What would you do? (nap issue)

[MsBell]

I simply do the math, if a two year old is here for 10 hours a day, add the hour (min) to get here and home, 11 hours, throw in dinner for an hour, 12hours, that means they only have another 12 hours at home....so there is no way they are getting enough sleep at home unless all they do is eat dinner and get ready to come here in the morning. I have had many parents ask for early doscontinue of naps too, but I also know that a lot of those parents like to get their kids to bed by 730-8 at night. I also believe that an over tired sleep deprived child has a much harder time going to bed at night than one that gets a good healthy much needed 10-12 hours a day/night. So I firmly believe that a child that has trouble going to bed at night is because the bedtime routine is not working, not because they had an hour or two nap after lunch. I am firm on mandatory naps/quiet time too

[bright sparks]

Must Nap, and mandatory nap always makes me giggle. How on earth do you make someone nap lol

I do not have nap time, I have quiet time, that way it is all inclusive regardless. Everyone goes for some quiet time and rest. If a child falls asleep then that is their body naturally getting what it needs...some shut eye. For other kids they may lay down for an hour and be awake but be chilled out and recharging. Don't underestimate the power of down time...not every child needs to sleep during the day contrary to belief but resting is important. Nighttime sleep is different.

If a parent requests that their child doesn't nap, I explain that should their child fall asleep it is out of my control and they obviously need the sleep. If a parent communicates to me that the child is struggling to go to sleep at night, I work collaboratively with them to identify any bedtime routine issues that might be causing problems and will maybe put their child down for an earlier rest time if necessary.

If there is one thing I've learned it is that no matter how much experience one has, every child is different and don't ever think that every child needs to sleep in the day. Yes, the vast majority but not all, there is no way anyone can know that for certain.

[MommaL]

I simply do the math, if a two year old is here for 10 hours a day, add the hour (min) to get here and home, 11 hours, throw in dinner for an hour, 12hours, that means they only have another 12 hours at home....so there is no way they are getting enough sleep at home unless all they do is eat dinner and get ready to come here in the morning. I have had many parents ask for early doscontinue of naps too, but I also know that a lot of those parents like to get their kids to bed by 730-8 at night. I also believe that an over tired sleep deprived child has a much harder time going to bed at night than one that gets a good healthy much needed 10-12 hours a day/night. So I firmly believe that a child that has trouble going to bed at night is because the bedtime routine is not working, not because they had an hour or two nap after lunch. I am firm on mandatory naps/quiet time too

I guess we have to agree to disagree. A child who is wide awake, happy and ready to party for two hours at night because he had a two hour nap in the afternoon is not doing so because the bedtime routine is not working. He's just not tired! Now I'm not talking about an infant or a 1-2 year old. I'm talking about 3-4 year olds (and in some case a child who is 2.5 year old). Again, I use my own son as an example. When he naps, he will not go to sleep until at 10:00 at night and then be miserable in the morning because he's not ready to wake up. Thankfully having my own daycare means that he can sleep in a little longer in the morning. Most parents don't have that luxury. But if my son doesn't have a nap, he's great all day. He's not overtired or grumpy. And when bedtime comes at 8:00 (which I think is a realistic time for kids his age to go to bed), he falls asleep easily. So why wouldn't I want to stick to that schedule?

Sorry, I don't mean to vent. And I do agree that kids still need some down time during the day as well (along with daycare providers). I just think it's really important that we listen to the parents we work with and not just assume that every child is the same when it comes to sleep.