17Mo Old Not Napping at Daycare

I do home childcare as well (15 years). By 10-14 mos I eliminate that morning nap, the sooner the better. Sometimes this requires adjusting of lunch and afternoon nap for the crew, but quickly I can get it back to my regular time (I prefer afternoon nap from 1pm-3:30pm .

She may balk at the elimination of the morning nap, but by distracting her, letting her ride out the fussiness, and just keeping her busy, it will become routine.

Best of luck to all of you!

I agree and I'm surprised the daycare woman hasn't suggested this. My son was at daycare at 14 months and all the kids in his room were doing one nap at noontime. (12-2).

I'm with everyone else-- drop the morning nap. Most daycare/preschools I worked at (and most kids I worked with) were d.o.n.e. with the morning nap by about this time. Just move her to a slightly earlier afternoon nap, say 12:30.

Let me also say from long experience that you cannot make a child sleep if they aren't tired.:)

Go to one nap a day. She is ready n at the age they switch. Give her an early lunch and down for nap. Maybe around noon. You have to take your cues from her.

HMM. I am no expert, but sounds like she is ready to drop a nap.
Try a new nap schedule where she takes one in the afternoon. When my kiddos dropped their morning nap, the afternoon nap sometimes lasted 3 hours!
Good luck.

I'm with the majority. At about that time, mine skipped the little cat naps and slept for about 3 hours or more in the afternoon. Lunch, playtime, diaper change, snuggletime with a book, bed.

Have you tried skipping the morning nap? By that age my kids were only taking one nap a day. Maybe not having that hour of down time will make her sleepy for the afternoon nap.

Drop the morning nap. She really doesn't need it anymore. It has been my experience (2 kids) that I couldn't "force" them to nap. Also, she is getting to an age where she is afraid she might miss something while she is sleeping and she is realizing that she can control it. Fun times!!! =)

Are there other kids there but not at home? Maybe she's wanting to play or interact/scared she'll miss something.

Around that age, my daughter went to just one nap. And if she wasn't up before 3 pm, she was a night owl for us which made life hard at home.

What about skipping the morning nap and eating her snack around 9:30-10, then eat her lunch 11:45-12:15 so she can go down for nap at 12:30. By eliminating that down time in the am she may go ahead and sleep at the afternoon nap.

I'm confused by your question, so she is not napping at all for either naps? Or she is missing one nap?

My girls quit napping all together at 2 and 2 1/2.

It sounds as though she is on the verge of giving up naps. I would maybe try to forgo the morning nap and just keep the afternoon nap, maybe that would help. I'm sure at the Daycare there may be lots of distractions and she may just want to play with the other kids, too.

Does she go outside at all? Sunlight helps keep the body awake, so when its time to lay down, or when its dark, the body goes to sleep quicker and the sleep is deeper.

She also might be going through a growth spurt. Any changes in sleep or eating habits usually reflects that.

At her age she should only be going for one nap a day. Having that quiet time in the morning in a dark room in a pack and play is probably interferring with her ability to have an actual nap in the afternoon. If she stayed busy all morning she would likely be able to nap in the afternoon. Also, I would ask the daycare lady to make sure she goes out every day, even in the winter. Children need to get out for fresh air just as much in the winter as in the summer. If she plays for half an hour in the snow before lunch she will surely nap after lunch.

If she were in an actual facility she would come in at 9 and do class time activities, have play time, clean up time, get ready for lunch by doing some group activities, eat lunch around 10:45 or 11 then clean up from eating, then go down for a couple of hours of nap around noon. Get up around 2 (ish) and get ready for snacks, have play time, do some more activity time, play some more, get ready to go home.

In child care at age 1 a child moves from the baby room to a toddler room. That classroom is mandated by the state to only have one nap per day. They have to have the kids actively involved in stuff and they can't just be there sleeping and having to sit quietly while other sleep all day.

Once they hit 2 they move to the pre-school style class and their nap time is even shorter, down to about an hour and a half. They often eat lunch closer to noon and they don't get down til about 12:30 on an early day and more often down around 1-2:30. They stay pretty much on that schedule until they are in kindergarten.

So the fact that your care giver is still doing 2 naps per day is not great. Your child is more than old enough to be down to one nap per day. From about noon to 2 or so. Then she'll sleep every day at the same time.

This will also help with all sorts of going to bed issues too that may come up if she continues to do the 2 naps per day. If she does actually start going to sleep she will start staying up later and later. Kids only need so many hours of sleep per day, they just can't force themselves to sleep.

This caregiver needs to do only 1 nap per day. Then she'll have a better day because this child will not be tired or rubbing her eyes, she'll be wide awake during class time because she got the rest she needed at the time of day she needs it.
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As for asking for advice about how to make her take a nap, this does entirely fall on the child care provider to learn how to do. She is the one doing the 2 naps per day.