Talk to me about your DCP schedule for 12mo...

[Bonita]

My LO has been in daycare since she was a little over 3 months, and I have been mostly okay with where we have her until recently.  I'm starting to question if I should look into another DCP, or if I should just realize my LO is growing and needs to transition to a different schedule.

Basically right after she turned 1yo, the DCP transitioned her to only 1 nap per day...the problem is she falls asleep as soon as I pick her up and then wants to take a second nap around 5:30pm, so I feel like she technically still needs 2 naps....but I haven't found too many DCPs in our area that let them take 2 naps?  Most only take 1 nap after 12mo. - is this the same for most DCPs?

Also, this morning my husband was dropping our LO off and they basically told him that they are transitioning her to the toddler schedule and they eat at 8am, 11am, and snack is at 2pm.  (He drops off around 9am)...So I nurse her somewhere around 5am-6am before I leave, and then I guess my husband is basically going to have to feed her before he leaves for work because otherwise they won't feed her until 11am.

Just curious if other people have this same type of experience for their 12mo+ babies, or if I should look into other options since this daycare may not be for me

[rbp]

Ours transitioned M to one nap before 12 mo because he was the youngest in the room and most of the other kids were on the 1 yo schedule of one nap. It was rough--he often fell asleep on the five-minute drive home. I would let him take a catnap, and luckily it never interfered with his bedtime. I definitely felt like he still needed two naps at DC, but I felt that they provided excellent care otherwise so I didn't push the issue.

M's schedule since he quit taking bottles at DC (around 12mo) has been:
9:00 breakfast
11:30 lunch
12-2 nap
3:00 snack

So I have never felt like he's gone hungry. They serve meals "family style" and provide second helpings when the kids ask for them.

Is your LO getting to DC after they serve breakfast? It has been my experience that if a child misses a meal time then it's the parents' responsibility to provide the missed meal.

[undecidedowl]

That sounds like a very typical daycare schedule. The nap thing is tough, we just offer 2 naps on weekends and try for early bed time on weekdays. For feeding, I would have your DH offer an easy breakfast in the morning before leaving. I feed my kids as soon as they wake up so they actually end up eating two breakfasts (6:30 am at home and 8:30 am at daycare).

[Saudade]

We use a center that transitions at 16 months to the toddler room. That means 1 nap, no bottles, toddler schedule of breakfast, lunch, snack. He did fine.

Your daughter will transition fine because she will be around all the other kids doing the same thing. It will be a bit of an adjustment for you at home but it shouldn't take too long.

[ewall]

Sounds pretty typical. My DS just turned one. He's on the one nap a day schedule at daycare. They even have him sleeping on a cot! We were doing two naps at home on the weekends, but we found he is doing fine with only one. He does best if we keep him on the same routine every day so we stick with daycare's by default. He maybe falls asleep on the way home once per week. How long is she sleeping at night? DS sleeps for 11ish hours.

The meal schedule you mentioned is that exact same at my DS's daycare. Once they hit 1 year old, I think most states have strict guidelines about how many meals/snacks/content/etc. Your DH will have to feed her breakfast or drop her off earlier. If you are looking for more flexibility, maybe an in-home DCP?

[vtdiamond]

My kids are 14 months old, and are still considered "infants" until 18 months. They are transitioning now into the oldest infant room. In all our infant rooms they nap and are fed whenever we tell them or the kids are tired/hungry, everyone in the room is on their own schedul. When they go to the toddler room at 18 months, they all have one nap time in the afternoon, not sure about the meal schedule yet though.

[kategm]

Yes, that schedule is exactly what my DCP does. After 1 year, they eat breakfast 7:30-8:30ish, lunch at 11, nap 12-2, snack 2:30/3.

DD has to be at daycare by 8:30 to get breakfast, otherwise I have to feed her. So either your DH gives her breakfast or changes the drop off schedule to drop off earlier in time to eat.

I can't give advice on the nap/no nap thing. My kid is a freak who can go for eons without sleep, so she actually took the transition to 1 nap super well. She'd pretty much only been napping once a day anyway at that point.

[jeaniebueller]

The eating schedule sounds pretty normal to me. I don't know if you'll find many DCPs who will feed breakfast after 9am. Can your H put her in her high chair and feed her something at like 8am before he leaves? As far as the naps, that is also normal in my experience. FWIW, my DS went thorugh an awful transition phase like you describe when he went from two naps to one and fell asleep every day on the way home from daycare. Its just something I suffered through and he eventually grew out of. Only you can decide if switching DCPs is right for you. I am not particularly alarmed by anything you have described though.

