Forcing my child to sleep?

[cfred]

Yep, I'm with all the other providers. Kids that age need sleep...period. I've been in daycare for 20 yrs, including my college placements. I've yet to meet a child in this age bracket who doesn't require a nap in the afternoons. I never force children to sleep either, but they must lay quietly and relax. They ALWAYS fall asleep. I've had different parents demand that I stop naps because the child won't go down at night properly. I've tried to cater to that in the past. Never again! The child was miserable....so tired, unable to cope, ultra sensitive. It was dreadful. Basically, the issues surrounding bedtime at home are not my concern. As Judy said earlier, over tiredness is often a reason kids don't sleep well at night. There are a number of different factors that could come into play including who is putting the child to bed. Here at daycare, my kids always go down easily and are asleep within minutes....and this includes numerous overnights I've done for clients. Totally different story at home with Mom and Dad! This is not a sleep issue....it's a pushing boundaries issue. The child still needs sleep. In fact, we were taught in ECE training that REGARDLESS of what the parents want, the child is always to be afforded the opportunity to sleep. There was no room for compromise according to my professors.

And you know...at the risk of sounding completely selfish....as much as I love all the little darlings, 12 hours is a very long day. Really, if it's not too much to ask, I kinda need a little break or I'm going to be rocking in the corner singing nursery rhymes to myself by the end of the week.....just sayin'.