Do You Enforce Nap Time for a 4 Year Old?

[Josiegirl]

I am having such a hard time with this one. I have a 5 yo dcg who has always been a hard one to keep quiet, as soon as naps became sporadic with her. So this last week I let her stay in the living room with the 7-8 yos, as long as she remained quiet. She's such a needy one. I give them all cots, the older ones get out their electronics and are fine while the little ones sleep. But her....egads, I give her a stack of quiet things to do and she's good for maybe 20 minutes, then she wants me to color with her, play with her, starts making whiny noises, cannot keep still. And it seems like the younger ones had JUST fallen asleep so I get 0 break. Not sure what to do with this one. But I know if I lay her in the nap room she would cause a major uproar. She just cannot be quiet for more than 20-30 minutes tops.
All the younger ones, 1 1/2 yo-4 yo sleep.

[adnilwis]

So what do you do if a 4 year old dcb refuses to even lay on the cot? I've had him since november and he's maybe napped 10 days on that amount of time. He really can't sit still or be quiet and doesn't really have quiet time at home. It drives me crazy because everyone else naps everyday.

[Controlled Chaos]

A child that didn't lay on a cot would be termed. That's a discipline issue. Child gets up or sits up and they are put right back on the cot. I may sit on a chair near them while I enter Food Program stuff. Redirect. Redirect. Lights off, quiet music on - that means we are laying quietly on our beds. If they know there is NO option they will lay down. I have parents tell me their kids don't nap at home, but they all sleep between 1.5-2.5 hours here because there is no alternative.

[adnilwis]

I'm not licensed or certified so wasnt sure what my options are. I've been pretty lenient with him and letting him play quiet which I'm sure is part of the issue but asking for 15 minutes of quiet time on his cot I don't is asking too much for a 4 year old. The other dcks nap in a separate room off the lower level where I do daycare with music playing so he can hear that music playing the whole time. I sit right near him everyday. I try telling him he can look at books on his bed. I'm just done with the laughing at me and constant NO from him. He'll be in a center come fall doing wrap around care and 4k which requires 30 minutes of rest time so I'm trying to prepare him for that. Not really enjoying it though.

[CityGarden]

I like the way my dd's preschool approached this.

1:15pm -3:00pm nap time, all children must lay down quietly for the first hour.

2:15pm - 3:00pm non-resters: Reading or quiet activity at nap mat, or outdoor choices.

I will say that regardless of age I feel if a child is home all day with me there is a required quiet time. Last summer my dd then 8 still had to read quietly on her bed for an hour each day I would at a minimum enforce that for both your son and the dck.

[Missjaime]

Yes, all day care kids nap. Period. World without end, Amen. ::
I allow them some books or quiet toys on their mats. But I have yet to have a non school aged kid be okay at nap time. They usually get bored and think I should entertain them, or they get too loud, etc. I don't have the issues with my SA kids.

When my own kids were in the day care, quiet time was our time. I always sent them to their room until after the dck's were down. Once everyone was settled, we would cuddle, read, watch a cartoon, etc. None of the dck's were ever the wiser and they were very close with one of the dcg's. I knew my time with my own kids in care was coming to an end and I wanted to savor every last minute.

This is my favorite - my kids and I also have our own little "quiet time" during the dck's nap time. My 5 and 3 year old don't really nap anymore, so I get to cuddle them, read to them, hang out with just them. I think this is important as the rest of the day my attention is rarely on just them.
That being said, I enforce quiet/nap time for all of them. No matter what they do at home, they all lay down and rest for nap time. I had a 6 year old kindergartener who decided she wanted to rest (I was prepared for her to stay up, as she hadn't napped for years prior). She sleeps longer than the other kids now!

[RepCO]

This is saddening.

Yes, all day care kids nap. Period. World without end, Amen. ::
I allow them some books or quiet toys on their mats. But I have yet to have a non school aged kid be okay at nap time. They usually get bored and think I should entertain them, or they get too loud, etc. I don't have the issues with my SA kids.

When my own kids were in the day care, quiet time was our time. I always sent them to their room until after the dck's were down. Once everyone was settled, we would cuddle, read, watch a cartoon, etc. None of the dck's were ever the wiser and they were very close with one of the dcg's. I knew my time with my own kids in care was coming to an end and I wanted to savor every last minute.

