As a parent, the transition to daycare can bring about many changes, especially when it comes to your child's sleep schedules. Naturally, you may feel worried about how these changes will affect your little one's wellbeing.
To help ease the transition, here are some tips to consider before and during the process:
How your baby adjusts to daycare sleep is really all about their temperament.
Do they sleep well on the go? Are they easily distracted? Do they have separation anxiety? Are they sleeping independently? Do they easily adapt to new environments? Are they well rested?
How to prepare for daycare:
Make sure they are rested first. If your baby is not yet sleeping through the night (settling and re-settling independently) then this is a good place to start. Ensure they are well rested going in to what will likely be a very stimulating environment. This is where booking a call with me can help resolve any sleep problems before daycare makes them worse and help your child catch up on sleep before the transition even begins.
Adjust schedules BEFORE starting daycare so they are used to going to bed and waking up at the same time each day.
Ask if you can bring comfort items. If your child sleeps with a lovey, pacifier, white noise, sleep sack- ask to bring them. I would suggest buying two of everything, one for home and one to stay at daycare.
Ask to book a private tour and view their sleep space ahead of time. You want to have an idea where your child will be sleeping and talk through expectations with your daycare provider ahead of time.
Adjust your expectations. Your child may not sleep at daycare or may sleep differently at daycare and that’s OKAY. Some children sleep great at daycare much to their parents surprise.
They may surprise you. In fact, I speak to a lot of parents before and after the daycare transition and they are shocked at how well their children adjusted. I myself said “my son won’t sleep on a cot and stay there and definitely won’t sleep with the light on” WRONG. He sleeps great at daycare, it’s a shorter nap but still a decent nap.
Set expectations. Communication with your daycare is key. They need to know that for your family sleep is a priority. Without the proper sleep, your child can’t function optimally and this affect everyone. Don’t be scared to express these boundaries, after all you are paying for this service and you shouldn’t have to compromise your family’s health and wellbeing for it.
Tips for success:
If you are worried about the transition to a different day schedule, see if the daycare can write out their schedule for you and you can line up the times for your naps at home.
There is a transition period and your baby will likely be overtired at the end of the day. The key to overcoming this is early bedtime. Yes it sucks that as soon as you all get home and want to spend some quality time together, baby has to go to bed. Consider however, that it’s temporary and a well rested baby is more important (and enjoyable to be around) than a baby that is desperately needing sleep and miserable. Their little bodies need rest and a early bedtime will help prevent a cycle of over-tiredness that can wreak havoc on your nights. As they adjust and start sleeping more at daycare, you can then start pushing bedtime back.
Communication with your daycare teachers is key. Share with them the strategies you use at home and see if they can do something similar. They also don’t want to have overtired babies so it’s also in their best interest to adopt some of these strategies.
Reasons why daycare might affect your nights:
Overtired baby- short or skipped naps during the day will cause a stress response in a baby’s body creating a sleep debt and a continuously overtired baby.
Under-tired baby - longer daycare naps might create an under-tired baby that because of all the day sleep they get will get up at night ready to party.
Transitioning to one nap too early - This is a BIGGIE. Most babies are pushed to transition to one nap before they are physically and developmentally ready. This will ensure your baby is overtired creating a sleep debt that can lead to sleep deprivation (and sleepless nights). Babies under the age of 15-18 months generally cannot handle that much awake time and if wake windows are too long they will become overtired.
This is where I would suggest you push back. If your baby is under 15 months and cannot handle at least 5 hours of awake time, then stick to two naps and don’t force this transition to early.
When my daughter was 15 months old, we tried to transition her to one nap. It was a disaster. She just could not handle the awake time and was miserable by 10am. So although the daycare suggests one nap, we are the parents (and customers) and we ultimately had to make the decision that is best for the health of our child (and our sanity at night) and we requested two naps. Which they have complied with, a good daycare will work with you on these kinds of accommodations. It’s your call as parents to protect and prioritize your baby’s well being. Sleep is the key to their wellbeing so don’t let the daycare dictate the times to you.
Ask if there is a crib or cot that they can rest and take a catnap in the morning (even just 20 minutes in a stroller), just to relieve some sleep pressure so they can make it to the lunch nap.
In the end, control what you can. Prepare what you can, and then let the rest happen.
It might not be perfect but babies can thrive at daycare. It’s possible and happens more times than not. They often respond to new situations better than we expect. In the end babies adjust. Also remember that daytime sleep uses a different part of the brain from night sleep. So as long as their not continuously overtired (use early bedtimes to mitigate this), then nights should not be affected.
If they fall asleep on the ride home for 10-15 minutes that’s okay! Still aim for a decent bedtime but you might have an extra half hour at the end of the day. Just don’t let that nap run longer than 15 minutes or you’ll face some bedtime battles.
Babies can tell the difference between sleep at home and sleep at daycare and so trust your judgement, stick to what works for you at home (maybe you do two naps at home on the weekends). They will eventually adjust and daycare has a lot of great things to offer.
You can embrace and love being a daycare parent.
If you’re struggling with sleep whether your little one is preparing for daycare and you want them to be well rested and set them up for success or if they have started and are constantly overtired and this is starting to affect your nights. Connect with me, let’s chat and come up with a plan!
Book a free 20 minute call with me to assess and come up with a game plan together!
