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mismatchedsocks 01:22 PM 05-12-2010
I have been on both sides of the fence. I sent my kid to a daycare center, and now I run my own family daycare. I take kids ages 5 weeks to 12 years old. Lets start at the daycare center my son went to. He was an infant but I read up on naps, thinking that my child would be there until he was in school. They have a mandatory "quiet" time from 12-3. If your child does not fall asleep and is being loud then they are brought to another room with the awake children. This is not always available for home daycares....

so now on to my own home daycare. I have watched many older children ages 3-5. Each one is different. I try to stress early bedtime, especially with drop off being at 6-7am, which means the kids get up even earlier! The majority of the time when I hear "my kid wont sleep at night" I just let them know that their child falls asleep quickly and obviously still needs a nap, so I try to work with them on ways to get them to sleep at night.
Now for the children that do not fall asleep easily, I usually find this out within a few weeks of starting here, we do something a bit different. Those kids are usually 4 or 5 years old. They will help me set up the younger ones for nap, then help me clean up kitchen and play room "as quiet as they can". One 5 year old I had played peekaboo with the newborn I had that obviously was not on a schedule. Then after I am done cleaning I explained to the kids who were helping me out, that it was time for everyone even me to have quiet time. They would get their mat and lay down, and I think it helped because they considered themselves older, and having a privilage was nice to their self esteem. Most times those kids fell asleep, even if for an hour, but woke up refreshed and proud.

I hope that it all works out for you, and you can either get a system that works for your child and provider. I really suggest the "helping" with the older kids. It has helped me alot in the last 10 years!
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