This parent is driving me crazy! Am I wrong here??

[MommaL]

I do things differently. If a parent of a 2, 3 or 4 year old requests a shorter nap (or no nap), I will accommodate that, at least initially. I know from experience with my own son that it can become a vicious cycle for some children. If they sleep too much during the day, don't fall asleep until too late at night and are up early the next morning, then of course they are going to need a nap by the afternoon. However, for some children, if they don't nap and go to bed at a reasonable time, they wake up happily in the morning and do just fine during the day. So when a parent asks for a shorter nap because the child isn't sleeping well at night, I tell them that I will try it for one week. If during that week, I see that the child can make it through the day without the nap and is doing really well, then that's great. The nap is gone! However, if the child is still going to bed late at night and/or is tired and grumpy during the day, then there must be another reason for the child not sleeping well at night. This all being said, I live in a province that has half-day kindergarten at age 5 (and no pre-K) and also requires school-aged children in our max numbers. It's common to have older children in my care who are not napping, so to add one more in the mix if a parent requests it isn't a big deal. It would likely be different if I only had 1-3 year olds in my care and I was accustomed to having everyone nap for 2-3 hours in the afternoon.