[ewall]

Jan 4, 2016 10:38:01 GMT -5 Saudade said:

We use a center that transitions at 16 months to the toddler room. That means 1 nap, no bottles, toddler schedule of breakfast, lunch, snack. He did fine.

Your daughter will transition fine because she will be around all the other kids doing the same thing. It will be a bit of an adjustment for you at home but it shouldn't take too long.

Daycare peer pressure is the best! 

[biogirl21]

At 12 months, our dc goes to a schedule rather than baby-led.
Dropoff to 8:30- playtime
8:30-9:15- breakfast
9:30-10 reading/singing ect
10-11- outside
11-12 lunch
12-2 nap/quiet time
2- snack
2:30-4ish- outside
4-pickup- free time
They give a snack around 5 if kids are acting like they need it.

He would almost always fall asleep in MHs car on the drive home and nap for about 30 minutes. It never affected his bedtime and it made him more pleasant. He would be hungry but not starving so it was easy to throw a pouch at him and cook dinner.

She'll adjust to the new schedule, it will just take some time.

[justjen]

Ugh, we're making this transition today. He's only 11 months, but walking and running all over the place, so not really safe to have in a room with tiny babies. All break, M napped at like 9:30 am. Today he officially can't nap until 1, although his new teacher said she would see how he did.

Feeding is at 9, 12, and 3, which I'm fine with. It's just the naps. He was up at 5:30 this morning. 5:30-1 is a looong stretch. And I can't exactly put him to bed any earlier, since he goes to sleep approximately 15 minutes after I get home. My only hope is he starts sleeping until 6:15, which is the latest I can really let him sleep and still make my train.

[cajunmom]

Are you expecting the DC to feed your child at 9 when presumably breakfast is finished and cleaned up and everyone is busy with other activities?

[patbutcher]

I ran into the same issue with naps. DD was a wreck when I got her at 4pm when they only let her have 1 nap. I asked them to keep her on two and she didn't drop to one nap until 18 months.

[Bonita]

Jan 4, 2016 10:53:55 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Are you expecting the DC to feed your child at 9 when presumably breakfast is finished and cleaned up and everyone is busy with other activities?

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

[ewall]

Jan 4, 2016 10:58:25 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 10:53:55 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Are you expecting the DC to feed your child at 9 when presumably breakfast is finished and cleaned up and everyone is busy with other activities?

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

Why can't your H feed her breakfast beforehand?

[ssmjlm]

Jan 4, 2016 10:58:25 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 10:53:55 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Are you expecting the DC to feed your child at 9 when presumably breakfast is finished and cleaned up and everyone is busy with other activities?

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

Your expectations are not reasonable for a DCP, especially at a center.

At mine, if your child arrives after 8am, the parents are expected to provide breakfast, since snack is at 9.

Nothing in your OP is out of the norm for a toddler room.

[Bonita]

Okay, I'm glad to hear everyone else's schedules are fairly similar. I think once they move her into the other room my husband is going to either have to feed her at home, or leave earlier to get her there by breakfast time. I think he was just particularly shocked that they were going to try not feeding her today with no notice of any of this.

There are some other reasons I'm getting a little unsure about this center, mainly dealing with turnover and no information/notification of it. There have been a couple of times in the last few weeks where I've went to pick up my LO and the only person in there with the babies is someone completely new that I've never met. Maybe my expectations are over the top, but I just kind of figure that I would be told when someone new may be coming in, or when a teacher or director will be leaving. Since November we've had 3 new teaching assistants show up, and one of the assistant director's just sort of disappeared - when I asked about her they said she was no longer there.

So I'm sure my apprehension on this is also a little wrapped up with that. Thanks for the input everyone

[pinotgrig]

Another vote for normal. G's toddler room does snacks as the kids arrive from 7:45 to 8:20-ish and free play.

They go outside from 10-10:30

Lunch at 11

Nap from 11:30/12 to 1:30/2

Outside again

Free play, story time, etc. until 3 and then snack

Snack at 4:30/5 as the kids are getting ready to leave

Why can't your H feed her breakfast before he leaves? When the food comes out in G's room, the toddlers go crazy. Even if they just ate. I understand why they won't feed your daughter breakfast when she comes in an hour after her room's breakfast time.

[cajunmom]

Jan 4, 2016 10:58:25 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 10:53:55 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Are you expecting the DC to feed your child at 9 when presumably breakfast is finished and cleaned up and everyone is busy with other activities?

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

I'm saying if they're all finished when she gets there at 9. If breakfast is at 8 they're probably all done with that by 9 so they wouldn't still be giving the other kids food/bottles.

