2 Hour Naps @ Daycare?

[Unregistered]

kindergartner napping?

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

[JoseyJo]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

Some states require that all children lay down for a quiet time each day. Kansas does. My surveyor said that every child in care, regardless of age, must lay down for a minimum of 30 minutes. If the child is still awake after that time then another quiet activity can be given to them, such as reading books quietly on their mats. If the child falls asleep within that time frame we are not supposed to wake them up.

[Patches]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

Does he fall asleep? My son is also 6 and in full day kindergarten and on weekends and no school days he naps. He doesn't want to all the time, but onc ehe lays down, he's out. He obviously needs the sleep .
If your son falls asleep, I wouldn't worry about it. If he doesn't, maybe he could look st books on his cot as long as hes quiet (and as long as your provider is ok with that). Sorry, I really don't see this as that big of a deal.

[blandino]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

I understand both sides. As a provider, allowing a child to have "quiet time" instead of nap, still means a good deal of attention and responsibility. During nap time, I need to do dishes, finish cleaning up from lunch, reply to e-mails, and have a lunch break for myself. Any time I have agreed to let a child have "quiet time" they have needed me multiple times during that time. That is my only quiet time/lunch break/bathroom break of the day, plus I still have work responsibilities to get done. Plus, the child usually makes some sort of noise to wake the others. I really count on having that quiet time each day. I allow all my kids to bring books to their mats and read them while falling asleep or when they wake up. At 6.5, your son is probably reading a little ? He could have a longer book to read each day, while laying down.

[Unregistered]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

Even adults need naps

[nannyde]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

An awake kid is a kid that needs direct physical care and supervision. Doesn't matter if he is awake and quiet or awake and running house. Awake means up and up means no break.

Just switch him to another program. He has outgrown nap and your provider requires that all kids in her care have nap. It's not personal.

[Play Care]

I have been with my provider for 5 years, my oldest is in Kindergarten and my youngest is 4 and goes daily. In times where my oldest doesn't have school I have to take him there and she requires him to lay down. I recently asked if he could stay up and just do quiet time as he is perfectly able being he is in all day Kindergarten. She said she doesn't have a place for him to do just that. He hates lying down with the little kids and I just don't really agree with it. I am all for naps don't get me wrong, but for a 6 1/2 year old, I am a bit disappointed by her response and am just curious what other providers think about this.
I appreciate your input.

I agree with Nannyde. I would look specifically for a school aged program that doesn't have naps/quiet time. Your provider has told you what she can offer, so now you have to decide where to go from there.

[Unregistered]

Sleeping children don't need supervision ? I work in a center and we would be fired if we walked out of the room while the children were sleeping, we also have to be in ratio the entire time. How is it ok to leave sleeping children alone in a room because you are a home provider ?

[Cradle2crayons]

Sleeping children don't need supervision ? I work in a center and we would be fired if we walked out of the room while the children were sleeping, we also have to be in ratio the entire time. How is it ok to leave sleeping children alone in a room because you are a home provider ?

Maybe because SOME states don't require that children are under constant visual supervision while sleeping ?

I have an infant asleep in one room... His special needs sister asleep in another room because it's medically necessary, and two more kids asleep on a mat in another room. I am not required to be in the room while they are napping. I have live video on the special needs child as well as he two sisters asleep in their nap room. I also have an 11 year old and my own five year olds in their room and an awake daycare boy age 6 in my sons room for quiet play time during nap time.

I guess I should split myself in five pieces and maybe that would work?? Lol

Some family home providers don't have to have visual supervision during naps. Some don't even have to have visual supervision while they are awake. Some rules say "sight or sound" some say both...

Oh and flame me now.. I provide late night and overnight care also... And I'm asleep after x time.

[blandino]

Sleeping children don't need supervision ? I work in a center and we would be fired if we walked out of the room while the children were sleeping, we also have to be in ratio the entire time. How is it ok to leave sleeping children alone in a room because you are a home provider ?

