Originally Posted by AmandasFCC:
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.
Amanda, I agree with you. 7:30 is way to early. I am more for the reasoning that when is there quality time during the week with the child? Once years ago I had a baby (she was about a year and a half) and while the parents took care of her basic needs, I felt as her primary caregiver, she lacked the attention needs. Anyway, mom came in one morning and told me how wonderful the baby slept etc. She said she got home, put her to bed at 7:00 (yikes!!) woke her up at 9:00 to give her a bath and dinner and then put her back down to bed. She apparently slept the night. I was SO upset by this mainly because this baby stayed at the daycare until at least 6:15 p.m. Whether this was a nightly thing, I don't know. Then again on the flip side, this baby was sleeping her 1 nap at the center. So I don't know what the deal was haha. Like I said it just upset me because she really was a sweet and good baby.
Again I totally agree with you!!!