California Nap Time Laws

[Heidi]

My son, who is almost three, started preschool this past summer. In the 6 months he has attended this school, his nighttime sleep routine has been destroyed.

We start the nighttime routine at 7 pm with getting jammies on, turning down the lights and perhaps watching a quiet show or doing some other relaxing, quiet activity. at 7:30 pm we brush teeth and wash up. Then its reading time and lights out by 8 pm. What happens next is a battle, with Kieran doing everything he can to stay awake and fight sleep. Last night he did not fall asleep until 9:45 pm. We still have to rock him to sleep because no matter what we did when he was younger, he did developed the ability to self-soothe, just like his older brother...but, i digress.

the preschool schedule is this. open at 7 am. Children can bring their breakfast and eat at school from 7 am to 8 am. 8 am to 9:30 is play time. 9:30 to 10 is wind down and get ready to learn time. 10 am to 1130: is education time. 11:30 am to 12 pm is lunch...nap time is supposed to be 12 pm to 2 pm, however, what happens is this: the children lay down at noon, but the director/teachers do not start their "clock" for nap time until the last fidgety child settles down. What tis means is when I pick up my son at 4 pm, he has to be woken up so he can come home. all the other children remain laying down until who knows when. The have my son laying down for over 4 hours. its no wonder he doesn't sleep!

The director feels she is operating within the scope of the law, but I feel it is bordering on abuse/neglect by failing to recognize how this effects the kid's sleep schedule at night, and its also taking advantage of the parents by charging them $175 a week for 1.5 hours of educating, 2-4 hours of play time depending on when they arrive/leave, and a whole lot of sleep/quiet time. I feel she is ripping off the parents and harming the children.

Unfortunately, all of the schools in the area that will take a child who is not completely potty trained are full, so we are stuck until there is an opening. If I were to report the director for this problem, who would I report to, and where would I go to do it? it is not fair to my son to start his nighttime sleep by getting in trouble, nor is it fair to start his day grumpy because he did not get the rest he needs.

On weekends, he has free napping...we do not put him down for a nap. If he is tired, he sleeps and we let him sleep as long as he needs. There are rarely problems getting him to sleep wen he does not go down for a scheduled nap at home on the weekends...

( sorry for the novel, )

I see what you're saying, really. But, can you imagine a room full of children, half of whom have been awaken against their will?

Many of my children nap 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day until Kindergarten. But, we live in a rural area, where getting up at 6 or 6:30 in order for parents to get them fed, dressed, to daycare, and themselves to work by 8. They also spend lots of time outdoors with their parents at night; tending to animals, working in the yard, or playing. By the time dinner, baths, and stories are done, it's 8:00. So, They are only sleeping 10 hours at night, and a 3 hour nap is essential.

I have had the occasional 4 year old who doesn't nap all of nap time. They usually stay on their mat (or nearby) and get a "nap basket" of toys and books. I guess the problem with an almost 3 is that they don't yet have any self control. They don't just play quietly while their friends nap. Most will raise their voice, want to move around, pester the caregiver, and generally make it tough for everyone else to sleep.

Maybe you could get him up a little earlier in the am, and start the bedtime routine a little later at night. Also, any electronics right before bed may be sabatoging your efforts. Even a "quiet show" send tons of info to that brain of his. It might just be too stimulating.

[proudmommyofthree]

I had a parent who wanted me to wake their child up after only napping for an hour because she stated her child would not go to bed at night, because she slept too long here (2 hours). My licencor happened to stop by on a visit when this parent requested me waking her child up. So I asked my licencor and she stated that I was not allowed to wake the child up because of the child's personal rights.

I still woke everyone up at 2:45 since I had to pick up school agers. So my impression was that I was not allowed to wake her up if she fell asleep when the rest of the children fell asleep during nap time, but I can wake them up when nap time was over. Hope that makes sense.

[Katierue]

I absolutely understand the concern of the OP.

However, it is my belief that to wake a child or to limit their sleep is to do them harm. (I would refer to the NAEYC Code of Ethics for support on this view.)

