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gumdrops 07:05 AM 10-05-2018
At what age do you do away with morning naps? I realize it depends on the child, but approximately what age? I have a 17 mo who still needs a morning nap in my opinion. Mom was complaining that 1-2 times/week she still gets up through the night and will stay up and play for 2-3 hours So I'm trying to help by taking away her morning nap, but she is a grump by 9:00. I figured once she adjusted to less sleep during the day and more sleep at night, the grumpies would go away. They are not! On Tuesday she fell asleep on the floor in the middle of all the other kids playing.

So I guess this is kind of a two-part question. Why do parents allow their child to play for 2 hours at 2:00 am??? Maybe my kids were just angels and we never had to deal with this or maybe I was a mean mom?! I have another child who is just under 2 and these moms (they are cousins so know each other well) joke that their kids get up on the same nights as each other to play for 2 hours. If I ask how they slept the night before, they will laugh and ask "why, was the other child awake last night"
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Blackcat31 07:13 AM 10-05-2018
I do away with 2 naps by age 1. If they don't adjust well I will put them down to a short nap IMMEDIATELY upon arrival verses letting them get grumpy between 9-10 because that never works out well.

I don't let them sleep long enough to impact afternoon/normal rest time but just enough to take the "walking dead" mentality away....

If parents allow their child to get up and play in the middle of the night, that's on them but I still follow the same routine day in and day out and while little adjustments do need to be made here and there for things beyond my control, I wouldn't go over board trying to fix something a parent allows. I would call for pick up if the child is simply so exhausted that they can't stay awake during certain times of the day. A new 1 yr old is ALOT different than a 17 month old.

My youngest in care is about 18 months. Still took 2 naps upon enrollment. I adjusted the nap/rest times beginning the first day and by the end of my two week trial period, she was napping at the same time as everyone else. Also went from crib to nap mat during the same process so while it was a bit chaotic, it was doable within the two week trial period.
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LittleExplorers 09:09 AM 10-05-2018
If she needs it, she does. I would guess little one will wake up at 2 am regardless if she has that morning nap. They have learned they can play. Does mom get up or do they just talk/play in the crib. If mom gets up and plays, that is on her. The child needs to learn when night time is in my opinion. Just like we can teach daycare kids to adjust to nap at the same time and get on our routine, mom needs to set the expectation.
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Ariana 09:18 AM 10-05-2018
Are these parents also allowing her to sleep in or putting her to bed too late? Getting up and playing for two hours is just not normal at this age.

If a child sleeps in, in the morning it will distrupt the whole sleep cycle and routine so if a child is playing for two hours at night they still need to wake at 7 am or whenever they ususally get up the next day, otherwise they are making up for the lost sleep by sleeping in and it becomes a cycle.

So my first questions would be what time kid goes to sleep and if they allow her to sleep in. Ask them to adjust based on that. If a kid is falling asleep on the floor then they need a nap and I agree with Blackcat that it needs to be immediately when they get to your house. At this age I give a 40 minute cat nap to get them through lunch. This way there is at least 3-4 hours before afternoon nap. For second nap only allow them to sleep 2 hours. 2 hours and 40 minutes plus 12 hours at night should be enough.

I have had kids still needing a morning nap upon arrival until 2 years old but it is almost always the parents “fault”.
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daycarediva 10:06 AM 10-05-2018
My co sleeping 22mo still needs a morning nap because she does NOT sleep unless Mom does and mom isn't sleeping 7-7.

I would forget about what parents do and do what works at my house. If they need it, I would put them down IMMEDIATELY at arrival and wake in 1/2 hour or so. Just to get them through until regular rest time.
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knoxmomof2 09:46 PM 10-06-2018
Around a year, but if it's clear they still need it, I let them nap in the morning (somewhere between 9 and 10). They generally nap an hour and are up before lunch. They go down a bit later than the older kids, but they end up waking right around the end of afternoon nap time so it works out that when they wake up and start making noises, I'm about to get my big guys up anyway so they all can nap in the same room without anyone being disturbed.
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Pandaluver21 10:02 PM 10-08-2018
Usually around 18 months, but I had a little boy that took two naps until he was almoat 2 1/2. After 18 months it was usually just a 45min morning nap, then 2hr in the afternoon. Never effected his sleep at night. But mom was BIG on naps. She still had him lay down for an hour or so every day trhough Kindergarten (and a little in first grade) just to give him some "calm" time. Made a huge difference. He was probably my only kid at the time that actually slept a good amount at night
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