There's no such thing as "daycare sleep"

Babies need their moms so intensely the first 3 years of life. I am so thankful that I have been able to be home raising our 4 babies. We always prioritize naps.

Daycare is not a natural thing, but neither is public school, but no one wants to have that conversation. Keep your babies at home, and raise your children yourself. Teach them. Love them.

My mother had a home daycare when I was growing up. She kept 6 to 8 children from infant to 4 years old. She had an amazing routine and loved those children like her own. She managed to get every one of them to sleep from 1 to 3 each afternoon. Maybe the key was the routine and the fact that they felt loved and safe. The moms would remark that the kids slept better for her than at home. I realize my mom was a rare gem. I hope they knew how blessed they were.

When you said 17 weeks, my heart broke. It’s so sad that generations of women have been sold a lie.

Being a mother is a God given role.

I worked in a daycare and the babies room was the saddest room. There were 2 workers and around 10 babies. One basically just changed diapers. They had to change the babies every so many minutes. Pretty much by the time she finished it was time to start over. They kept a chart. The other worker would give the babies their bottles. One after the other. If the babies weren't being fed or changed they were put in swings to nap. It was so so sad. After my experience in that daycare I knew that I could never ever put my kids in daycare. I will live in a smaller house and drive older cars if it means I csn stay home with my babies. I myself had a SAHM and I consider it one of the best blessings of my life. I'm so thankful that she did that for my siblings and me.

I see too many women wanting kids but have no idea what a mother is and how to be a mother

Our neighbors have asked us several times to watch their dog when they are out of town.That poor dog refuses to eat for days until the owners come home. The second he sees them, he starts chowing down on like 3 bowls of food at once. He's so relieved his owners are home, he can relax and eat. This is a dog I'm talking about. Imagine how a child feels when you abandon him at a strange place everyday.

So glad you are speaking out on this. I'm so tired of the narrative that is out there that wanting to raise your own kids at home is weird. How did we get to this point in society?

Sleep is one of the reasons why I homeschool my children. I know lots of school age children who are also sleep deprived. Our society is not set up in the best interests of families or children.

As a new stay home mom I just want to thank you, I find so much reassurance in your videos and am reminded why my husband and I chose this path for our family.

I worked at a daycare when I was 17 with hardly any education, only the basic basics from my high school psychology class. I was usually put in the baby room, which I had to take care of 5 babies at once, ages from 3 months to a year (and which babies I had switched every day). I had to go around the room and deal with each crying baby one at a time. I was left by myself with no experience and I begged for training or anything (the owner brushed off btw). I was taught how to change their diapers and how often to feed them and that's it. One 5 month old would cry all the time to be held, which the other staff members called him spoiled and bad. I tried to just bring all the babies to the carpet and take turns playing with them. It was against regulations to let the babies sleep in swings but they wouldn't sleep in the cribs so I let them anyway. I didn't even know they were supposed to get that much sleep in a day. I had to quit after a month or two because I felt so guilty the children had such awful care. I sat in on the 2 year old room twice and that lady literally yelled at them all day. I asked her about it and she said it was the only way they'd listen. She kept yelling at them to pick up the room, and out of 15 kids only 1 kid did. Which I asked them if they even knew what that meant and they said no. I tried to stay as long as I could at that daycare because even though I didn't know what to do I was at least gentle and kind to the kids. But now having my own son I realize even more how bad it was for them. My heart breaks for those children.

I worked at multiple daycares. There were always babies crying and infants waking each other up. The ratio was 1 worker to 5 babies.

I am currently working in the mental health profession (admittedly still somewhat green) and some trends I am observing in my client population are: A) Parents are not always well informed about what it means to have kids and/or they aren't prepared to transition into the responsibilities of parenting. I.e. Life stops being about them and becomes about the children - they struggle to refocus. They have a litter of kids and are like "wow! this is hard and exhausting!" ... did no one tell them? B) People are not well prepared for relationships and families. When asked, many of my couples/parents have no long-term vision or plan for their family unit, and have never thought about it. "What values/goals/aspirations do you have for your children now and into the future?" - "I dunno. What ever works". "What does being married mean to you?" - "It is just something that ya do, I guess". I bring this up, mostly to vent, but also because parents not questioning or knowing what their own children need, and not being taught how to consider these things, is concerning. That's just my 2c

"I'm not willing to throw children especially babies under the bus so that no one gets their feelings hurt" ❤

I have been in social work for 14 years. It has been my experience that children sleep where they feel safe and loved. It always broke my heart to see infants go to daycare. They simply do not get the cuddling and nurturing that they need in that environment. I adjusted my work schedule to care for my granddaughter because her parents had to work and it meant more to me to earn less for 3 years to make sure she had the same start as my son, her dad. Young mothers are clueless. Her mom continues to think daycare is better than being home with a family member. I am college educated with a background in early childhood education as well but she refused to listen to me. My granddaughter is now in daycare 3 months shy of her 3rd birthday. She has developed a chronic runny nose, restless sleep that is broken with her screaming for her mom. But her mother has been determined to keep her there. My heart aches for her daily because daycare was not needed for her. I am a qualified, viable option.

I have 4 children. When my oldest was about a month old, his mother had to stay in the hospital for a day and a half. He was so upset he refused to feed for hours. And wouldn't sleep during that time, and cried for the entirety of that time until he was horse. Fortunately his mother came home fairly soon. There is no way to no know for certain how detrimental childcare would be.

Thank you Suzanne for saying all this. When I stayed home with my children in the 90s people would look at me like I had three heads when I said I didn’t go to work so I can be home with my children. I always knew it was best for them even though we drove old cars and lived in a two family house for the first few years.

I held my first born for every nap and as she got older, I laid with her the entire time. It was the only way she'd nap deeply. I cherished every moment. She's a teen now and we're very close. I couldnt hold my 2nd child nearly as much, but he napped well. I would rock and sing him to sleep and then put him down.

When I was a new mom, a woman in the church nursing room recommended that I use the 2-3-4 schedule for sleep. Two hours after waking up, first nap. Three hours after first nap, second nap. Four hours after the second nap, bedtime. It was seriously wonderful advice.