Afternoon care

I have an 11 month old that comes full days three days a week and only afternoons two days a week.

At the moment, it's just him, me and my son. I am adding people in slowly to make the adjustment easier on everyone. My son sleeps from 10-12 and 1:30-3:0. I will expect every child in my care to have the afternoon nap. Only the younger ones who need it will have the morning nap. My question is: is it OK to expect the little boy to have an afternoon nap when he is only here for the afternoon? His dad didn't bring him till 2 today, luckily my son wasn't napping yet (the little boy still screams for a bit when he gets here). Yesterday I requested (they supplied a note book for communication) that when he is not here full days, as well as the weekend, that they follow the schedule he'll be expected to follow here. I texted his father and asked when he'd woken from his last nap and he said he slept for an hour from 12:15 - 1:15.

I'm a little frustrated to begin with bc this boy has no schedule at home and he gets here and SCREAMS his face off. I know it's going to take time, but I need help from the parents. So I'm a little perturbed that he didn't get his nap from 10-12. That he gave him a nap in the middle of the day.

So, is it right for me to expect them to follow my schedule at home and is it right to expect him to have an afternoon nap? I'm thinking of asking them to bring him here for 12:30, regardless of what time his father is going to work so it doesn't disrupt the flow. Again, right now it's just the three of us, but when the new kids come along, I will expect him to be included in everything.

Any advice would be helpful.

Your business, your rules hon!

I would nip this in the bud early with an honest ... my daycare is 'growing' and in order for me to be able to offer a successful program to ALL I need them on the same schedule for naps / meals and so forth because it is impossible to keep awake children quiet enough to allow sleeping children the nap they need. If they cannot RESPECT that and work with you than perhaps this is not the ideal solution and they should seek a program that either does not have nappers in the afternoon or has a program set up that can manage both awake and sleeping children - aka more than ONE adult so that awake children can be taken somewhere else so as to not disturb the sleepers!

I personally would not DO a half day afternoon with an any age group though for this very reason ... cannot trust the clients to keep the schedule and hate dealing with conflict and results of those who do not so just 'easier' for me to avoid it by not offering that service at all ... I do not do part time care with infants only full time and my half day program is MORNINGS only!

Pretty much as what Reggio has said. Your Rules, your business!

You set what the routine is for the day. If they don't like it, they can leave!

What I tell my parents when they first start, their child is down for nap/quiet time from 1 - 3:30 p.m. EVERYDAY. NO EXCUSES.

I don't allow pick up/ drop off during quiet time... And I would tell the parent that nap time at your house is xxxxx o'clock .....and by allowing him to have a nap right before he was arriving now means he won't be tired at nap time and therefore will be in his bed crying/screaming and disrupting the others while they nap. This let's the parent know that nap time is not optional and their child will be going to bed at your house regardless if he is tired or not and hopefully you can put him where he won't disturb the others.

I don't think I would accept anybody with those hours into my daycare now but I admit that I did when I was new. When you are starting out you have to get a good reputation behind you and you need to build your resume with families who will give you a good recommendation in the future. Sometimes that means you have to give the special treatments and unfortunately it isn't easy.

My naptime/quiet time is non-negotiable because I need some time to regroup in the afternoon before I work for the rest of my long, long day. No matter what age, the child must rest or sleep for 2 hours in the afternoon.

Before a family starts in my care I make sure they know our schedule and can have their child as close to it as possible before starting. I'm willing to nudge our times a bit and be flexible as I can but the other children are already established in our routines so I have my limits.

When you start adding new children to your daycare you will need to have established routines and I find that even the parents who tell me their child never naps on the weekend know my routine so well, busy morning, lunch, quiet time, every day, they get to know what is coming next and their bodies are ready for the afternoon rest.

Totally agree with previous comments... I don't know that this is a termination issue, as yet. But I would be saying "This is our daily routine, and we will be having more children join it, soon. I cannot have your child arriving during naptime/quiet time, wide awake and ready to play. Quiet time is from this time to this time, please ensure that he arrives ready for it."
Don't feel "bad" about him arriving at your house just in time to go to bed, either. That is NOT your problem. If the parents don't like it, it's their deal.