Nap for toddler and baby in nursery

[Philharmagicfamily]

Hi! I'm able to book activities/nursery time tonight, and I am thinking of booking the nursery for several days at naptime so we can have either try out the adult-only pool or take our older son on the aquaduck without having to sacrifice awake time with our little ones (ages 2.5 and 8 months at the time of the cruise). We'd also like to book for one night so we can try Remy!

I have a few questions about the nursery:
1. My oldest would likely try to climb out of the cribs. Do they have cots for naps?
2. Do they allow comfort items for the little ones, like stuffed animals?
3. I've read that the nursery staff will call if your child is crying. Do they give your child a chance to acclimate before calling? My 2.5 year old cries most times when he transitions between caregivers, but typically calms down after a few minutes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BCV23]

I can't help with your questions but am giving your thread a before it drops to page 2. Hopefully someone will be along to help you.

 

[otten]

Hi! I'm able to book activities/nursery time tonight, and I am thinking of booking the nursery for several days at naptime so we can have either try out the adult-only pool or take our older son on the aquaduck without having to sacrifice awake time with our little ones (ages 2.5 and 8 months at the time of the cruise). We'd also like to book for one night so we can try Remy!

I have a few questions about the nursery:
1. My oldest would likely try to climb out of the cribs. Do they have cots for naps?
2. Do they allow comfort items for the little ones, like stuffed animals?
3. I've read that the nursery staff will call if your child is crying. Do they give your child a chance to acclimate before calling? My 2.5 year old cries most times when he transitions between caregivers, but typically calms down after a few minutes.

Thanks in advance!

They have cribs in the nursery and little ones can nap there.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I don’t have a certain answer but as someone who works with young children My guess would be they would give children some time to transition, since a lot of children in that age range struggle with stranger anxiety and transitioning. If they didn’t give kids that time to warm up I would be very surprised. I would imagine they wouldn’t allow lovies in cribs, since that can increase the risk of SIDS and would be a huge liability if something did happen. It’s usually against policy in most schools/daycares/centers. They may allow it to snuggle outside the crib though. I would just call and ask to be sure.

I’m sure you’re already thinking about it but you might also consider going to the open house time so your kiddo can have a chance to explore while they have you there. It might help with the transition later.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Question: do your kids go to daycare? If they don’t, they may not be able to nap in a group setting. I know my daughter had a hard time when she transitioned in to daycare at 1.

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

I don’t have a certain answer but as someone who works with young children My guess would be they would give children some time to transition, since a lot of children in that age range struggle with stranger anxiety and transitioning. If they didn’t give kids that time to warm up I would be very surprised. I would imagine they wouldn’t allow lovies in cribs, since that can increase the risk of SIDS and would be a huge liability if something did happen. It’s usually against policy in most schools/daycares/centers. They may allow it to snuggle outside the crib though. I would just call and ask to be sure.

I’m sure you’re already thinking about it but you might also consider going to the open house time so your kiddo can have a chance to explore while they have you there. It might help with the transition later.

Thanks for the SIDS reminder - I'm mainly asking for my 2.5 yo who loves sleeping with his Olaf and Mickey, but I know that a lot of daycares make rules to ensure that the youngest kids stay safe. I'm paranoid about SIDS at home, so the baby doesn't sleep with anything in her crib!

We definitely plan to do the open house to get them acclimated!

 

[Philharmagicfamily]

Question: do your kids go to daycare? If they don’t, they may not be able to nap in a group setting. I know my daughter had a hard time when she transitioned in to daycare at 1.

That's a really good point. They're at home with a nanny, so it might be difficult for them to nap in the nursery. At least we have a balcony so that if we have to stay in the room while they nap it won't be that bad!

 

[AZMermaid]

My kids were 2.5 and 17 months when we used the nursery (it was amazing). Neither would sleep there, too much going on! But, my kids also would never ever stroller nap after 6ish months. I remember two hours of walking earned us a 30 minute nap one year at Disneyland . So.... they were not easy sleepers. Honestly, napping in the room wasn’t much easier for us, especially for the older one. I should have chilled out and just skipped the darn nap (despite that he napped every day at home or daycare until he was 4.5). So, I’d say, by all means drop them off to do the things you want to do. Just know the nap might not happen, especially for the older one!

 

[hpsalb]

They will try to settle them before calling you.

