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Toddler Sleep (12-36 months) icon

Toddler Sleep (12-36 months)


  • How to make the days work when you have a low sleep need toddler?
  • Do toddlers become overtired and overstimulated?
  • What to do if your toddler only sleeps in the carrier or when being held?
  • Will 'capping' naps help with sleep problems when you have a toddler?
  • Why won't your toddler go down to sleep during the day?
  • Is it best to sleep your toddler in a cot during the day?
  • What to do about toddler sleep when you have an older child or other children who need your attention?
  • How can you get the best out of mothers' groups or parents' groups when you have toddler sleep problems?
  • What to do about naps when your toddler is in childcare?
  • What to do about daytime sleeps when you're weaning your toddler from the breast?

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  • Toddler Sleep (12-36 months)
  • S2: Daytimes
  • CH 3: FAQs

What to do about naps when your toddler is in childcare?

Dr Pamela Douglas17th of Sep 202323rd of May 2024

carer plays with lots of children on a sofa in childcare

Usually the staff in daycare centres or the people caring for your toddler are keen to support you, and to fit in with your family's needs.

However, daycare staff, nannies, family daycare providers, babysitters, grandparents or the others who help you look after your child might believe that the best thing they can do for your little one and your family is to make sure your toddler has long blocks of sleep during the day.

As a result, depending on how much time your little one spends with his carers, your toddler's body clock settings might become disrupted after a few weeks, resulting in excessive night waking for you and your family. Long blocks of sleep during the day might also result in unmanageably late bed-times in the evening. You can find out about this here.

You could take a laid back, wait-and-see approach, allowing your little one to fit in with the running of the daycare centre or the carer's own style to see what happens. However, if you find problems emerging, you'll need to have a conversation about your family's needs.

Often parents who use The Possums Sleep Program speak with the carers in advance, explaining that their little one is accustomed to napping only when the sleep pressure is high, in the midst of daylight, noise and activity. Some daycare settings still use blinds to make the room dark when the little ones are sleeping. I generally say to parents that it may be too much to ask that the sleeping room isn't dimmed, since the carers are trying to manage larger groups of children, according to their own policies.

But it's not too much to ask the carers to wake your little one so that she isn't sleeping for longer in total than she does during the days when she's with you. I suppose you might call this capping the nap! Limiting the length of your little one's daytime naps when she spends time with carers can be a very important strategy for protecting your family's sleep health, over time.

Selected references

Thorpe K, Staton S, Sawyer E, Pattinson C, Haden C, Smith S. Napping, development and health from 0 to 5 years: a systematic review. BMJ. 2015;100:615-622.

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Next up in FAQs

What to do about daytime sleeps when you're weaning your toddler from the breast?

toddler breastfeeding outside on park bench

Women have the right to know that it's not the breastfeeding which causes excessive night waking, so that they don't wean unnecessarily

Are you actually ready to wean or is your toddler waking excessively at night and you've heard that night weaning will help your him wake less often? Often when your toddler's body clock is out of sync, you can feel as if you're breastfeeding all night, which is not sustainable. People might suggest that weaning is the solution. But excessive night waking isn't caused because you

  • Breastfeed frequently and flexibly

  • Breastfeed your toddler to sleep.

If…

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