Daycare Sleep

Let’s talk about daycare and sleep.

Parents often worry about their baby getting enough sleep at daycare. (Guilty over here!) But they especially worry their sleep training efforts at home will diminish once baby goes to daycare.

Here’s the truth – babies can thrive at daycare and STILL pick up their routine at home. Babies can actually tell the difference between sleeping at daycare and sleeping at home. They can transition from being swaddled at home and sleeping in a dark room to sleeping in muted light with no swaddles at daycare. If you haven’t already noticed, babies are incredibly adaptable and often do better than we expect.

Sure, sometimes baby will only take a 1-hour nap at daycare when they would normally sleep 1.5-2 hours if they were at home. But the point is they DID nap. And that’s a win!

Here are some strategies to help ease your anxieties over daycare sleep.

Speak Up

We can’t expect daycare to recreate the sleep environment we provide our children at home. (Sometimes they legally can’t.) But there are a lot of little things you can try, or request to try, to improve daycare sleep.

1. Ask your provider if they would allow a portable sound machine to be placed under your baby’s crib for naps. It could help drown out some of the background noise.
2. See if your daycare is willing to consider letting your child sleep in an end crib or moving the crib to the darkest corner of the room.
3. Share some of the strategies you use at home to get baby to nap well. Think about your nap time routine and specific nap times during the day. Let the provider know about your child’s sleepy cues and how often they can typically stay awake between naps.
4. If your baby is still swaddled during sleep periods – see if your daycare will swaddle baby for naps. If they do not allow swaddling, (sometimes they won’t for safety reasons) try transitioning baby to a sleep suit or sack if allowed.

It is worth at least asking your daycare provider about these tactics to try to improve sleep. The worst thing that could happen is they say no. But most daycare providers are willing to work with you in some way to help your child nap while in their care. They understand this is not baby’s typical sleep environment and they truly do want your child to nap well, too!

Change your mindset

Change your mindset around daycare sleep to a positive one. I personally found that being mindful and having a positive mindset helped me feel better about leaving my child at daycare. Here are some tips on how to control your mindset for a positive outcome. Believe me, it will not only help your mental sanity, but your positive attitude will rub off on your little one, too.

• Let go of what you cannot control. Prepare your child the best you can by creating a healthy sleep foundation at home and remaining consistent in your routine at night and on weekends. Giving your child the tools they need to be an independent sleeper will set them up for better sleep opportunities during naps at daycare. Celebrate the 1-hour daycare naps, even if those naps would have been 2-hour at home. Accept the fact that sleep will not be exactly the same as home. And find comfort in knowing that parents who stay home don’t always get consistent naps either. I’m sure you’ve had inconsistency on weekends yourself.
  
  
•  Make your daycare provider part of your team. As working parents, your provider is raising your child WITH you. They are practicing important motor and developmental skills. They are assisting with potty training. Restructuring your mindset from “this is part of their job” to “we’re a team trying to do what is best for my child” will shift your perspective of daycare and providers.

Ask your provider how you can support THEM (in addition to your child.) Communicate effectively about what you are working on at home with your child and see how you can work together to incorporate your efforts. Communication and relationship building are key to a successful partnership. Making your provider feel like part of your team reinforces trust and confidence for your child.

• Find a daycare you trust. Finding a daycare you trust and feel comfortable leaving your child at is essential to changing your mindset. You have to find a place that aligns with your values and offers a safe and comfortable space for your child to learn and grow. Always schedule a phone interview to get initial details and schedule an in-person interview/tour. If you need help on finding the right questions to ask, you can download my Questions to Ask at Your Daycare Interview Checklist. I have personally asked these questions at every daycare I interviewed. If you forget to ask something, shoot the provider an email or give them a call. Do your homework and always trust your intuition.
  
  
• Consider the positive benefits of daycare. Recognize all the benefits daycare affords your family instead of focusing on the time you will be away from your child. Consider the socialization daycare provides. Your child will have the opportunity to interact with their peers. Depending on the facility, they could interact with children younger and older than themselves. Acknowledge the experiences they will be introduced to. Possible field trips, new toys, learning about manners, taking turns, and sharing. Think about the role you play in your child’s life by being a working parent. You are showing them responsibility, hard work, and reality. Working full time might also afford your family monetary perks that benefit your child, too. There are a slew of positive advantages to enrolling in childcare.

Consistency at home

No matter what happens during nap time at daycare, your child can still be a great little sleeper at home. You should follow your normal routine at night and on weekends. You don’t have to change what is working at home. Remember, children are more adaptable than we give them credit for. If you decide to start sleep training at night, your child WILL pick up the process even if daycare doesn’t follow any of your techniques during nap time or provide the same room environment. You might find that some days you will have to move bedtime up if naps are crappy at daycare to prevent baby from becoming overtired. It can be hard to balance your time with your young child as a working parent. There will be nights you feel you barely saw your child that day. Stay focused on getting that restorative sleep at night for your child since that is within your control. As your child grows, they will be able to stay awake longer and later. Remember, quality of time over quantity of time is most valuable during this season. And that’s just it, a season.

Napping on the ride home

This might actually benefit working parents who want to spend a little more quality time with their child after work. If you can keep your child awake on the ride home, do it. Just move bedtime up to avoid becoming overtired. But if baby does fall asleep, that’s okay! Just be sure to wake baby as soon as you get home and spend LOTS of intentional, engaging time with them during this sensitive wake period. This little catnap might actually be the catalyst to preventing the bedtime battlefield later that night.

To sum things up, don’t overthink daycare sleep.

• Find a daycare you can trust,
• Make the providers part of your team,
• Suggest some strategies that might improve daycare sleep or
• Request small changes (if possible) to accommodate sleep for your child,
• Preserve a positive mindset,
• Stay consistent at home,
• And let go of what you cannot control.

Sometimes parenting is all about the mindset. You can change a lot when you control how you choose to think about it and that might just be the thing YOU need to conquer daycare sleep. And remember, babies adapt to daycare better than we expect. Recognize the little wins instead of focusing on what differs from your normal routine at home. And remember, stay-at-home parents don’t always get perfection or consistency either.

If you have questions daycare sleep or need help navigating your child’s struggles, check out our services page. We offer customized sleep plans and FREE 15-minute consultations. It’s never too late to lay the foundation for healthy sleep.