My program is very busy and active, and we don't usually have an issue with students needing the rest time. When a parent asks me to limit sleep, I tell them that everyone lays down for an hour. If a child is not yet asleep and ready to wake after an hour, they may get up and play quietly. However, if a child is asleep, I would not wake them. Now, it is hard to keep sleeping once the rest of the group is awake, even with a separate nap room. (I have had one student that I would wake, usually just by starting to clean up the nap space, because he would take 3 or 4 hour naps- once he was asleep, he would just keep sleeping. I believe that a two hour nap is usually good, and could see how a 3 or 4 hour nap was probably more than needed and would interfere with night sleep.)

If a parent asks me to limit their child's nap, I tell them that we can discuss options. Can the child forego a nap altogether? Depending on the child's age, I will give this a trial run. If I see that the child is exhausted and unable to have a nice afternoon because of lack of sleep, I will tell the parent that unfortunately I can not honor their request to keep their child awake.

Also, I find that parents are quick to ask me to limit the child's nap, without taking steps at home to remedy the situation. Is the child getting riled up close to bedtime? When did they eat and are they eating sugar at night? What time are they waking up? I would also go through the home routine with a parent, and work on that schedule as well, before agreeing to limit a child's sleep.

Also, it is very clear in my paperwork that our program includes rest time. That is our policy, and families are aware of this at enrollment. It may be that a family needs to find a programs that is more suited to their needs, rather than asking a program to change their clearly stated routines and policies.

[Unregistered]

Regulations where I live (Wi) require to permit children to get up and allow quiet activities to children who don't fall asleep after 1/2 hour or wake early. That's the extreme the other way.

My friend's child has never napped at his group center because he doesn't fall asleep in that time frame and is up running around in the large motor area with one other child even at 18 mo.

[Unregistered]

Answer

I know it's years later from the OP but just in case anyone wants to know, the reason the preschool teachers talk about not waking the children is because we legally are not allowed to make your child do something that they don't want to do. If your child is sleeping, they probably need it. I have children that stay awake the whole time because they don't need it. Forcing a child to wake up, though, is not legal and if licensing came in while a teacher was waking your child up the teacher could be sited for violating a child's rights. That's what it would say on the violation that had to go out to all the parents and new members--not "waking a child" but "violating a child's rights". That's why we don't wake children.

[Unregistered]

Having worked in centers (not California) we did not let the kids up between 1 and 3 pm because of ratios. Kids were required to lay on their mats the entire time quietly. Eventually they would normally fall asleep out of boredom.
You need less adults caring for kids during nap time than other times of the day so during nap is when the teachers leave the building to get lunch and take their breaks. I always thought this was kinda dumb myself. In the event of a fire or emergency it is going to take the people still in the building much longer to actually wake up sleeping children and move them outside safely.

[Play Care]

Having worked in centers (not California) we did not let the kids up between 1 and 3 pm because of ratios. Kids were required to lay on their mats the entire time quietly. Eventually they would normally fall asleep out of boredom.
You need less adults caring for kids during nap time than other times of the day so during nap is when the teachers leave the building to get lunch and take their breaks. I always thought this was kinda dumb myself. In the event of a fire or emergency it is going to take the people still in the building much longer to actually wake up sleeping children and move them outside safely.

This is not the case in every State. In mine we were told that ratios are to be maintained no matter what the kids are doing.

I realize this is an old thread but I am dealing with a similar situation. I have a 3 1/2 yo DCB who is the first asleep and last awake every day. I've tried using gentle wake up techniques (pulling up the shades, turning off the fans, gently shaking his shoulder, etc) but it doesn't work. He is OUT. It's to the point where I have no choice but to take his mat, pillow and blanket away from him while he's half asleep. it's the only way he gets up and moving.

I think the issue is the parents still allow him to get up during the night, so he doesn't get good night sleep, then he tries to make it up here. But we have things to do and as it gets nicer out its not fair to the other kids to have to stay in because of he won't/can't wake up. And yes, I've talked to mom about it.

