Is it right for me to ask this?

Question

My daughter (almost 3yrs) will NOT go to sleep at night. She's just not tired, she's not even wired, she's perfectly content just watching tv in the dark.

My daycare lady puts down for a nap at noon and lets her sleep 2 hours and she has to wake her up and make her walk around to get her fully awake because if it were up to my daughter she would sleep for 3 hours. (probably because she didnt go to sleep until late the night before)

She usually wakes up early on the weekdays because she hears me clonking around and getting ready so I'd say about 6:30am but on the weekends she sleeps until about 8am.

Okay so is it okay for me to ask my sitter to cut naps out? Is that a good idea or maybe cut them down to 1 hour? I'm having a hard time with this because I know how stressfull it can be with 5 screaming kids and wanting just a few hours of peace and quiet. I dont want to take her only moment of peace away but at the same time Avery will not go to bed!

Answer 1

I think it would be okay for you to ask her to cut out the naps. My daughter is a little over 2 and she hasn't napped regularly for months. If she gets really tired though, she will. Also, I know she likes it, but I would turn the TV off about an hour before bedtime. That's what we do with our daughter. That way she can wind down and it's also a cue that bedtime is near. Best of luck to you!

Answer 2

Firstly, does she have a TV in her room? Big mistake in my opinion. Come 7 or 8 o clock, turn off the tv. If she wants to read/look at a book in bed then fair enough but no TV. She will soon get bored and go to sleep rather than look at a book. Her body clock is all over the place as she's staying up late, then waking up early, then being woken up from her nap in the day.

I think you're perfectly within your rights to ask for no nap, even if you do it for a test week to see how much different it is. Good luck!

Answer 3

If she wanted peace and quiet in her life, then she shouldn't have gotten into babysitting in the first place.

Tell her that you are having problems getting your child asleep at night, and you want to cut back on her nap time.  Tell her to start with 1 1/2 hrs, then cut back to 1 hr.  If you notice your child is more tired at home, then have the sitter cut back to 1/2 hr.  Your child sleeping at home is more important then a sitters "quiet time"!

Answer 4

I would NOT cut out your child's naps.  Children this age still need that break in their awake time.  I think you would find things get worse if you tried to cut the nap out.  

It sounds to me like your child needs the sleep based on how late she sleeps in on the weekend, and how difficult it is for the sitter to wake her from the nap.  She may have 3 hour sleep cycles, which make it harder to wake her after only 2 hours of sleep.

Some children become overstimulated and can't fall asleep at night.  I would try turning off the TV at bedtime and reading some books instead.  It is a much calmer activity, plus it's a nice way to spend some bonding time each day with your child.

You could also try using a lullaby CD in her room at night while she is falling asleep.  They're really soothing and seem to work really well too.

If you still have trouble, I would check with the doctor to see what they think about it.   Good luck!

Answer 5

not at all

when my 3 yr old took naps she wouldnt go to sleep till 2 or 3 in the morning and now she is asleep no later then one

she likes to fight going to sleep we have to make her is on our laps and make her sit still when she falls asleep she we put her in bed other wise she wont go to sleep. shes afraid that she will miss out on something

Answer 6

Don't take away the nap!  She (your daughter) probably needs them more then going to bed on time.  Why are you letting your daughter watch tv at night?  Take it away, insist on a routine, and tell her she can be out of bed but she needs to play quietly in her room.  Wake her up on the weekends, even if you don't want her up, at a consistent time - every day of the week.  Put a white noise machine in her room - we use a HEPA filter fan to drown out extraneous noise.  

The more routine bedtime and waking are, the easier it will be for her to fall asleep at night and get with it in the morning.  Sleep is so important for kids, well, all of us - and kids often don't get enough.  If she's sleeping through naps like that she probably isn't getting enough sleep.

Answer 7

Most states require some sort of rest time. Also, if she is that difficult to wake after 2 hours imagine what she would be like after 1. Try putting her to bed a little later, after a warm bath, and keep the TV off.

Answer 8

My daycare does the same thing with my daughter and son, and it make it very difficult to get them to bed at a decent hour at night and then they have a hard time waking up in the morning. but when i have them on weekends and they don't take a nap they go to bed fine. I have talked to my day care facility and my daughter now sits and reads while the other kids take a nap and it has become a lot better at bed time =}

Answer 9

Yea its fine it is your kid. Just explain to the sitter the probelm your having and i'm sure she'll understand. I think my mom had the same probelm with me and my sis when we were younger with the naps. So try to at least cut nap time down to an hour/half an hour and if that doesnt work take it out completely. Because its bad for the kid to not go to bed early and go to bed late everynight just so the sitter can have some peace and quiet.

Answer 10

You are paying her for a service. Make sure you get the service you want. Just explain your dilemma, Im sure she will be more than willing to help out!

Answer 11

Not your problem if she is watching too many children. Tell her to cut out naps for a while- quiet time will do. See if you can reverse the problem that way.

Answer 12

i would say cut her naps, she will be tired and sleepy by 8pm probably

Answer 13

It certainly is ok for you to ask the sitter to cut out naps. It may be a tough couple of days (for everyone) but it may be what is needed in order for your daughter to sleep at night.

What's better? Them having a rough afternoon or two, or you having a rough night every night (and then going in to work!)?

Talk to your sitter. I'm sure she will understand.

Answer 14

I know that in my state, by state regulation, a child in a daycare setting has to "rest" for at least a half hour. Now this doesn't have to be sleep time, but at least laying down.

This could be the issue with asking not to be put down for a nap. Does your daughter fall asleep immediatly? If not then maybe after that half hour she can get up.

How we did it is, if a parent requested no nap, then we would state regulations to them and let them know that after the half hour the children go to a seperate room for quiet play (coloring, puzzles, books, etc). They seemed to be okay with that.

So after all that, it is not unreasonable to ask you provider to cut naps as long as you understand that she may have to lay down for a bit.

Some things that you can do at home and what we do is have a nightly routine. Ours goes like this

7 pm-- clean up toys

after that--brush teeth, wash hands, wash face (or bath, we   don't bath nightly as my girls have severe dry skin and only bath everyother night or if dirty)

then it is-- story time and short cuddle

8pm-- goodnight

Hope this helps.