In the words of parents who shared this worry
“And I needed to be able to depend on other people, babysitters, my husband.”
“And now what that means is my wife and I, we can go on a date in the evening, and we can get a babysitter. We can get her mom. We can get my brother.”
“Somebody else can put him down, and that’s happened, and he just goes to sleep.”
“I still messaged her with some questions and, you know, if he’s sick or, you know, something got messed up at day care.”
“All of Ola’s grandparents are like, we can’t believe this is the same baby from two weeks ago.”
“We are prepared for anything such as sleep regression and sickness and travel.”
Why parents fear daycare will undo the progress
When your baby naps at daycare, spends the day with a grandparent or is put down by a babysitter, you aren’t in charge of every sleep. It makes sense to worry that a plan you follow at home will collapse as soon as someone else takes over.
The parents in this video worried about exactly that. They now describe babies who settle for a babysitter, a grandparent or the other parent just the way they do at home.
How we plan around other caregivers
Dr. Sam builds the plan around the week you actually live: daycare hours and the naps that happen there, the days a grandparent or nanny looks after your baby, and when you travel. It’s written so anyone putting your baby down can follow it. Our bootcamp-style coaching before night one gets you ready to hand it off, and daily 1:1 check-ins adjust things when daycare naps don’t go to plan. We keep coaching naps until they are solid.
For one family, a grandmother gave them their sleep training as a gift. Another family describes grandparents who couldn’t believe it was the same baby two weeks on. In these homes, other caregivers became part of the Actually Sleeping plan instead of a risk to it.
More from our client families
All 129 client video reviews are on the reviews page. For daycare naps in particular, read daycare naps and sleep training. Before you book, you can also check that the company is legit.
During your free consultation, let us know who looks after your baby and when, and we’ll write the plan around it.
Ready to solve this for your own baby?
With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your specific baby, we coach you bootcamp-style before the first night, and we check in daily until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our guarantee in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.
Common questions
What if naps at daycare are handled differently than at home?
Dr. Sam builds the plan around your baby’s real daycare schedule, and daily 1:1 check-ins tweak it when daycare naps go differently. In this video, parents describe sleep that held up with daycare, babysitters and grandparents.
Can a grandparent or babysitter put my baby to bed?
Yes. We write the plan so anyone putting your baby down can follow it. In this video, one dad explains that a babysitter, a grandparent or his brother can now look after their son, and he simply falls asleep.
Will it hold up when we travel?
Families in the reviews describe sleep staying on track during trips, long road trips included. Coaching before night one gets you ready for travel, and daily 1:1 check-ins help you plan around it.