View Single Post
Katierue 07:01 AM 11-26-2014
I absolutely understand the concern of the OP.

However, it is my belief that to wake a child or to limit their sleep is to do them harm. (I would refer to the NAEYC Code of Ethics for support on this view.)

My program is very busy and active, and we don't usually have an issue with students needing the rest time. When a parent asks me to limit sleep, I tell them that everyone lays down for an hour. If a child is not yet asleep and ready to wake after an hour, they may get up and play quietly. However, if a child is asleep, I would not wake them. Now, it is hard to keep sleeping once the rest of the group is awake, even with a separate nap room. (I have had one student that I would wake, usually just by starting to clean up the nap space, because he would take 3 or 4 hour naps- once he was asleep, he would just keep sleeping. I believe that a two hour nap is usually good, and could see how a 3 or 4 hour nap was probably more than needed and would interfere with night sleep.)

If a parent asks me to limit their child's nap, I tell them that we can discuss options. Can the child forego a nap altogether? Depending on the child's age, I will give this a trial run. If I see that the child is exhausted and unable to have a nice afternoon because of lack of sleep, I will tell the parent that unfortunately I can not honor their request to keep their child awake.

Also, I find that parents are quick to ask me to limit the child's nap, without taking steps at home to remedy the situation. Is the child getting riled up close to bedtime? When did they eat and are they eating sugar at night? What time are they waking up? I would also go through the home routine with a parent, and work on that schedule as well, before agreeing to limit a child's sleep.

Also, it is very clear in my paperwork that our program includes rest time. That is our policy, and families are aware of this at enrollment. It may be that a family needs to find a programs that is more suited to their needs, rather than asking a program to change their clearly stated routines and policies.
Reply