That said, if nap time is 12-2 then I do think having kids routinely still sleeping b 3-4 is off. In my state a child who is not asleep after a half hour must be allowed up and given something to do. Kids who no longer nap are not supposed to be laid down at all. Now, I'm clear that I can not take non-napping kids, so I usually don't have issues with parents over that. I get it, I love nap time too

[Blackcat31]

I know it's years later from the OP but just in case anyone wants to know, the reason the preschool teachers talk about not waking the children is because we legally are not allowed to make your child do something that they don't want to do. If your child is sleeping, they probably need it. I have children that stay awake the whole time because they don't need it. Forcing a child to wake up, though, is not legal and if licensing came in while a teacher was waking your child up the teacher could be sited for violating a child's rights. That's what it would say on the violation that had to go out to all the parents and new members--not "waking a child" but "violating a child's rights". That's why we don't wake children.

I'd like to see the written law that says this please.

Can you link to your regulations where it says that?

[sharlan]

I'd like to see the written law that says this please.

Can you link to your regulations where it says that?

It's not written. I've been "told" in a meeting with licensing that we "aren't to do anything to hurt a child's feelings". No where is it written. Most of what people come up with is embellished word of mouth. It's just like the old telephone came.

[Blackcat31]

It's not written. I've been "told" in a meeting with licensing that we "aren't to do anything to hurt a child's feelings". No where is it written. Most of what people come up with is embellished word of mouth. It's just like the old telephone came.

Being told something and saying something is legal or illegal is completely different.

I totally understand licensing agents/reps/analysts saying what they think or feel but if its not written as a rule, I'd push back and would never accept someone's word without that written back up.

[Thriftylady]

It's not written. I've been "told" in a meeting with licensing that we "aren't to do anything to hurt a child's feelings". No where is it written. Most of what people come up with is embellished word of mouth. It's just like the old telephone came.

Well if that was the rule, I have had kids I wouldn't have been allowed to look at.

[daycare]

I have been told so many different things.

My County rep tells me that the kids need to be able to function as a group so that supervision is provided to all of the children. So my kids have to all get up when it's time to get up. Its just like any other time of the day.

lunch is from 12-1230, I will give you another 5-10 minutes to finish your food, but when lunch is done it's done and we all move on.

We run our daily routine, if a child can not participate as normal, we send them home. It states clearly in our County CDC, if a child is not able to participate as normal they go home.

So if I woke a child up and they could not function, move on with the rest of the group, I would call the parent to come pick up. Hey not my fault if you left your child up until midnight and they needed a 4 hour nap instead of 2.

[Unregistered]

California Licensing considers it a violation of Personal Rights

If you read the "Personal Rights" that all parents sign when enrolling in a licensed day care facility in California (whether home or center), waking ANY sleeping child is considered a violation as it interferes with a daily living function. I have seen centers get written up for this.

"To be free from corporal or unusual punishment, infliction of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule, coercion,
threat, mental abuse, or other actions of a punitive nature, including but not limited to: interference with daily
living functions, including eating, sleeping, or toileting; or withholding of shelter, clothing, medication or aids to
physical functioning."

There is nothing that prevents the center from allowing a child to who is not sleeping after a certain time to get up (that is the center's choice), but once a child is asleep, they cannot wake that child. After the designated "Rest Time" they can turn on the lights and provide typical services for the remaining children which will generally wake other children up, but they cannot physically wake up individual children.

[Unregistered]

After being home during holiday for the past week my daughter is finally sleeping through the night. She takes a 30-60 minute nap during the day, usually in the car while running errands. Napping at home is impossible but she needs at least 30 minutes. At school, also kindercare she is sleeping for two hours and then up every night at 2:30. The teachers will have the other kids wake up a student still sleeping past nap time, their way around the not being allowed to wake up the children so that's good. Now, I'm wondering if they can keep a child awake for the first hour with quiet activity then let them sleep for the last hour. They would still be providing quiet time and I would still get to sleep through the night. As for home routine, dinner is between 5:30-6, bath routine starts at 7 then quiet play time or snuggles. Bed at 9.

[flying_babyb]

nap time here is 12-230. If the kids are not awake at 230 I flip on the lights, pull back blankets to there feet and turn off the music. Usually by the middle of snack, there all up! I have one child who rests a half hour then gets to get up and go to the main room and watch a movie. He calls it "going on break with teacher" because when all my darlings are sleeping its break time for me. Some days he chooses to sleep, others he goes on break.