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I had a friend that does childcare call me this morning in disbelieve. She takes care of a child that has been having some sleeping issues at night and is not going to sleep till like 1 or 2 in the morning. There were some other issues going on also so they took the child to the doctor and was told no more naps if you want the child to sleep at night. Child is always first one asleep at daycare and sleeps 2-3 hours and is 5 years old. Mom and dad are very involved with the child and not ones just to feed and put to bed. This is like the second or third time this week I have heard that now doctors are saying to not have children nap so they will sleep at night!
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Each day is a fresh start
Never look back on regrets
Live life to the fullest
We only get one shot at this!!
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Parents forget that doctors have education in medical issues, not behavior or anything else. Your (general your) ped. does NOT know everything. This is the simple answer from the doctors point of view to pass the buck to the parents. They are getting misinformation. Sleep begats sleep and obviously this is the case if a 5 year old is taking a long morning nap, thats not normal. I wonder what is going on at home..... -
I could see being in disbelief if the kid were 5 months old, but do all kids need to take naps at 5 years old? I don't know; I've never been in charge of a 5yo for longer than a day, and I didn't care about naps--I was the auntie!
eta: the only other reason why I can think that the doc may have suggested no naptime is maybe he's trying to reset the kid's clock so he sleeps before 2am? That's hard on me, and I'm an adult. If the kid is so tired he's sleeping for hours in the am, then if he's forced to stay awake for a day or two, his clock might reset and maybe he can go back to sleeping at night AND taking an afternoon nap, if he needs one.Comment
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All of my own children stopped taking naps at 2-3 yrs old. My youngest who is 5 doesn't nap unless he is ill.
My dcb's that are 5 (3 of them) dont have naps either.
It's no wonder he doesnt sleep at night.Comment
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No its not a morning nap it not till the afternoon when everyone else falls asleep around 1:00 I believe. Plays all morning long and is a pretty happy little person. Then everyone is up around 3:00-3:30 I believe maybe a little later but not alot.
When I talked to her again it was actually a counsler that has been seeing her. My friend didn't seem aware that she was seeing one and wasn't aware of the sleep problem till today. The mom said they were seeing her because of the sleep problem and possible anxiety issues. So the counsler is the one who has recommended not having her take naps during the day. It sounds like she naps at home still too.Each day is a fresh start
Never look back on regrets
Live life to the fullest
We only get one shot at this!!
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I consult for two centers and you wouldn't BELIEVE the Doc notes that come their way.
This one is simple: I don't provide services to children who don't need a full afternoon nap. Give your one months notice and make arrangements for your child's nap during that time.
I don't know WHY parents go to Doctors for stuff like this. How hard is it to just communicate with your provider and tell them that the service you are providing doesn't work for your child?Comment
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I would tell them to find a daycamp. Because I'm not changing my nap schedule for one child.
I DO however, let kids watch movies at naptime. I'd probably never even dream of letting a five year old sleep for three hours.
I'd say "O.K.. You take a Friday off, keep him up all Friday, Saturday and Sunday..... then On Monday, I'll make sure he lies there quietly, but doesn't fall asleep. But, I'd make them take some time off to change his schedule. If on Sunday, he's still staying awake til midnight, then it's not my problem. They need to be the ones to get him on a better schedule. I don't want a miserable child who's not getting enough sleep. They need to reprogram him at home first.
BUT, that's how we do it here anyway. I always put on a movie for them. So, I wouldn't be making any changes here. It's not a big deal for me to poke him with a stick every time he starts to doze off. LOLComment
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"Oh no I will miss little ***X so much, it's too bad you'll have to look for other care that does not have nap time for children who are not of school age! Please provide written notice." That's it, done deal.Comment
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Ditto. Of course the child is 5 and I don't normally make kids over 5 nap but then again I don't watch DC kids over 5 now anyway, they're normally in school and I don't do school-age kids. On the other hand I have 6yo DD and I MAKE her nap right along with the other DC kids during the week on her breaks and summer because if she doesn't she gets cranky and falls asleep like at 5 or 6 and then wakes up at 7 or 8 and won't go back to sleep until after 10 and that is NOT happening here. Bedtime is 8:30pm, the latest.
My DD could stay up until 2am if you let her ... once again, if you let her. We do not. She says she's not tired, will cry, throw a fit, toss and turn dramatically but she is still not allowed to stay up. She lays down at the same time every day regardless of whether she napped or not and she ends up falling asleep anyway. There were times that she got up and played in her room with her night light on... we removed the night light. She would then sneak downstairs to watch TV ... we disconnected the cable every night. She then decided that the street light outside was enough light that she could still play in her room with ... we installed heavy draping and I sewed bells to the bottoms so that we could hear if she tried to open the drapes. We put the baby monitor in her room at night so we could hear if she got out of bed, we got up every time that she got up and put her right back into bed. It was a struggle but guess what? She now sleeps in her bed on time every night. Kids are kids. Maybe the child's sleep patterns are changing but that doesn't mean that they can't be changed back.Comment
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I would suggest parents wake them a couple hours earlier. Say, 5ish. Then your friends nap will replace that chunk of sleep. And child can get back on schedule. Personally it's what I suggest when parents come to me with the nap issue, I require a nap. If the kids outgrow it, they outgrow me.Comment
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It's because the parents assume that if the DOCTOR said it, then you must abide by it.
Not here! My house... my rules!
All children take a nap. This is GROUP care. If the child has outgrown their nap, they need to go elsewhere for day care.
I have it in my handbook that the same rules apply with sickness. Just because the doctor says "can return to day care" does NOT trump my rules! I decide whether or not the child can return according to LICENSING regulations, not the doc's opinion.
Doc does not make the rules at my facility.Comment
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So does the kid go to bed at a reasonable time on the weekends when mom/dad don't allow him to nap? I doubt it.
Dr's don't have time to deal with parenting issues so they toss out ideas that have NOTHING to do with the problem. They just want to get you out of their office.
I agree with the other posters, I would suggest another care arrangement.Comment
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