What's you nap time policy?

[playfelt]

There is a big difference between the occasional need to pick up to take a child to an appointment or because the parents has an unexpected day off work and calls ahead. I do ask all of my parents to call ahead and let me know if there will be a change so that I can prepare everyone as children thrive on routine. Going to sleep beside your best friend only to wake and find them gone can be unnerving.

If a parent required routine pick up during naptime I would not sign them on because that is not fair to the child needing to be picked up because they would need to sleep in an area by themselves nor is it fair to the other children to always have me rummaging around in their sleep room getting a child up who may start to cry if they are woke up.

If a child is sleeping then they need the rest and whether the parent is off work or not doesn't matter because if they had kept child at home for the day the child would still be asleep at this hour so there is no loss of interaction time by asking the parent to go home, get changed, start dinner, get the groceries, whatever they want and then come to get the child but come at 3:00 right after nap and take child for a fun snacktime rather than their usual pick up of 4:30.

It isn't about denying a parent the right to have access to their child. It is about not allowing the parent to have access to the other children in the sense of waking them up and them being cranky. Often when you turn it around and say ok just remember that if I let you do this that XXX's mom or dad can do the same thing and then instead of your nicely mannered fun to be with child going home it will be a whiney cranky didn't get a full solid sleep in the afternoon child that I am sending home with you. This is group care and as such we have a responsibility to all of the children and their families to do right by them all and for me that means naptime is sacred and no one disturbs us.