself back to sleep bc he’s not really crying. The times I have tried to comfort him it has turned into full blown crying and trying to console for over an hour. He has no sleep schedule at school bc most days he sleeps for a total of 30 minutes!! I usually pick him up around 430-5 and he’s usually so tired and has been up for 4+ hours when at home he can handle 2 hours before a nap. Should I let him take a nap at 5 when he gets home or try and keep him up until 6? I aim for a 7 pm bedtime but by then he’s been up for 5+ hours. He’s such a happy boy so it honestly doesn’t affect his mood but I’m wondering if this is affecting his nighttime sleep. He could also just be going through a leap? He’s also an early riser and rarely sleeps past 6:30 am…I’m wondering, do I let him nap at 5ish or just super early bedtime ? There’s nothing I can do about his sleep at daycare. He’s way too distracting so that is what it is… help!!
Karen says
Thanks Emily. I am considering quitting but my husband and daycare think we need to give it more time. This is her 4th week. So far last week, her one naps were just under one hour last week and today 45mins. They tell us they do try to encourage her to fall back asleep but it has never worked. I am trying to shift my work schedule so that I can pick her up by 3:30pm.
Do you think 4 weeks is enough time to judge whether she will be able to sleep better? Should I hold off on pulling her out and give her more time there to try to nap? How long should one typically “try”.
Should I give her a nap when she gets home? Or is this bad cause then her bedtime would be too late?
My husband feels that it is a waste to quit a good job when they are so hard to come by just cause she can’t nap at daycare. He think she is still so new there. She is very happy there otherwise. Never cried at drop off ever! Only cries at pick up when she sees me and wants to sleep!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Karen — It’s true that quitting your job would be a more extreme option, so I understand where your husband is coming from. And I do think that, if you give it time, your daughter will eventually adjust. What may very well happen is that she’ll get into a groove in which one short nap at daycare becomes her ‘norm’. And then you can build in a late afternoon nap, if necessary, or institute an early bedtime. It does sound like you’ll have to get creative with your weekday schedule, as long as she’s in daycare. And the schedule may be more challenging than the one you were using before daycare. But I think it’s do-able.
It really sounds like you’re doing everything you possibly can, Karen, to make this work for your daughter, and to ensure that she’s getting the sleep she needs. Good for you! The fact that you’re concerned about this just proves that you’re an excellent mom. 🙂
Keep us posted on the details, and let us know if things have improved at all over the next few weeks!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Karen — I’m so sorry you’re going through this! The transition to daycare (for your daughter) and going back to work (for you) is hard enough without having to worry about your little one’s napping schedule. 🙁
In terms of what to do — it sounds like your hands are tied, here. Your options are either to stop working (or to go part-time, or something like that), to hire a nanny (which, as you mention, can be pricey), or to stick with daycare. If those first two options aren’t feasible, then you’ll likely need to stick with daycare.
As for how to make sure your daughter gets the rest she needs at daycare: it sounds to me like you’ve done everything you can to try and make two naps happen while she’s at daycare. And that’s not working. So, I think perhaps you could try and transition her to one nap. 12 months isn’t necessarily too early. The majority of kids make that switch around 15 months, but your daughter is just 2 months shy of that.
As for how to make this transition happen, read through this post for ideas: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-naps-2/how-to-manage-baby-toddler-nap-transitions/ You may need to adjust bedtime and morning wake-up time for awhile. And it’s likely that she’ll never nap as well at daycare as she does at home, unfortunately. But if you stick with this, you’ll both adapt to the new schedule over time.
Hope this helps, Karen! Best of luck to you. And thanks for commenting. 🙂
Karen says
My baby is 12 months old, will be 13 months in a week. She started daycare 3 weeks ago. She finally turned from a bad napper to a great 2 x 1.5hr napper near 9 months old. I was so happy to finally have a happy napping baby instead of a catnapper. Unfortunately, now she can’t nap at daycare! She either goes down for one or two catnaps there and comes home exhausted. Struggle through dinner and needs to go down to sleep right after. I hardly have time with her and it’s so sad.
I told them to follow our schedule at home but she simply can’t fall asleep there. She doesn’t need much help at home to fall asleep. They even pat and rock her at daycare and she still can’t sleep. It is bright and noisy there as most kids only take one nap there midday. The daycare wants her on one nap as well but I told them to try for two just cause she seems to sleep so much at home and so tirred in the morning. So far not working though. How long shoudl I keep asking the to try two naps? Is she old enough to push her to one nap? Can you force it? Cause at home, she really goes down easily for a long moring nap. THey did try one nap a couple of times and she slept only 30mins as well. So I stopped it thinking she isn’t ready. Should we just let her tough it out and adjust to one nap? SHe is always happily playing and doesn’t show any sign of tiredness at daycare apparently. At home, sign or no sign, she sleeps long for me anyhow.
