Naps for a Nine Month Old

Did you ask the parents what the child's sleep schedule is like on the weekends? I found that it helps if the schedule at day care is the same as at home on the weekends.

I agreee, a one hour nap doesn't seem like enough sleep for a 9-month old... heck, my little guy is 18 months and still takes a morning and afternoon nap (and sleeps through the night). Although we actually like to spend time with our child in the evening, so he stays up until 9pm with us. :)

Good luck!
E.

You are right, she is not. I would approach her by empathizing that it must be frustrating and tiring for her to deal with a restless baby in the middle of the night, but that it is not healthy for a such a young child to only nap 1 hour during the day. I would emphasize that it is completely normal for kids up to two years old to have times where they struggle to sleep through the night. Mine was perfect at four months, awful at ten months, and even at 2 yrs he struggles occasionally. Hope this helps. I would also refer her to whatever you've read and encourage her to stay consistent with her bedtime routine, and intervene minimally during the night so he can dvelop the ability to put himself back to sleep (easier said than done, I have started bad habits with my son, like lying in bed with him until he's asleep - he's just so cute, and I'm so tired...) Hope this helps :)

L.

Kaia,
There are a lot of reasons a 9 month old won't sleep at night but parents always seem to automatically think the kids are sleeping all day at daycare! The little one could be teething, going through a growth spurt, not feeling well, or just in a stage. Tormenting the baby, yourself, and the other kids with a cranky kid all day isn't a good idea. Maybe cut out the first nap, if possible. I have my one year old napping from 11:30 - 1:30 and the daycare boy the same age naps from 7 - 8:30 and 12 - 1:30. A baby their age needs 14 - 16 hours of sleep per day/night. When I had daycare parents who insisted that their 2 year old not nap because he wasn't sleeping properly, I looked into it and they were putting him to bed at 6:30/7 and he was getting up at 6. What kind of evening activities are they doing with him? What is he eating at night? Are there other possibilities causing it other than naps during the day? I have it in my contract that there's a rest time although infants nap on demand. Best of luck in this. When my daycare parents said they didn't want their 2 year old napping anymore because he wasn't sleeping right at night, I wanted to tell them to stay home with their kid, then, and make sure he doesn't sleep. lol... He turned into an animal when he didn't get his sleep during the day!

Hi Kaia,

My daughter at this age was sleeping twice a day, however her first nap was shorter, about 1 hour long, and her second one was anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours.
Now my daughter is 2 years old, and right now she only has 1 nap during the day, but it is usually 2-2.5 hours long.
I think that a 9-month old should have two naps during the day, and the total day nap time should be more than 1 hour.

Good luck on finding a communication with the parent!

I agree with the other moms' advice. My son is 3 and still turns into a total crab if he doesn't nap about 2 hours a day - plus he sleept about 12 hours at night most nights.

It seems like sleep is one of the most touchy subjects for parents - no two people do it exactly the same, but our kids are all different!

Perhaps they aren't consistent in their bedtime routine, or something else is happening - teething, growing, developmental milestone... Our daycare provider hands out a fact sheet about sleep a couple of times a year. I can't remember where it was from, but it talked about the importance of sleep, consistent bedtimes/routines, etc. Maybe a hand-out similar to that for all of your parents would help in this particular situation without you needing to "single" out the "problem" parents...

Good luck!

Hi Kaia,
I am also a daycare provider and have four kids of my own as well 6,3,3,& 3,(yes, triplets) and in addition to what the other ladies shared with you about routine and enough sleep at night, I would do a morning nap of an hour and still a two hour one in the afternoon. Like the others said, there are so many other issues at that age for not sleeping at night. He/she still needs the rest during the day. Good luck!