We’ve only sent one of ours to the nursery during nap and he was in a crib but still sleeping in a crib on a regular basis anyway. Our challenge was he didn’t want to nap with everything going on. They had a quiet time when lots of them did go down for a nap and he finally slept, but it was much later than he would have normally napped.

 

[hnthomps]

That's a really good point. They're at home with a nanny, so it might be difficult for them to nap in the nursery. At least we have a balcony so that if we have to stay in the room while they nap it won't be that bad!

This is what we thought too. It didn't always work out -- there aren't a ton of places to put the pack n play, and it won't fit on the far side of the curtain from the balcony, where the master bed is. At least we couldn't make it work in a family verandah room on the Fantasy with a 2 year old. We could only spend nap time on the balcony if the parent who was staying in the stateroom went to the balcony before the kid was asleep and the other parent put the kid down and pulled the curtains and left the room with the older kid. This wasn't always worth it. Was easier at night without the bright beautiful sunlight, but still...not easy. Which is not to say it can't be done, just don't count on it working seamlessly. As with most things, depends on your kid!

Our toddler slept...some...in the nursery. It was enough in a pinch, and we were comfortable leaving her, but we didn't do it regularly or plan on it as an everyday thing. My memory is that everyone slept in little cribs, but there may have been some cots for the bigger kids.

And yes, they allow comfort items in age-appropriate ways.

 

[AZMermaid]

Agree with above! We had two nappers like you will. One was in the sofa bed with the rail, one in the pack and play. We put the coffee table on the verandah. I think If we had had a family verandah we wouldn’t have needed to do that. It’s also possible the CM may have taken it out for us, but we didn’t ask. You can not walk from the door/bed area to the verandah without squeezing past/bumping pack and play.

 

[gotomu212]

Hi! I'm able to book activities/nursery time tonight, and I am thinking of booking the nursery for several days at naptime so we can have either try out the adult-only pool or take our older son on the aquaduck without having to sacrifice awake time with our little ones (ages 2.5 and 8 months at the time of the cruise). We'd also like to book for one night so we can try Remy!

I have a few questions about the nursery:
1. My oldest would likely try to climb out of the cribs. Do they have cots for naps?
2. Do they allow comfort items for the little ones, like stuffed animals?
3. I've read that the nursery staff will call if your child is crying. Do they give your child a chance to acclimate before calling? My 2.5 year old cries most times when he transitions between caregivers, but typically calms down after a few minutes.

Thanks in advance!

1. Some of this varies a little by ship. One of the ships had a small daycare like cot my daughter could use by request and one just had deep cribs (I’m sorry I can’t remember which). They do had a staff member sitting by the nap room, or in an open area with a direct view so they would see if your toddler woke and tried to escape his crib.
2. They do allow blankets and comfy items, but they did put the stuffed animals up until nap time in our experience (so the other kids wouldn’t wrestle Mickey away).
3. Our experience based off what we were told by the nursery- they will text you if they cannot get your child to settle in 15 minutes (or anytime your kid cries for more than 15 straight minutes). Although that doesn’t necessarily mean they need you to come, it was just a notice. They would text a different message that said please come to the nursery if they felt like your child was miserable and not going to calm down. We have one that acts like every drop off is a wartime parting but she was always fine 5-10 minutes later.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

They texted as a heads up when dd got up from her nap and was distressed (not calming down after efforts). They left it very much up to us whether we wanted to get her (and no guilt attached). I think we picked her up early but by no means rushed down there.

 

[MomOTwins]

We had a little guy who was a pro at day care but could not handle the nursery on the ship: just too scary being separated from mom and dad in a strange place I think. We tried nap time and non nap time. I think all you can do is give it a try, keep an eye on your wave phone and hope for the best but be prepared that the nursery might not work. Even if it doesn't pan out, you and your spouse can take turns in the stateroom for naps while the other goes to adult pool or aquaduck with the older child.

I would definitely NOT book Remy. That is a 3 hour experience and quite expensive if you have to leave early, so without knowing if your kids can handle it, I think it is too much of a gamble.

 

[tutumomickey]

My daughter almost cancelled her nursery time for her one year old twins because one cried incessantly even with left with certain family members. They decided to give it a try and returned 2 hours later to find the easy going one sleeping in a cast members arms and the fussy one happily playing with another cast member. These care givers are pros that know all the tricks. I would not hesitate to give it a try. You can always visit during open house the first day with the children and see how they react. The cast members can also answer your specific questions then.