I have a question about this. Now, I'm a new provider and also a new parent. I haven't been "around the block" so to speak. I have education, and babysitting experience, but clearly that's a lot different than being a parent for many years.

It seems to me that 7:30 is far too early for a kid to be going to bed, unless of course, they're tired and need to go to sleep. However I hear a lot from my parents of 4 year olds that they don't want their child napping because when 7:30 rolls around, little Johnny doesn't want to go to sleep. I'm sorry but my 15 month old doesn't even get her bath until 7:30. It seems crazy to me to expect a child to go to bed that early!!! Am I wrong with that?

I don't force naps in my daycare, but I do force quiet rest time, as a rest period is required by licensing. If a child falls asleep, I have a really hard time justifying waking him up. If he fell asleep, he clearly needs the sleep. And my compromise is that if they fall asleep, I wake them up after an hour of rest. In one case, the child is miserable when he wakes up and I feel bad about that, but dad knows that if he falls asleep, he gets an hour nap. It was agreed upon and that's that.

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