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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>For Those With Non-Nappers.....
mema 11:53 AM 12-22-2011
I have a mom that is requesting no nap. The dck is old enough, most of the time, to go without. Dck has always napped at least 1/2, if not the whole rest time. There are days I know nap is needed because they were out really late the night before.

What are somethings you have them do that are quiet? Do they stay on their cots the whole time with their quiet activity? Do you start them off laying with nothing while everyone else falls asleep or separate them to a different area?

Other than my own SA children, I have not had one that didn't sleep at least most of the rest time. Mine usually go to their rooms and read and then play quietly in there or go outside.

Any ideas would help.

Thanks!
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mismatchedsocks 11:57 AM 12-22-2011
Is the child under 5? Here they lay on their cot for a bit, to rest. They are laid to rest with the other kids. If they dont fall asleep, then they can get up and color or read. They know its not time for play at this time.

I have school agers this week, and they can play something super quiet, or watch a movie/tv while the other kids are sleeping. Today is a movie, so tomorrow I am thinking to set up playdoh. They can play that for hours!
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wdmmom 11:58 AM 12-22-2011
No nap here = aged out of my program. My program is for children that require a full afternoon nap.

I had one family that requested their child not take a nap as well. I told them it was either a nap or their rate increases. My rate includes a discounted rate for a full afternoon nap. No afternoon nap requires additional direct supervision and that costs more!
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mema 12:07 PM 12-22-2011
Originally Posted by lilrugrats:
Is the child under 5? Here they lay on their cot for a bit, to rest. They are laid to rest with the other kids. If they dont fall asleep, then they can get up and color or read. They know its not time for play at this time.

I have school agers this week, and they can play something super quiet, or watch a movie/tv while the other kids are sleeping. Today is a movie, so tomorrow I am thinking to set up playdoh. They can play that for hours!


Dck is 5. I didn't think this nap thing would be a problem because they were suppose to go to pm kindergarten this year, but the parents changed their minds and pulled them out before it started.

If they do tv or movie, do they do that the whole time? My other ones sleep for between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. That would be a lot of tv everyday and I know they already watch from the time they get home until they go to bed unless they go somewhere, and they watch in the morning before coming.

When mine went to daycare, her children watched movies and everyone else had to face away from the tv-even the ones that were the same age as hers and school-aged.

The others sleep in bedrooms, so I guess I wouldn't mind the occasional tv.
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mismatchedsocks 12:10 PM 12-22-2011
No not the whole time. Usually we dont finish a whole movie. The movie/tv is just for me to get cleaned up, check emails, go potty, eat, all the break stuff I do while they are at school. About an hour. They can do wii, or xbox if they want. Mine are 8&9 though.

I would have a basket for the 5 year old of "approved" nap time things. But explain to dck that this is a privilege. I even sometimes sneak a treat with older ones, or do some small jewelry projects with them. I dont mind them up during nap, because they are older. Maybe get a routine with him?

goodluck!
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AmyLeigh 12:13 PM 12-22-2011
Can you find some special K-4 curriculum activities for this child to do? Maybe something that you wouldn't let the youngers do because of mess/safety issues. I love the K-4 curriculum from confessions of a homeschooler. I only have one that naps on a regular basis, but my older ones know to keep quiet during her naptime. DCC have free play outside, a movie/tv, and/or legos. My oldest dd does her school during that time. Dcg naps on the opposite end of the house from the playroom, so it buffers the noise.
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cheerfuldom 02:14 PM 12-22-2011
I would keep doing nap until he is regularly not sleeping at all during that time. If he is falling asleep, why mess with it?
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littlemissmuffet 03:45 PM 12-22-2011
Originally Posted by mema:
When mine went to daycare, her children watched movies and everyone else had to face away from the tv-even the ones that were the same age as hers and school-aged.
That's incredibly cruel.
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mema 05:55 PM 12-22-2011
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Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
I would keep doing nap until he is regularly not sleeping at all during that time. If he is falling asleep, why mess with it?
Mom says he's not going to bed at night. Most nights tho they are out late (like 9-10pm). We'll see. I tried somethings today, but boy was he kind of crabby this afternoon. If that keeps up, it will be back to regular rest time regardless.
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mema 05:57 PM 12-22-2011
Originally Posted by littlemissmuffet:
That's incredibly cruel.

