Naps at Nursery

- Guest Blog | Emily Jupp @themumpractioner | 14th January 2022 -

Emily is a Mum of 2 with over 12 years experience is childcare settings, she was also room leader at my daughter’s nursery and we loved her! 😊

She is passionate about early years education and learning through play. You can follow Emily @themumpractioner on Instagram here.

Emily’s Top Tips for an

Easy Sleep Transition from Home to Nursery

Starting nursery is daunting for all involved but a question I find that gets parents the most worried is how their child will sleep once they are at the setting.

Often, we get asked “how can they sleep when so many are in the room?”, “is it not too noisy?”, “I’m not sure they can sleep on a mat on the floor - don’t they move off?” so I’m here to hopefully give you some reassurance and some top tips for the transition from home sleeping to nursery sleep times.

Communication

When your child is due to start nursery, it is really helpful to be clear with when and what your child’s sleep patterns are like at home. Be clear on the times they sleep, the limits you have in place and any comforts your child has. The nursery will need to try and replicate this as much as they can as this will make for an easy transition. Your child will then most likely start to create their own routine at nursery that mirrors the one they have at home but is adapted to the environment. For example, we often have children that sleep with some form of ‘white noise’, and the children who do not normally have this at home will very quickly get used to it as part of their nursery routine, but then not expect it to then be replicated at home.

A big thing I always ask my parents as we are getting to know you is “do you rock or cuddle your child to sleep?”. Don’t be ashamed to say that you cuddle your child to sleep. So many parents feel like they can’t tell us that they comfort their child before they fall asleep in the fear that the person on the other side of the ‘all about me form’ will raise an eyebrow to it. But the main thing about making a smooth transition is consistency. If your child is used to this then we need to know as it could then take us longer to get your child to sleep, as well as making a distressing experience for the child too.

Comforters

Whether it be a ‘dummy’, a cuddly toy or muslin, all these are vital to bring in for sleep time. We often have parents try and wean children off it before they start, I’m not sure if this is out of convenience or in case it is lost but it all makes the difference to sleep time if it is part of your child’s normal routine.

Have Faith in Your Child & The Nursery

Now to reassure you a little. After all of this is discussed and established it really is easy to help your child have a peaceful and restful nap during their time in nursery. Not only are they wearing themselves out with all the stimulus that nursery provides, but the care and bonding that happens between the children and their key workers or practitioners in the room happens really quickly. This care and bonding means that the children then feel safe in their new environment, making sleep time the time where they can relax and dream away. If you’re wondering how children sleep in a room with 10 maybe even 12 other babies or children, for the most part it’s because that becomes normal to your child. It becomes part of their routine at nursery to get used to all the other slight noises around them. Also, we genuinely find after lunch, they are so tired it doesn’t take them long to fall asleep after their morning antics.
The nursery will also ensure that the right types of activities are happening before sleep, this could mean singing, listening to stories or perhaps calming music. Then during sleep time the room will be set up to feel calm, cosy and darker to help aid with the change over from play time.

Rounding it all up, my top tips are:

• Be honest with your expectations surrounding sleep and how that normally happens at home.

• Make sure you bring comforters.

• Trust the practitioners.

• Never be afraid to ask questions.

All this should help towards a smooth and restful sleep time at nursery 😊