Naptime For The Provider! Can I Take A Nap?

[Breezy]

My infant son was safe and sound in his crib, too.... The provider was in the shower when he died.....

I just don't think I could live with that as a provider. She owns a mirror, too.

Sure, it is a rare thing.... but it does happen. When it does, life will NEVER be the same.

It is a different level of responsibility, caring for someone elses kids.

Please don't think I am coming down on you.... I probably would have felt the same way if it had not happened to me.

so sorry..

[momofboys]

My infant son was safe and sound in his crib, too.... The provider was in the shower when he died.....

I just don't think I could live with that as a provider. She owns a mirror, too.

Sure, it is a rare thing.... but it does happen. When it does, life will NEVER be the same.

It is a different level of responsibility, caring for someone elses kids.

Please don't think I am coming down on you.... I probably would have felt the same way if it had not happened to me.

I am soooo sorry to hear about this! How heartbreaking.

These things do unfortunately happen but couldn't this happen even if you were very watchful?

[Unregistered]

My infant son was safe and sound in his crib, too.... The provider was in the shower when he died.....

I just don't think I could live with that as a provider. She owns a mirror, too.

Sure, it is a rare thing.... but it does happen. When it does, life will NEVER be the same.

It is a different level of responsibility, caring for someone elses kids.

Please don't think I am coming down on you.... I probably would have felt the same way if it had not happened to me.

Wow, I am SO sorry to hear about your son. That puts things in perspective. Thank you for sharing.

[Cat Herder]

I am soooo sorry to hear about this! How heartbreaking.

These things do unfortunately happen but couldn't this happen even if you were very watchful?

Maybe, but would you want to live with that doubt and the whispers all over town?

[Breezy]

With how light of a sleeper I am I guess I don't see the difference between me sitting here listening to the monitor (which I'm doing now) to me dozing off on the couch. I hear every sigh and breath over the monitor. And still check on them a million times.

Usually when my son is sleeping at the same time as daycare baby, she is in the same room as me in her infant sleeper thing.

[Heidi]

Maybe, but would you want to live with that doubt and the whispers all over town?

If something like that happens, you'd beat yourself up enough without the added guilt of KNOWING you were breaking the rules. If it's not against the rules in her state, then it's technically ok, but I would not do it!

[Blackcat31]

I am open 12 hours a day, and some of the children are here all 12 hours. I have a very structured routine, take them outside, teach them everything, potty train them, and bust my behind. No tv. I work very, very hard. It is not laziness, it is human nature to need to get refreshed, so I can work hard until pick up time. If a child is in a PNP, asleep, why not? I have no infants so SIDS is not an issue. IF they crawled out of their PNP, I have everything gated, but that has yet to happen, AND I would wake up, as my couch is 15 feet away from the room where they are sleeping. If I leave their door open I can hear them.

Hun, if you are that tired, I would suggest taking some time off or perhaps shortening your day a bit. I am not trying to be snarky or rude, as I have a plenty of empathy for you as it is difficult to get any downtime in this profession.

However, as Catherder mentioned....there is just too much liability involved when watching other people's children. too many things CAN and do happen, why add more? kwim?

[Unregistered]

I don't think it is terrible. I do my laundry during naptime but then my washing machine & dryer are off to the side of my kitchen in plain sight of the kitchen & play area. But then I only care for 2-3 kids at a time. I am sorry that someone called you lazy. Gee whiz people give her a break. You don't know what sort of sleep she gets at night & I find nothing wrong with taking a 30 min catnap so long as all kids are asleep & are on baby monitors & you are not a heavy sleeper. I personally don't nap but I won't point fingers & say it is terrible or that she is lazy to do so so long as she is responsible about it.

Thank you for assuming that I am not lazy- I actually responded to that person but I see that it hasn't posted bc it hasn't been approved yet.

And I am awake everyday at 5:00am, with my darling little angel who just likes the mornings, and I go to bed as soon as I get my oldest to sleep, and have cleaned the house for the day. And I am 12 weeks pregnant with twins, so yep, I am very tired, which is why I asked this question. I was afraid to mention that Iwas pregnant because I don't want to hear any comments like, "Well maybe you should rething watching so many kids," etc, because I HAVE to do this for my family and make the money. I just don't want to kill myself doing it, or stress my unborn children too much.

But thank you again, for trying to look at the "whole" picture and not judging me based on an innocent question.

[Cat Herder]

12 hour days are exhausting. I don't do them anymore because of it.

This field is very difficult, believe me, I understand it.

Is there a way you can shorten your hours and still be profitable?

Do you have a family member who can come in and relieve you for a hour or two for the duration of your pregnancy?