Had my kids told me about that, dcp and I would have had a discussion, or I would have pulled them sooner. My oldest told me that and a few other things after we left there; he didn't want to cause "problems" while he was there. Still not sure what that all means, but we're out.
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BigMama 01:39 AM 12-23-2011
I have my older pre-schoolers that have outgrown the need for an afternoon nap rest on their cots for 30 min. This gives me a chance to get everyone else to sleep (including the babies who get rocked/cuddled to sleep). Also, even if they don't sleep their little bodies need to rest. After the 30 min., they get a "nap box." These are shoe boxes filled with quiet activities such as books, paper and crayons, finger puppets, magna-doodles, cards, colorforms, small animal toys, legoes, Mr. Potato Head, etc. etc. I have several boxes so that they don't get bored with them and I switch out materials from time to time. They play quietly on or near their cots. When I have school-agers for a full-day they are allowed to go in the playroom.
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Meyou 02:23 AM 12-23-2011
If he falls asleep within the first 30 minutes of resting here then he needs a nap. If he stays awake lying quietly for 30 minutes he would be allowed to watch a movie, do puzzles, read books or color here. Anyone who isn't napping and who isn't quiet as a mouse go back to rest on their bed until the end of naptime. That consequence really gets them to remember and try hard to not disturb their little friends.
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mac60 04:32 AM 12-23-2011
My family room is my daycare room is my nap room for all toddlers/preschoolers. Letting 1 up doesn't work. I recently had a mom tell me their 4 yr old doesn't want to nap and asked if he could look at books. I let him, until he was disturbing others with them, plus he always ended up falling asleep. Parents don't realize that when you have a small group of little ones, letting one do the "special" totally causes problems with everyone. 1 does the "special" another one wants the "special" and so on, doesn't work. Funny how these days the nap thing has become such an issue.
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mema 12:27 PM 12-28-2011
Well, I let dck know that after a 30min rest on his cot with everyone else, that I would get him some books for a while and then maybe do puzzles, playdoh, coloring, etc. Out of the 5 days so far, 3 days he was asleep within 5min and the other 2 he rested his 30min, read, colored, and then asked to go back to his cot! Guess they haven't changed the night time schedule yet-he's still not going to bed before 10pm. So for now, I guess he naps
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daycare 12:42 PM 12-28-2011
I don't offer services to children who do not nap... ALL children will be required to nap while here. If your child does not need a nap, then they have outgrown my services.....(thanks Nan for this wording)

However, if you think you could offer it, I would require every child to lay on their mats for at least 35 minutes. After 35 min have passed, those still awake, I would remove from the napping area and have them read or draw at the table..... If they are too loud and disruptive, then it would not work...

I don't do TV...
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momma2girls 02:23 PM 12-28-2011
Originally Posted by mac60:
My family room is my daycare room is my nap room for all toddlers/preschoolers. Letting 1 up doesn't work. I recently had a mom tell me their 4 yr old doesn't want to nap and asked if he could look at books. I let him, until he was disturbing others with them, plus he always ended up falling asleep. Parents don't realize that when you have a small group of little ones, letting one do the "special" totally causes problems with everyone. 1 does the "special" another one wants the "special" and so on, doesn't work. Funny how these days the nap thing has become such an issue.
I tried the same thing a couple of yrs. ago, it totally didn't work at all!!!!
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daycare 02:28 PM 12-28-2011
i also dont think parents realize how tiresome daycare is on these kids. Kids are always on the go...Using their brain is way more tiring than just running around all day long. Now combine the two together along with everything else and you have one wiped out kid....

IMO all kids under 5 need some form of nap/rest period...
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Tags:nap - not, nap - required, napping, sleep - issues, won't sleep
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