10 Month Old Sleeps Through Night When He Goes to Daycare, but Not Weekends

It sounds like two things are happening: 1) he is taking very short naps for his age, probably because he cannot sleep with all of the activity going on at daycare, and 2) he is waking up at night on the weekends because he gets better rest at home during the day and because he misses you. I strongly encourage all mommies to stay home with their babies. Then you can provide him with stability and a healthy sleep environment, among many other things. Good luck.

It sounds like it's a stimulation issue. When he is at daycare he must be expending more energy, mental and physical. I assume there are other children. They probably play quite hard. At home things are quite a bit more laid back, quiet, not as much going on in general. You may need to try and find safe ways for him to expend more energy.

Suzi

I think kids get very used to routine and schedules. Without them they are thrown off so maybe the weekend being a different schedule is what bothers him more than the length of time he naps. I do think playing and talking to him and others around probably wears him out but my opinion is that the routine is the main issue. Could you find out exactly what time he goes down to nap at daycare and just follow that schedule for a bit? Not so much how long maybe but what time it is.
Just a thought.

This is very common. During the week the amount of stimulation at daycare is so much more than at home, it wears him out. I don't mean you ignore him, but you also don't have 5-8 other toddlers constantly around him. Also, being outside tends to wear kids out more, and at most day cares even the infants go outside for at least 30' 2-3 times/day. You may want to try going to the park or something in the evening for a while to get him a little more stimulation and fresh air. When this happened with my son, I felt like it was because I was a bad mom or something, but short of having all the kids from daycare at our house all weekend, it's just not as draining on them (that might be a good thing for them, just not your sleep at night)!

you are not the only one. My son takes way better naps at daycare. She can get him to sleep a lot easier and it seems like he sleeps longer. I have come up with that it is soo routine there and that helps. Also everyone else is doing it so he is not missing out on anything.

suzi is right about the stimulation...i notice sometimes my son gets a little restless on weekends if we don't have lots of activities and plans going on...the other thing i was going to suggest is maybe he's ready to go to one nap? i don't remember when my son did, but it's worth a shot. if it's only a 30 minute nap sometimes, i'd say it's probably not doing him a whole lot of good...maybe try keeping him up till the afternoon then taking a longer nap after lunch.