More NAPS - vent

[Mamma_Mia]

I boggles my mind how some parents think when it comes to naps.
It is *SO* important for your child to be well rested. You can't always go 'by the books' some kids at 18mos still need 2 naps and some at 3yrs 2mos still need a NAP. When your child goes to bed at 8:30pm, arrives here at 7:30am still sleeping, sleep until 10am and is still in a crying cranky mood and crying over everything PLUS yawning constantly....SHE NEEDS A DAILY NAP!

Maybe if you focused on more important things like removing her 'suckie' rather than removing her nap.

[Crayola kiddies]

OMG same here!!!!! I have one that's 3 and comes in with his big boy napsac .... Guess what he carries in it ???? 5 soothers!!!! And they think he's out grown his nap !!! Pfft not at my house he hasn't!!!!! Maybe focus on beginning to toilet train instead !!! I feel your pain

[michellesmunchkins]

Absolutely agree with both you ladies!!!!!! It seems that priorities have become a little clouded when it comes to raising children nowadays!

[Inspired by Reggio]

LMAO ~ I am in my 40's and I still NEED a nap

I think if parents realized that 98% of the 'behavior' that drives them nuts day in and day out can be contributed to lack of SLEEP they might be more invested in protecting the nap!

I will share a story ... I had a lady call me when I first opened up looking for 'immediate' care for her 3 year old child .... she openly admitted that she was at her wits end finding a childcare program that would work because the little girl was unruly and had the most horrific angry tantrums and was spitting / hitting at both the current provider and at the parents in the evening and this was like her SIXTH childcare she was currently in ... and well the current provider was not 'coping' with her and had to keep calling to send the kid home .... during the course of the conversation the FIRST place I went was 'talk to me about her sleeping patterns' .... kid had outgrown her nap at 20 months and none of the previous providers 'required' quiet time for ALL the kids so she would refuse to lay down cause the other older were up and than they were lucky if they could get her into bed by 10:30 pm and she was up at 6:30am cause mom worked at 7:30... 8 hours sleep from 20 months forward .... all brain and development research shows that children this age still need 12-14 hours sleep :roll:

So anyway ... I agreed to meet with them under the understand that A) at my house she would be RESTING it is not an option and if she SLEEPS than it is because she needs it and B) that they agreed to keep all discipline the same between home for any inappropriate behavior!

I had that child for THREE YEARS and not once did she ever behave aggressively in my program ~ from day one until she graduated to grade one full time she NAPPED here everyday for 2-3 hours and within the end of the first week of starting she was going to bed at home by 8pm without challenge for mom or dad because we bumped her 'routine' back 30 minutes each night until she was starting to wean down by 7pm with a snack, a bath, reading and lights out for 7:45 ... now they had some 'learned behavior' challenges at home still in the way of she continued to do that whining/crying to get her way if she got a 'no' to something however the full out 'aggressive tantrums' of the spitting and hitting stopped at home that first week .... and the only thing we changed was more sleep begets more sleep for her ... she was getting 2-3 hour nap plus 10 hours sleep at night for a total of 12-13 hours sleep .... we never really had to deal with the 'consistent' discipline between home and program because once she was 'rested' she was way more resilient to not getting instant gratification

Poor thing though ~ school full time has not been easy on her because she still NEEDS 12 plus hours sleep and with extra curricular activities she cannot allows be in bed by 6 pm in order to get it and she cannot 'nap' at school to get in extra time there!

[dodge__driver11]

My son does not nap anymore, he will be 4 in sept, but that said...We start his bed time routine @ 7pm and he is asleep by 7:30, and wakes between 6:50-8:00 daily.

He has a very low key evening Doing puzzles, drawing, and a bath until 7, then a story is read...he tells me about his day, what he liked and stuff-- has his glass of water...and is asleep about 15 mins after I've (or my husband) left the room.

[sunnydays]

It drives me nuts when people think their kids have outgrown their naps at the age of 2 or younger (unless they are sleeping 12-14 hour nights)! My son is 4 and still sleeps half the time at naptime and a good 11-12 hours at night. I know all kids are different, but sleep is about establishing a pattern and a routine and letting your body rest...if you lie down and rest and can't fall asleep, then maybe you are not tired, but otherwise, everyone sleeps at my house!

[apples and bananas]

my son is 5 1/2 and throughout the school year he came home and gave himself a nap. And he went to bed at 8pm, up at 6:30 to get ready for school. Everyone could get some use out of a nap I think. I dosed off for 20 min on the couch just this afternoon.

[Toregone]

Just to play devils advocate... my son is almost 3 and has almost fully outgrown his naps. Every day he does about 2 hours of rest time and he is quiet and laying down for that (looking at books, watching a movie) but it is rare that he does actually sleep. He goes to bed at 8:30 most nights (sometimes stretched later) and wakes up whenever he feels like it in the morning which is usually around 8:30. Perhaps if he wasn't given the chance to sleep in he might still nap.

But I also have a almost 3 year old girl whose other provider terminated because the parents wanted her to stop napping or shorten naps to an hour. I tried this for about a week and she was still so tired and groggy I decided to let her sleep until whenever. Sometimes she wakes herself up before an hour, sometimes she sleeps for over 2. I never told her mom this and when I ask how dcg slept last night I hear "oh so great, she went right down! It's been amazing since we switched here".

Sometimes what parents don't know doesn't hurt them

[Momof4]

One of my grandsons outgrew his nap at 1 year of age. However, I agree that 99% of children need their naps and I protect their sleep as part of my job. Naptime/Quiet time is non-negotiable. I don't tell parents if children sleep longer than they want them to sleep. Just say, yes your little one had a good nap today and forget it. Your rules - your daycare and the children's bodies adjust to our daily routines.

[Mamma_Mia]

yup! mom thinks she has a 30min nap here meanwhile its more like 2hrs. And I'm not forcing her to sleep! She eats and says "nap time" runs for her bunny and waits at the stairs for me. I lay her down and she doesn't make a peep! She's tired!

If she was up or fighting me to nap then I would agree with mom but not in this case! I know each child is different and I would "feel it out" but this child was crankier than a hungry 4 month old! Not cool

Additional info:
Mom at PU mentions that dcg has been VERY clingy lately. I gave her my honest opinion. I said A) she's tired, you're changing her routines and kids don't like change. B) you're pregnant, everyone is talking about the baby coming but are YOU talking to HER about the new baby? Don't make her feel like a third wheel C) because of being pregnant you're not carrying her or playing on the floor etc. its a LOT of change all in one time for her.