It's not about "forcing" a child to sit on a mat for 2 hours. It's called "rest time". If they fall asleep thats even better, but they must do something quiet so the rest of the kids can sleep whether its reading a book or coloring. Most of the kids I have are under 3 and look forward to nap time. A few days a week I have a kindergartener who is here during nap time. She is allowed to sit on the couch and pick a movie to watch. She is quiet for the entire movie. About 2 hours. After that she can color.

Our state requires a minimum 2 hour "rest time" for all daycare centers/facilities. The bedtime of a child is what the parent sets when they are at home. My kids start their bedtime ritual during the week at 8:00. They are in bed by 8:45. They dont fall asleep right away and usually until 9:30 or so I can still here them rustling around and talking to each other. But its the parents decision as to when they put their kids IN THEIR BEDS.

One more thing... about late naps. I have 2 kids who are 13 mo and 16 mo. They get here before 7:30 and they go back to sleep for about an hour or so. They nap from 12:00 to 2:00-2:30. Sometimes, NOT all the time, they are also in need of an afternoon nap between 4:00-5:00. It's not an everyday thing but sometimes babies need more sleep time. I dont wake them until pick up time unless they wake before that themselves. At that age parents are happy that they napped as much as they wanted because that makes them happier kids when they get home. The parents I have put their kids to bed between 8:00-9:00 every night.

Enough of my rant but I think its every providers call during the day and the parents responsibility at night. I am not going to allow a child to suffer from exhaustion because the parents dont want them to sleep. Not my problem.

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