Nap Mats at MDO

Chances are they will go over nap mats at your MDO orientation. Ours said you could bring a mat or a fitted sheet for a toddler bed and a blanket (that's what we did). I too thought my ds would never nap for anyone else but he did. They all did. I don't think there's anything you need to do to transition him. The teachers are pros at getting other kids to nap so leave it to them and enjoy the time off.

Hey there - funny to read your blurb about not interested in anything but the crib...my son was the same way!!! He hasn't been in his toddler bed for 6 months!!! He just turned 3! That could be good for you - my son doesn't even get out of his bed...he just hands out until you come in! Also - at his "school" he sleeps on a mat too - and has no problems. Anyhow - I have a customer that I call on - Chelsea's Tearoom in Arlington - she has the nap mats...Good prices - and cute styles! I know she has a website - it's easy to get to also.

Good luck!

Hi J.,

Since it seems you guys like dogs, I have a gymboree Doggie Mat w/pillow that I am selling. Matthew used it and loved it. It is cute and you can roll it up and take it with you!! I am selling it for $20.00 and the neat thing is you can wash it and use it again and again.

Once you baby (he loved his crib too) sees everyone else using one, he will want to do so too. Peer pressure at this age is very good (ha!) especially w/potty training.....he will adjust, mine did and he still came home and used his crib.

Let me know if you are interssted. My email is ____@____.com and it a cute blue dog mat w/ears and everything.

G. B.

Hi J., if you do get the vinyl nap mat make sure you put a cute(or make one) pillow case or nap mat cover over it. You do not want his skin touching the vinyl while he sleeps. It doesn't breath at all. A king size pillow case will fit perfectly and will be easy to wash. My Son loved his crib too and we didn't transistion him till he turned 3 because he is a big boy, will be 5 in September (95th percentile height and weight size 1.5 boys shoe!!!) and he was about to bust through the bottom of the crib! He transistioned perfectly during the time that he was still in his crib and sleeping on a nap mat!(I think they wear them out and they just konk out) so don't worry, he will be fine! Blessings, J.

Our MDO actually doesn't allow the decorative mats. Check with them before you buy to make sure they don't have a similar policy.
I don't think you have to do anything to transition him, other than show it to him and tell him what it's for. They used mats/cots where my daughter was when she was 18 months old. Because the whole group of kids use mats, they accept them willingly and stay on them.
As far as moving to a toddler bed, neither of mine actually showed interest in it when we moved them. My oldest got bumped out of the crib at 17 months because her brother was on the way. There wasn't even a "transition" to it, really. She just did it. We moved her to it after she fell asleep one day. The next day, we took down the crib and put a kitchen play center in it's place and she never said a word about the crib again.
Since it worked so well with her, we decided to move our son to a toddler bed at 17 months too and same thing happened -- no fuss, just switched without a problem. We have three friends who moved theirs to toddler beds between 17-19 months too, with no difficulty.

I was so worried about that when my son started MDO at 20 months. (He is currently 28 months and just started sleeping in his big bed a few weeks ago!) We started MDO mid year so I couldn't find a nap mat so I got a kids sleeping bag at Wal-Mart. It worked great! I'm planning on using it again this year. I didn't believe that he would ever sleep there and most days, he was the last one up. It was amazing to me since I had to work to get him down for naps at home! I think the whole MDO actually made naptime at home easier for me. But he did go for 7 months of napping on the floor at MDO and still sleeping exclusively in the crib at home. Good luck!