Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
My biggest issue with parents that I have worked with, even the best of parents, is that they have no routine for sleeping. Lots of kids up late, not napping on weekends, getting up early, getting up at night and wandering around their room or even the house 
so yeah, its pretty common in my experience. Either the parents just dont know what to do or they are too afraid to say no in word and action. i have had several parents that tell me whenever baby gets up is when the family gets up. If they want to get up and play at 2AM, the parents get up and play with them for a couple hours. Most of my families drop naps at home before 2 years old, even before 1 year old!
I have 2 (18 months and 2 1/2)that don't sleep at night. They go to bed "when they feel like it", wake up during the middle of the night for family play time, get up and stay up at 4am...no wonder they are exhausted when they get here. It's like pulling teeth to get them to stay awake until nap time. If I let them sleep when they get here, they are awake during nap time and bother everyone else. The same 2 do not nap on weekends, because the families are too busy to work in a nap. To me, sleep is a basic need and they are neglecting their child's need for rest. They can't learn well, play well, or feel well when they are so sleep deprived.