[Bonita]

Jan 4, 2016 11:03:20 GMT -5 ewall said:

Jan 4, 2016 10:58:25 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

Why can't your H feed her breakfast beforehand?

He can...

However, she is still currently in an infant room which is baby led.  They know when she normally arrives, and every time in the past when he has dropped her off they have fed her (the room is not on a set schedule, so there is no breakfast at 8am, lunch at 11am, etc.)

Today was just sort of surprise, she is on a new schedule and lunch is at 11am!  So there was no warning that he should have fed her before he left the house.

[nessness]

DD transitioned to nearly the same schedule at 12 months. She still takes 2 naps and snacks more frequently at home, but at daycare she does totally fine with 1 nap and a set eating schedule (although she's hungry when I pick her up so I bring a snack for her to eat on the way home). Breakfast at 8 seems totally normal. Mine does breakfast at 7:30.

[nessness]

Jan 4, 2016 11:13:23 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 11:03:20 GMT -5 ewall said:

Why can't your H feed her breakfast beforehand?

He can...

However, she is still currently in an infant room which is baby led.  They know when she normally arrives, and every time in the past when he has dropped her off they have fed her (the room is not on a set schedule, so there is no breakfast at 8am, lunch at 11am, etc.)

Today was just sort of surprise, she is on a new schedule and lunch is at 11am!  So there was no warning that he should have fed her before he left the house.

They definitely should have told you beforehand; that would annoy me. DD's daycare started preparing her for the toddler schedule a month in advance. But I think it's the norm to have baby-led schedules in the infant room and a set schedule in the toddler room.

[Bonita]

Jan 4, 2016 11:12:05 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Jan 4, 2016 10:58:25 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Currently she's in an infant room, so yes...while they're feeding and giving all these other kids bottles and snacks I think it's a little terrible to tell my most likely hungry LO sorry, breakfast is over.

I'm saying if they're all finished when she gets there at 9. If breakfast is at 8 they're probably all done with that by 9 so they wouldn't still be giving the other kids food/bottles.

I agree if she was in a different room where food comes in at 8am, 11am, and 2pm.  I guess I just was a little miffed this morning that they were like no more food for you after 8am with no notice ahead of time that my husband should feed her or get her there by 8am (they know when she typically arrives, so this wasn't surprising to them). 

[ewall]

Jan 4, 2016 11:13:23 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 11:03:20 GMT -5 ewall said:

Why can't your H feed her breakfast beforehand?

He can...

However, she is still currently in an infant room which is baby led.  They know when she normally arrives, and every time in the past when he has dropped her off they have fed her (the room is not on a set schedule, so there is no breakfast at 8am, lunch at 11am, etc.)

Today was just sort of surprise, she is on a new schedule and lunch is at 11am!  So there was no warning that he should have fed her before he left the house.

Well, yeah, they should have warned you! That is upsetting. I'm sorry.

Our room is called "mobile infants" so there are kids anywhere from 8ish months to 15 months. It's a big range when you consider all of the milestones that occur. The 12+ month kids are transitioned over to the set schedule. It sounds like you and your DCP never discussed any upcoming changes and they didn't bother to mention it?

[Bonita]

Jan 4, 2016 11:21:03 GMT -5 ewall said:

 It sounds like you and your DCP never discussed any upcoming changes and they didn't bother to mention it?

They really don't discuss much, and I guess that's probably the upsetting part.

One night when I was picking up my LO, one of the other mom's showed up at the same time and we both came in.  She kind of looked everywhere for her LO and he was no where to be found...the assistant in the room was like "Oh, they put him over in the toddler room."  The mom kind of stood there for a minute and then said "Oh, umm...wow okay, I guess I should go over there to see how it went!?"  She looked like she was about to cry because I'm pretty sure they just never bothered to tell her they were going to put him over there that day when she had dropped him off in the infant room.

I guess that's probably my real problem with this particular center is just the "Oh by the way..." attitude they have with things - they're not very forthcoming with any information, and if you ask questions about any of it, they act like you're super demanding.

[cajunmom]

Jan 4, 2016 11:26:48 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 11:21:03 GMT -5 ewall said:

 It sounds like you and your DCP never discussed any upcoming changes and they didn't bother to mention it?

They really don't discuss much, and I guess that's probably the upsetting part.

