The Truth About Your Baby’s Sleep at Daycare

The transition from napping at home to napping at daycare can be a tough one, but with time, patience, and a little thoughtful planning, your little one can learn to nap well at daycare. Affiliate links included below.

I remember the first day I dropped my oldest off at daycare like it was yesterday. On top of being stressed about leaving my little baby with people I didn’t really know, I felt very unprepared when I showed up. I had not properly labeled everything (rookie move – if you need to know how to properly label a pacifier, let me know!), I brought wipes in the big old wipe box (hello, ain’t no space for 12 wipe boxes at the changing station!), I didn’t bring a sleep sack, etc. You get the idea.

I also dropped off a baby who had no sleep schedule and she was used to being held while she napped. I was crossing my fingers that these baby magicians, who are somehow capable of caring for 4 babies each at the same time, were going to teach my sweet babe how to sleep in a crib on a lovely nap schedule. Oh, Allison, you were so new.

Here’s the truth about daycare and your baby’s sleep. Those baby magicians are doing the very best they can to keep our little babes fed, clean, and well rested. They do not, however, have the bandwidth to teach every baby how to sleep. If you have an “easy” sleeper, this could be a non-issue and your little one may ease right into a schedule, but if you have a “sensitive” sleeper or have just finished sleep training, it’s on you to tell the daycare how sleep needs to happen for your little one.

So, how do you do that? Here are my tips for getting your child the best sleep possible at daycare.

1. Replicate the home sleep environment. This is not easy to do, but even little things can make a difference when it comes to sleep at daycare. Use a sleep sack at home and buy a second identical sleep sack for daycare. This will be a consistent cue for your baby that it’s time to sleep.
2. Give the daycare a schedule. At this point, through the families I work with, I have been exposed to a lot of different daycares. Nine times out of ten, the daycare providers are happy, maybe even relieved, when parents tell them sleep is a priority for them and they have a desired schedule for the daycare to follow. Think about it – they have multiple babies to care for and each child is unique. If they know your child should be going down for naps at a certain time, they can stop playing the guessing game with at least one of those babies. To help you share your baby’s schedule, I created a daycare Sleep Schedule form that you can download.
3. Let the caregivers know they can provide extra sleep support. Yes, at home I think it is critical for your baby to learn to go in the crib awake and to fall asleep on their own. Sleep at daycare, however, is different. At daycare there is a lot going on. There are other babies in the room, which usually means there is crying, laughing, cooing. Often the room isn’t very dark. There are caregivers moving around. It’s a stimulating place. With all that going on around them, it is unreasonable to expect your baby to always fall asleep on their own. Let the caregivers know that while you would like them to do their best to keep your baby on a schedule, you are fine with them rocking your baby to sleep, rubbing their back until they fall asleep, popping the pacifier in, or rushing over to help your baby connect two sleep cycles. You do ultimately want your little one’s naps to happen in the crib, but getting them to sleep and keeping them asleep might require some extra assistance and that’s totally okay. Babies can tell the difference between daycare and home, so just because extra support is provided at daycare doesn’t mean your baby will need that at home. 
4. Give the caregivers graces. Every day of sleep at daycare is not going to be perfect. The first few weeks in particular are always a little challenging as your baby adjusts. And then there are days that just won’t go as planned. As long as the caregivers are sincerely making an effort to follow your sleep schedule, don’t panic if there is an off day here and there. This is particularly true if you’re just starting to work on a schedule. Just remember that if naps haven’t been great, the earlier you can get your little one to bed, the better – do whatever you can to expedite bedtime. If the whole week has been a little off, go for a super early bedtime on Saturday and Sunday, and keep naps consistent at home.

Download the Daycare Sleep Schedule Form that you can fill out and share with your daycare provider. This is ideal for babies who are 16 weeks or older and are on, or ready to be on, a schedule. If you’re little one is younger than 16 weeks, just encourage lots of sleep throughout the day at daycare and save this form for when they hit 4 months!