No Naps in Daycare - What to Do?

My son's preschool has a similar policy. Nap time is 2 hours and the children must rest quietly for 1 hour (they can have books at their cot if they dont nap but they must lay quietly). After 1 hour they have something they call "kids up", and the non-nappers are taken out of the room and either go outside or to the indoor gym area to play for the remaining hour. I think it is perfectly reasonable for the kids to be required to have quiet rest time for 1 hour. Even if they dont need to nap, the quiet rest time is good for them. Beyond that I do think 2 hours is too long for a child that does not nap at all. I would talk to them and see what your options are. If they hold tight to the 2 hour nap, it seems like your only choice is to move to a different daycare.

Their policies do not work for your child. If they are unwilling to budge at all then I'd take her somewhere else.

I can't believe the expect 4 and 5 year olds to have 2 hours of quiet time or naps. She should have a supply of books or quiet crafts for 30-40 minutes tops. Otherwise there should be 2 rooms, one for nappers and one for something else - maybe computer time (if they have something appropriate) or craft/story time (which is relatively quiet), or even a recess somewhere else far from the nappers. I think 2 hours is long. I can see the 2 year olds needing a long nap, and my kid took a long nap past the age of 4, so I understand sleepers. In any case, flipping through ONE book is ridiculous. She should have a number of things - it's unreasonable to expect a 5 year old to sit around for an hour, and then "be quiet" for another hour.

I'd question whether this center has enough staff or enough programming to keep the older kids occupied while the younger ones are napping.

I don't know any kids that consistently napped at 4 or 5, let alone for 2 hours. I would find another center. I am surprised that they don't have a separate area or room for quiet time and one for nap time.

Call a meeting with the Director of the daycare. Make it clear that you expect that after 30 minutes of rest (which seems appropriate for a child that age, and not a long time to quietly lay down and read), she will be allowed to get up and participate in some other quiet, supervised activity. You are the customer, and you have the right to expect that your daughter's needs will be met. For them to force her to lay there for 2 hours is plain laziness on their part. I can understand that they would want her to rest quietly for a short period, but beyond that, it's not right or fair.

Additionally, during this meeting, I would insist that she is placed in the class with children her own age.

If they will not do this, I'd look for another preschool.

Glad to read your SWH before I wrote, I..

One thing I would do if I were you is to call the school your daughter will be attending next year for kindergarten. Ask them if their kids nap. That will help you know what will be expected next year. My second son had full day kinder (unlike my older son) and they napped on little mats. So I made sure he had quiet time on his bed everyday the year before so he'd be used to it, even though he was no longer sleeping.

Dawn

Wow, two hours for nap time? That sounds torturous! I would tell them that they must accommodate her and let her play quietly or read books etc or you will have to find another center. It is not reasonable to think that every day for 2 hours she has to do this. There are tons of non-nappers---At our pre-school we wouldn't force anyone to lay down. If they didn't nap, they could play in the playroom for however long they desired.(we had a teacher in there to watch and one to watch the nappers) If they changed their minds and got tired, they were free to go to their nap mat and take a snooze. I hope you resolve this quickly!

It's a policy for a reason. Some kids still need naps. Why should change policy for your child? As far as her being in a class with you get kids you are probally stuck there too. Most kids don't have to do 2 years of prek.

Most centers do require a "rest period" or nap time for a specified amount of time and at the preschool both of my boys attended, they had nap time, 2 hours, until they went to Kindergarten. The entire room is dark, so all the kids are required to lay down, whether they sleep or not. My youngest one will be 4 in December and still takes 2 hours naps, and my oldest one took naps until he started Kindergarten. I think most centers you will find follow this practice.

First thing, I would ask what she will be allowed to do during 'quiet time'?

If she truly is THE ONLY one in her class that does not nap it shouldn't be too hard for the teacher to set her up at a table and allow her to color or play quietly with some toys somewhere.

This school's policy doesn't work for child, simple as that. Find out what they can do to for her and if they have no solution for you it might be best if you find somewhere else for her to attend pre-k.

~For what it's worth, all 3 of my kids were completely done napping at 2y/o and out of my 7 kids total (2 stepsons, 3 bio-kids + 2 nephews) I only had 1 of them who napped past 4y/o! I think having a school policy that states 4 and 5 y/olds have to nap or have 2 hours of quiet time is a little severe and unrealistic?

In Oklahoma ALL children not full time enrolled in school MUST have a scheduled nap time. They do not have to go to sleep but they must lay down and be quiet for at least part of it so that the children who nap can have no distractions.

Once they become full time school kids they are not required by the state to participate in nap time.

So if you were in Oklahoma she would still be required to lay down for the nap time. She would only have to lay quietly and not sleep if she didn't want to. Once the other children were asleep they would most likely let her have something quiet on the cot with her so she would be occupied for the 1 1/2-2 hours for nap time. Some will also have some activity the child can do at a table but they cannot disturb the children who are asleep.

The classroom is not to have lights on, the windows darkened, quiet music playing, no talking or moving stuff around. It is absolutely quiet time.

Again, once the other children are asleep the individual center will have their own policy about how they manage kids that don't sleep. Not required means they don't have to if the center chooses to allow them to get up and do quiet activities but it can also mean they can do quiet things on their cot like reading a book or doing a puzzle.

Here's the Oklahoma State licensing statement about nap time for non-sleepers. There is a LOT more said about the lighting and that it must be at least 80% dark in the room. Enough light to see their faces but dark otherwise.

http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/C###-###-####-C005-45D1...

This is from page 33:

"(d) Rest arrangements for preschool children.

(1) There is an individually assigned cot, bed, or mat with bedding for each preschool child who remains more than five consecutive hours in the child care center.

(2) Children who do not sleep have quiet activities available and are not required to remain on their cots or mats for an entire nap period.

When our daughter was in daycare, theydid not have to sleep, but they did need tostada on their mats and be quiet. They could look/read books or pay quietly on their mats.. But this was only for an hour..

I agree to set up a meeting. If hey cannot accomidate you, find a new place that meets your needs.