We looked into nanny but it’ so expensive that I might as well quit working.
Emily DeJeu says
@ Jennifer Long — thanks for chiming in and providing your expert opinions! I took a look at your childcare center’s website, and wow — quite impressive! Looks like you and your staff have created a beautiful and child-centered space. And I’m a Hoosier by birth, so I was excited to see that a place like this exists in my home state!
Thanks for commenting, Jennifer! 🙂
@ Lee — so, so, SO glad to hear that you found a solution that worked better for your baby. I’ve always been able to work from home, so I’ve never had to utilize daycare. But I have hired nannies (very part time) from time to time, and it’s been such a good experience for our family — and it sounds like it has been for you, too! There’s nothing like having one-on-one care for your baby in your own home. I just wish this option were affordable for everyone. I suspect that many parents would vastly prefer to use a nanny but end up using a daycare service because it’s more feasible financially.
Thanks for sharing a bit about your experience, Lee!
Lee says
@ Jennifer – Wow, I wish you ran all day care centres!What a wonderful philosophy!
My little boy was at daycare last year from the time he was 4.5months. Like the other moms’ children he just was not sleeping as much as I would have liked him to and it got to a point where I was physically sick with the stress of it. That’s when we pulled him out of daycare and employed a nanny. He sleeps so much better, I’m happier and he hasn’t been sick since he left daycare which is almost a year ago.
Jennifer Long says
When looking for childcare, schedules is something you should ask about. I have a master’s degree in early childhood and I own and operate a childcare for infants and toddlers. High quality childcare programs should follow each child’s schedule, not put all of the children on their schedule.
We work closely with our families to copy the schedule they are using at home and to provide children with naps that meet their individual needs. We have a seperate sleep room (with a large window so we can supervise sleeping infants and toddlers at all times). We swaddle babies (if the family does), we rock each child to sleep (if the family does), and we let all children (regardless of age) have as many or as few naps as they need each day. Our sleep room is quiet, fairly dark, and plays calming lullabies throughout the day.
If your childcare program is not willing to do these things, then they are not providing ideal care for your little one. Infants and toddlers do not function well in many childcare programs because many childcare programs do not operate based on the needs of the children. You should not have to accomodate the childcare’s schedule at home – they should accomodate your schedule when your child is in their care.
Emily DeJeu says
@ Sarah — first, let me say that your intuition is right. 10 months is quite young to transition to one nap. Some babies will make the transition at that age, but most make it after the one year mark, and some aren’t ready for one nap until they’re 15 or 16 months old!
That said, it’ll be tricky to figure out the best way to handle this. The daycare likely isn’t going to change their policy (understandably), so you’ll have to decide if you want to follow the daycare’s schedule at home, or if you want to preserve a 2 nap schedule on days that your baby isn’t at daycare.
I’d suggest keeping your 2 nap schedule at first, and seeing how that goes. This would allow her to make up for any lost sleep on the weekends. If this doesn’t work out, then you could slowly try to transition to a one nap schedule at home, and maybe start putting her to bed a bit earlier at bedtime (in the hopes that she’ll sleep a bit longer at night, and make up for the nap time sleep she’s not getting.)
Hope this helps, Sarah! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
@ Pam — thanks for sharing a bit about your experience! How nice that you were able to ease into daycare by going part-time at first. Sounds like that’s worked beautifully for your daughter; glad to hear it!
Thanks for commenting, Pam!
Pam says
My daughter is 10 months old and has just started daycare part time mornings, she will be attending full time next month. I wanted to introduce her to daycare for half days so she could get accustomed to their routine for naps and feeding as well as adjust to being away from me. She has only gone a few days so far but I think this is going to really help the transition to full time daycare. She is an excellent sleeper at home, usually two naps for a total of 2-3 hours sleep and at least 12 hours overnight (no wake-ups). Her first morning at daycare, they said she had a very short nap (about 30 minutes) It is true that there is so much stimulation, she had a harder time to wind down. But when she got home, I put her down (on their schedule) and she had a great two hour nap. She goes to bed at 6:30pm – averaging about 3-4 hours awake time between all sleeps. I would recommend sending your babies to daycare for part time if this is an option – eases the separation anxiety for mommy too! Best of luck to all of us!