One night when I was picking up my LO, one of the other mom's showed up at the same time and we both came in.  She kind of looked everywhere for her LO and he was no where to be found...the assistant in the room was like "Oh, they put him over in the toddler room."  The mom kind of stood there for a minute and then said "Oh, umm...wow okay, I guess I should go over there to see how it went!?"  She looked like she was about to cry because I'm pretty sure they just never bothered to tell her they were going to put him over there that day when she had dropped him off in the infant room.

I guess that's probably my real problem with this particular center is just the "Oh by the way..." attitude they have with things - they're not very forthcoming with any information, and if you ask questions about any of it, they act like you're super demanding.

This is very understandable. It's hard when you aren't made aware of changes in advance even when, in retrospect, the changes aren't super major (although changing rooms is a bit of a big deal for some). I guess that's one of the cons of a bigger center.

[ewall]

Jan 4, 2016 11:26:48 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Jan 4, 2016 11:21:03 GMT -5 ewall said:

 It sounds like you and your DCP never discussed any upcoming changes and they didn't bother to mention it?

They really don't discuss much, and I guess that's probably the upsetting part.

One night when I was picking up my LO, one of the other mom's showed up at the same time and we both came in.  She kind of looked everywhere for her LO and he was no where to be found...the assistant in the room was like "Oh, they put him over in the toddler room."  The mom kind of stood there for a minute and then said "Oh, umm...wow okay, I guess I should go over there to see how it went!?"  She looked like she was about to cry because I'm pretty sure they just never bothered to tell her they were going to put him over there that day when she had dropped him off in the infant room.

I guess that's probably my real problem with this particular center is just the "Oh by the way..." attitude they have with things - they're not very forthcoming with any information, and if you ask questions about any of it, they act like you're super demanding.

With that update, I'd probably look for another DCP. The center's director and your child's teachers should be willing to answer your questions. And you should have fair warning plus input into any upcoming changes related to your child's care.

[curbsideprophet]

If she is showing up at 9 am I would assume she has eaten breakfast at home. That is only two hours until the next meal.

Overall that schedule does not sound unreasonable to me. Our daycare does have a morning snack that is often breakfast type foods but it it not really considered breakfast. If a kid arrives before 8 they can bring a small snack in with them.

As for naps, you might just need to do an early bedtime for now. 6-6:30.

[Blue Moon]

My DD started back at daycare (after 2 months off with me for summer) right at 12 months. My center is small, so there is only one room for infants-walking. My daughter initially went back to the infant room, where sleep/food was on demand, but since she was just starting to walk she was stepping on the crawling babies and just generally not suitable for that environment any more. She transitioned to the tweener room (12-24 months) after a few days where the schedule is breakfast at arrival at 7am, snack at 9am, lunch at 11:30, nap from 1-3, snack at 3. DD was still taking two 1.5hr naps at 9:15 and 2:00 at that point, but daycare just transitioned her to the one nap on a cot at 1pm on day one. It was rough for a while, but we found that dropping to one nap actually improved her sleep in the long run. I was really upset at first because I thought she was too young to be transitioned and I hated that she was so exhausted during the transition, but it really was for the best.

[Bonita]

Jan 4, 2016 12:08:33 GMT -5 @this said:

All that said, your gut feeling is important too. Of course. I would maybe ask for a five minutes with the director to talk about how you're feeling. I did that coming out of the infant room when I really struggled (note: I struggled, not DD lol) with the transition. The director basically told the teachers I was a FTM and to handle me with kid gloves lol, but the teachers were SUPER communicative after that. They always made sure to talk about how whatever transition (cot, solids, sippies, etc) was going and what they were going to work on next.

I think this is really it.  I struggle with my gut feeling of the place mainly because we toured a couple of other places after she was already attending this center, and they seemed to have it really together.  Maybe it was a show, or whatever and they're as messed up seeming as the one we currently are at...But the other centers had a typical daily schedule print out so the parents had some idea of what the kids' day looked like, and the other centers seemed to have a better handle on how to rotate the teachers.

It may not be typical, but two of the other centers basically staggered the teachers so they had something like...Teacher A works from 6:15-2:15pm, Teacher B works from 7:30am-4:30pm, and Teacher C works 11:30am-6:30pm. It just sounded so much more well thought out/planned than our current center that basically all teachers show up at 6:00am and then whatever floaters are left end up in the rooms at night and maybe you get a floater who has only ever been in a 4/5yo class watching some infants. 

It's just weird to me, and I think maybe that's the problem.  I've tried talking to the director, but unfortunately I don't ever see any of the teachers - I only see random floaters, most of who I see once and then maybe never again...or not again for 3 months.  I will say there is one floater who I probably see 2 nights per week, so maybe they could tell her to relay information to me, I have no idea.