I understand this is an ancient thread, but I’m literally appalled by this ^
So, you understood that YOUR “own kids” care was coming to an end, and you wanted to “savor your time with them”, yet you DEMANDED that the dck kids in which you were BEING PAID and ENTRUSTED to CARE FOR essentially leave you alone because you couldn’t be bothered to “entertain them” with the same cuddle or cartoon as you did with your own children??!!
You should not be daycare worker. This is your PROFESSION, not your free time to do what you want. Parents are paying you to WORK, so they can WORK. Don’t you think they’d rather cuddle their kids and watch a show midday??
Really, really sad and scary.

[RepCO]

This is not ok

This is my favorite - my kids and I also have our own little "quiet time" during the dck's nap time. My 5 and 3 year old don't really nap anymore, so I get to cuddle them, read to them, hang out with just them. I think this is important as the rest of the day my attention is rarely on just them.
That being said, I enforce quiet/nap time for all of them. No matter what they do at home, they all lay down and rest for nap time. I had a 6 year old kindergartener who decided she wanted to rest (I was prepared for her to stay up, as she hadn't napped for years prior). She sleeps longer than the other kids now!

I will repeat myself ^THIS IS OUTRIGHT APPALLING^^
You’re “attention is rarely on your ‘own’ kids” BECAUSE YOU ARE RUNNING A BUSINESS AND PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL CARE FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN. Do you you know who else’s “attention is rarely ink their own kids” in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY?! Um, the PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN WHO ARE LITERALLY WORKING IN ORDER TO PAY YOU TO PROVIDE CARE.
These posts have only scared me to NOT trust a daycare facility.
Shameful, actually.

[Cat Herder]

These posts have only scared me to NOT trust a daycare facility.
Shameful, actually.

If you can't understand why a childcare provider, working in her own home 50-60 hours per week, wants to spend a little one on one time with her own child during the day, then you really should just stay home with your own.

[daisymay]

I will repeat myself ^THIS IS OUTRIGHT APPALLING^^
You’re “attention is rarely on your ‘own’ kids” BECAUSE YOU ARE RUNNING A BUSINESS AND PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL CARE FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN. Do you you know who else’s “attention is rarely ink their own kids” in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY?! Um, the PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN WHO ARE LITERALLY WORKING IN ORDER TO PAY YOU TO PROVIDE CARE.
These posts have only scared me to NOT trust a daycare facility.
Shameful, actually.

Please do update us when you open your own home daycare. I would love to learn from your wise ways once you get some experience.

[Snowmom]

I understand this is an ancient thread, but I’m literally appalled by this ^
So, you understood that YOUR “own kids” care was coming to an end, and you wanted to “savor your time with them”, yet you DEMANDED that the dck kids in which you were BEING PAID and ENTRUSTED to CARE FOR essentially leave you alone because you couldn’t be bothered to “entertain them” with the same cuddle or cartoon as you did with your own children??!!
You should not be daycare worker. This is your PROFESSION, not your free time to do what you want. Parents are paying you to WORK, so they can WORK. Don’t you think they’d rather cuddle their kids and watch a show midday??
Really, really sad and scary.

Yea, I mean, how they dare they expect any break during a 10-12 hour work day in a family daycare?

Your $150 a week should have them groveling at your feet to be grateful for the opportunity to entertain your child 50+ hours a week.
Why, they should certainly just ignore their own kids during the required nap time that's outlined in the contract, so they can pay 100% attention to your child.
That's really what $3/hour should pay for, right?

[littlefriends]

"Don’t you think they’d rather cuddle their kids and watch a show midday??"

Sadly no, no I do not. I have seen the exact opposite actually. Too many times to count. It's usually these parents berating the provider for not doing enough special for their little angel while at the same time dropping them off at daycare so they can go boating with the older siblings (that are easier and need little attention) and not have to deal with the little one that is going to require attention and care.

[AmyKidsCo]

Licensing requires 30 min rest for all children under 5. After the 30 min they can have books or other quiet toys.

[Unregistered]

Quiet time required

I require all kids to have down time, both for me and them. I find if they don’t have alone time they are way crankier in the afternoon. We alot 3 hours for naps/quiet time. It usually takes 40 minutes to get the little ones asleep, and the quiet time kids are expected to be silent during that time (in another room). After an hour, they are offered a change of activities (they start with some books and a puzzle, and get some toys if they were quiet. After 2.5 hours they move to sensory activities or 30min screen time.

[CeriBear]

I don’t require them to sleep but all the children are required to have a rest time as per licensing. This year I am lucky because all my class naps for at least part of the time. Those who awaken early are allowed to look at a book on their cots until the lights go on. I never try and force a child to sleep as this usually becomes a battle and makes things worse. As long as they are lying quietly and resting I don’t force sleep.