In my state, centers have to remain in the same room when children are asleep ,and homes don't. I would assume that it has to do with the setup. In a center, if you leave the room, you are closing the door and chances are walking down a hallway to another room. In a home daycare, you are probably leaving the room the kids are in, but can still hear/see the room that the kids are in. We are required to be within sight OR sound of the children, so as long as we can hear them it is oaky. Some states require that they must be in sight. But I don't think a home provider should have to stay in the living room, if the kids are sleeping in there. Going into a kitchen or a bedroom with an open door, isn't going to be an issue, if the rooms are within hearing distance.

[Unregistered]

6 year old napping

Thank you to all for your responses. He doesn't go very often, so I am not sure if he falls asleep every time. I am thinking this summer when we need care I will put him in a school age program for part of the time so he gets a variety of care and activity.

[Unregistered]

I'm a HUGE sleep advocate and if you read anything regarding children and how their brain develops you would understand that toddlers and babies need to sleep a lot! And from what science says- no your child does not stay up until 11pm because they nap during the day. There's another reason for that and it's up to the parent to figure that out.
My daughter napped 2-3 times a day up to a year for one to two hours each nap and still went to bed at 7/7:30pm.
After a year it was only 1-2 naps and still a early bed time of 6/6:30 pm.
After two just one nap and still an early bedtime of 6/6:30
She's more seven and should be in bed by 7/7:30 but our days are long with homework so it's usually 8pm. Weekends the child will still asleep until 10 if she's tired. But we usually have to wake get up.
Sleep is HUGE!!! your child's brain is developing and it needs proper time to rest. It's not about what is convenient for you.

Read any Weissbluth book on sleep. He's a doctor not a pediatrician or a pop psych parenting author.

Do research before you blame your provider for forcing your child to nap. She's probably giving your child a huge favor developmentally speaking.

[Unregistered]

I can't get over some of these ignorant parent responses!! Their children don't need the required about of sleep for children their age that had been studied over and over by SCIENTISTS and SLEEP SPECIALISTS. their child is "special"

[Unregistered]

Look at average sleep needed

I don't understand most of the posts here. People that cite to the CDC website and the Healthy Sleep Habits book (which I LOVE, by the way) are completely contradicting themselves. The original question was about a 3 and 6 year old being required to nap 2 hours. People say that is fine and required by childcare centers (in CA it is not that long). Do the math. The CDC says school age children need at least 10 hours of sleep. My 6 year old sleeps 8 to 6:30-7 every night. That is 10.5 hours. It is absurd to make him take a 2 hour nap! He is also in 1st grade so I don't know how they would fit in the state mandates requirements if he took two hours to nap. Preschool age children per CDC website need 11-12 hours. My 3 year old sleep 7:30 pm-6:30 am. He may need a short nap but I would be so angry if a preschool was making him nap 2 hours. Do the math people if a preschool is making your kid sleep 2 hours and they are preschool age that means then need 9-10 of night time sleep. So parents who say napping makes their kids stay up too late are not just full of it or disrespecting their kids sleep. Their child is probably find sleeping 9-6. It makes sense for working parents whose children have to get up super early or are picked up late and can't get to bed early, to have naps. But for other children who are getting plenty of sleep at night, they don't need a 2 hour nap.

Most people here that are defending the 2 hour day care nap work in the industry. In my opinion they just want a break and to save money because licensing allows them to drop the ratio of teachers to students during nap time.

[Play Care]

Most people here that are defending the 2 hour day care nap work in the industry. In my opinion they just want a break and to save money because licensing allows them to drop the ratio of teachers to students during nap time.

I won't speak to anything else, because that horse is dead But I want to make it clear that in my state, as well as many others, ratios do NOT change simply because children are sleeping. Our Licensing body was *very* clear about that. Furthermore, many states require staff to stay in the room with napping children or physically check on them every so many minutes. For most providers, gone are the days when nap time was an actual "break."