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Unregistered 06:09 AM 04-22-2013
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I live in Australia and my 4 1/2 year old son is patted to sleep everyday - much to my disgust..... he is a very active boy and has lots of energy; if he doesnt sleep at day care he is asleep in bed at 7.30-8pm at night and sleeps for a good 12 hours.
I dont believe all centres should have the policy that all children are required to sleep (happy with a rest or quiet time) - its like a one size fits all policy for clothing and it doesnt work.
When my 4 1/2 year old is still awake and hard to settle at 10.30pm at night - then I beg to differ on the sleeping policy. As a parent of 2 children - one who is almost 9 and is constantly getting disturbed by his wide awake brother late at night - then having the difficulty to get them out of bed in the morning as they've had a late night - its a viscious , unhealthy cycle.
I certainly do not think it is rude, selfish or inconsiderate of parent to request for their child not to sleep and some comments in this forum have really hit a nerve. Parents know their children best. My son is at daycare 6-7 hours a day at most, 2 of those hours are sleeping times - which like I said before is encouraged by rocking, patting and soft music - I dont agree at all. Just to appease the lunch roster, get time to do dishes or aleviate staffing issues - surely that cannot be a good enough reason to disrupt the childs sleeping patterns in an evening, which on a regular basis has an effect on a much grander scale in a family.

I wonder when the day care centre closes its doors a the end of the day, that they have any thought for the turmutulous evening faced by a lot of parents whos child has had a lengthy sleep at kindy.

I don't see this as an issue of time to do the dishes, but as an issue of teaching a child how important rest is to the body. Rest and sleep are essential to ALL humans, and most of us are not getting enough. If the child is falling asleep, then he DOES need the sleep. I would never ask a provider to keep a child awake for my own convenience (being able to put him to sleep at 7:30PM, for example). A tired child needs sleep, period. If a child does not wish to sleep, then it makes sense to provide quiet time in another area, but quiet time is necessary from the older children to ensure that they don't awaken the younger children who also have a need (and right) to sleep.
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