Sleeping, Sleeping, Always Sleeping......

[Unregistered]

I have a little boy who has been with me for almost a year now, he is 4.5. I used to have another little boy (older by a few months, but he tarted preschool in Jan). Since other boy has been gone I have not had any other children very close to his age that come early. Right now I only have a 5 month old that is here as early as he is. (8:30am so not super early btw, baby is here at 7:30am)

Well, and i am not even sure this is related but mom tells me a couple of months back that I might get a phone call bc someone reported them to CPS, but she didn't know why, apparently they came to their house a few times but they were never home and resorted to leaving a card for them to give them a call. No one ever called me.

Well dcb started coming less and less, mom has never asked me to only pay for part time care (which is good bc I dont do part time, but I dont think she even knows that) for about 3 months now he has been down to 2 days a week, except one week when he came 3 days.

Now when dcb gets here he goes straight to the couch and falls asleep. This right when baby's morning nap starts and mom encourages him to lay down. The thing is he goes to sleep for HOURS. I have tried keeping him up with activities and things, i try to get him to come eat, nothing, all he says is "Im Tired"

Well I talked to mom and she said that she is having to take him with her to pick up her husband when he gets off of work which is normally around 1am. So he is up a lot at night.

Well I felt kinda bad for the little guy so I started letting him sleep. But this does not fit in with my program and now I have started another 4yr old boy a couple of weeks ago but he comes in a lot later than sleepy 4yo. And even when he is here sleepy dcb just says "i dont wanna play, im tired"

Shoul I let him sleep? Force him to stay up? I am not sure anymore, I dont even know if it is allowed for a child to just sleep through daycare...... I asked mom if she wants me to keep him up and she said no, let him sleep if he is tired.......wwyd?

[preschoolteacher]

Besides the fact that he's not sleeping at night, I immediately wondered if he possibly could be sick. I don't mean run of the mill cold, I mean something more serious. Can you bring this up with his mom?

[Unregistered]

I have often thought the same thing. I also had a little girl last year who wanted to sleep all the time and it turned out it was somehing to do with her heart.

[Unregistered]

I will speak with mom about this too.

[Willow]

If after it's looked into there isn't anything wrong with his health and you already have an infant napping I'd just let him sleep. It's no skin off your teeth to let him do so and you're already being paid full time whether he's catching up on zzzz's or not.

If you trust mom is telling the truth about struggling with just one vehicle I'd be inclined to help them all out as best I could.



(My mind didn't jump to concerns about health, with the mention of cps my mind jumped to concerns about what might REALLY be going on at night - but you need to gauge on an individual level whether you think something more ominous might be going on with this family that could be interrupting his sleep....ie. I wonder if "work" is really just a safe explanation for them being or going somewhere else kwim?)

[AmyKidsCo]

If after it's looked into there isn't anything wrong with his health and you already have an infant napping I'd just let him sleep. It's no skin off your teeth to let him do so and you're already being paid full time whether he's catching up on zzzz's or not.

If you trust mom is telling the truth about struggling with just one vehicle I'd be inclined to help them all out as best I could.



(My mind didn't jump to concerns about health, with the mention of cps my mind jumped to concerns about what might REALLY be going on at night - but you need to gauge on an individual level whether you think something more ominous might be going on with this family that could be interrupting his sleep....ie. I wonder if "work" is really just a safe explanation for them being or going somewhere else kwim?)

ITA on all counts.

My daughter in law works nights and if they were ever down to 1 car my son would have to take the kids with him to drop her off and pick her up. And when we were in college I had to bring our 1 yr old with me to pick up my husband from choir practice at 10pm. So it's possible that she's telling the truth - only you know them well enough to judge.

[daycare]

I have a family that lets their 3 yr old stay up until midnight or whenever they pass out every night. No reason. Kid comes to my house and sleeps about 5-6 hours every day.

I've asked the parents to put him to bed earlier, but they just keep doing what works for them. Same thing with potty training. Kids been trained with me for a year but refuses with the parents.

I know it's hard sometimes because I have other kids but when I can let him sleep I do. If he any keep up with us I send him home.

[nanglgrl]

I would call CPS. It's not your job as a mandated reporter to figure out why something is happening. If you call and they don't think it's worth investigating they won't investigate it. If they do investigate it and don't find anything wrong then they will just close the case.
The child could be sick. The child could be drugged or neglected. The child could be fine but it's not your call.
I did 24 hour care for years and had plenty of children that age who left my house at 1, 2 or even 3 am and never woke up as they were put in the car to go home. I've also had plenty of children who came early in the morning and went back to sleep when they were dropped off. They all had pretty normal sleeping schedules even though they had to wake up in the middle of the night. I find it incredibly odd a 4 year old child would sleep this much and not want to engage in play.

[Willow]

I would call CPS. It's not your job as a mandated reporter to figure out why something is happening. If you call and they don't think it's worth investigating they won't investigate it. If they do investigate it and don't find anything wrong then they will just close the case.
The child could be sick. The child could be drugged or neglected. The child could be fine but it's not your call.
I did 24 hour care for years and had plenty of children that age who left my house at 1, 2 or even 3 am and never woke up as they were put in the car to go home. I've also had plenty of children who came early in the morning and went back to sleep when they were dropped off. They all had pretty normal sleeping schedules even though they had to wake up in the middle of the night. I find it incredibly odd a 4 year old child would sleep this much and not want to engage in play.

You would assume a child was sick, drugged or neglected simply because they're tired?

And even after the parents have explained the middle of the night transportation situation?


CPS was called. Mom already shared that with the OP. Obviously nothing came of it but you still think she should call again?