Shannie, all of the children are expected to lay on their beds in the dark at my daycare no matter what their age. I even have my grandson on PD days and he's 5 1/2 and he lays on his bed when all the others lay down. He plays his DS for close to 45 minutes and then puts it down and sleeps for the last hour but he never has naps at school of course. If children know what you expect from them then they will co-operate with you.

You are making the rules and when you say they won't sleep without a show, I'm sorry, but it's up to you to tell them, no show! Lay them down, tell them to relax and close their eyes, make sure it is quite dark (blackout curtains are worth the money) and sit close by to moniter the situation until they learn it's your way with no other option. LUCK!

As far as going outside, we are out about every other day in the winter, sometimes only a day or two. Sometimes we are inside a lot in the summer too due to very high humidity but I try to take the children out really early and get back inside by 10-11am before the UV rays are high.

It's so much easier in the summer without all the winter gear. My contract states that parents must agree that I will use my best judgement to decide if it is safe to take their children outside if wind chill is below -10C or above 35C with humidity. I think you need to tell this dcparent that you are using YOUR best judgement and keeping the children SAFE!