[Heidi]

Thank you for assuming that I am not lazy- I actually responded to that person but I see that it hasn't posted bc it hasn't been approved yet.

And I am awake everyday at 5:00am, with my darling little angel who just likes the mornings, and I go to bed as soon as I get my oldest to sleep, and have cleaned the house for the day. And I am 12 weeks pregnant with twins, so yep, I am very tired, which is why I asked this question. I was afraid to mention that Iwas pregnant because I don't want to hear any comments like, "Well maybe you should rething watching so many kids," etc, because I HAVE to do this for my family and make the money. I just don't want to kill myself doing it, or stress my unborn children too much.

But thank you again, for trying to look at the "whole" picture and not judging me based on an innocent question.

If it is not against you regs, then I would probably go ahead and do it considering your circumstances. I remember being pregnant, I COULDNT stay awake sometimes.

[Unregistered]

I would LOVE to shorten my hours/days, etc, I just don't know how to go about doing it. I know that I will lose 2 families if I did, for sure. Then, I don't know how many people would want to bring their children to a provider who was pregnant (with twins, no doubt), as I feel that I would have to tell them during the interview process to be fair to them. Not too many people will be excited knowing that I will probably have to take time off early, and a few weeks afterwards. And I onloy know how to advertise through craigslist, so my pickings are small.

I am exhausted, and I work myself to the bone everyday. When I was working outside the home, it was a heck of a lot easier! I feel like I never get appreciated, and that all of the hard work that I do goes unseen. I just wish there was another way!

[Blackcat31]

I would LOVE to shorten my hours/days, etc, I just don't know how to go about doing it. I know that I will lose 2 families if I did, for sure. Then, I don't know how many people would want to bring their children to a provider who was pregnant (with twins, no doubt), as I feel that I would have to tell them during the interview process to be fair to them. Not too many people will be excited knowing that I will probably have to take time off early, and a few weeks afterwards. And I onloy know how to advertise through craigslist, so my pickings are small.

I am exhausted, and I work myself to the bone everyday. When I was working outside the home, it was a heck of a lot easier! I feel like I never get appreciated, and that all of the hard work that I do goes unseen. I just wish there was another way!

Is there anyway you could possibly hire an assistant for this time? How about if you asked parents to volunteer a few hours a day if you can't afford any help.

What about if you talked to the parents and asked them to use you strictly for work hours only? Do all of your families bring their kids for 12 hours per day or is it that you have some come in the morning and some come later so they are picked up later making the day long?

If all else fails, I would talk with your DC parents and see if they mind if you nap/rest while their kids do...

Hang in there....

[JenNJ]

I am open 12 hours a day, and some of the children are here all 12 hours. I have a very structured routine, take them outside, teach them everything, potty train them, and bust my behind. No tv. I work very, very hard. It is not laziness, it is human nature to need to get refreshed, so I can work hard until pick up time. If a child is in a PNP, asleep, why not? I have no infants so SIDS is not an issue. IF they crawled out of their PNP, I have everything gated, but that has yet to happen, AND I would wake up, as my couch is 15 feet away from the room where they are sleeping. If I leave their door open I can hear them.

Here are the facts - if you can't stay awake during work, you need to reduce your workload. Shorten your hours, care for less children, go to bed earlier, etc. Millions of women work through pregnancy everyday. You are excusing a VERY bad decision by blaming it on your pregnancy. Your job is to provide excellent care to children. You sleeping is not excellent care. Its dangerous, stupid, and negligent. No one else sleeps during work, so neither should daycare providers. It is unprofessional and makes all of us look bad.

[Unregistered]

Is there anyway you could possibly hire an assistant for this time? How about if you asked parents to volunteer a few hours a day if you can't afford any help.

What about if you talked to the parents and asked them to use you strictly for work hours only? Do all of your families bring their kids for 12 hours per day or is it that you have some come in the morning and some come later so they are picked up later making the day long?

If all else fails, I would talk with your DC parents and see if they mind if you nap/rest while their kids do...

Hang in there....

Those are all good ideas. Not all of the families come for all 12 hours, but I made the mistake of having open/close hours so they definitely take their time kwim? Maybe I will hire an assistant on a temporary basis, that's probably the most responsible way to handle it. I don't know if we can afford it but it's worth looking into.

Thank you for all of your advice!

[Blackcat31]

Another good way to handle mis-use of your open/close hours are to offer one rate (your regular rate) for an 8 hour day, a higher rate for any day over 8 hours and an even higher rate for hours over 9 per day.

Makes parents have an incentive to pick up early and not leave their kid in care for the full 1 hour day.

Plus if you do that, it will give you some extra cash for an assistant.