Nursery letting DS sleep

[Motherofmonsters]

DS 2.5 goes to nursery on a Friday.

At home he doesn't have a nap but sometimes will at nursery which is generally okay as it's a much busier day.

However they 'promote healthy sleep' which means they aren't allowed to wake children up from a nap.

My problem is DS will not go to bed at 6.30 if they let him sleep longer than an hour. He ends up staying up to 8.30/9. Today they've let him sleep 2.15 hours!

They sent me a message to say they've woken him up even though they're not meant to but surely as the parent I should be able to allow them to wake him.

Do other nurseries wake their children?

When I was a Nanny, I had parents say that they didn't want their child to nap. That child was so wiped out she'd fall asleep walking on the school run or would be lying on the floor playing with toys one minute and be asleep the next. That child clearly needed an afternoon nap!

My 8yo sleeps for 11.5hrs at least most nights. A 2 year old sleeping 6.30-7.00 sounds pretty average. My youngest had a 6pm bedtime at that age, we had to leave the house at 7 (and I often got her up at 6.55 for a quick nappy change before we left!)

Yes, some nurseries do indeed curtail sleep, depending. Our branches for example will allow an hour minimum if parent expresses his IF the child is not constantly tired and if they are getting enough at night.

DD1's friend had to be in bed by 7pm all through primary school, which I think is too early, but not for a toddler.

If a child is tired during the day then they are less open to learning

Well, sure, but making them not sleep at night by allowing too much sleep in the day will hardly be conducive to that either. Plus nurseries are there for the benefit of parents, so they can work, and they pay through the nose for the privilege. If parents are tired during the day due to being kept up all night by a toddler who has had too much daytime sleep then they will be "less open" to performing well at work and may drive tired and even cause an accident.

It has to be looked at holisitically and surely some compromise can be found.

Nurseries have to do what is best for the child. Of course waking a child from a nap is fine. But the situation the nanny describes above of parents who do not want an exhausted child to nap also happens. I don't care if that means the child sleeps longer then making it easier for the parent, it is wrong.

I think if you are very particular about naps etc then you need to get a nanny.

OFSTED would have something to say if they saw a childcare provider preventing an EYFS child's sleep or forcing them to wake up before they were ready just for the convenience of the parents in the evening

Rubbish. If we left some of the 2 year olds to sleep at my nursery they would sleep for HOURS. Not realistic

Waking up is fine. But if a child was obviously desperately tired and not being allowed to nap, they would be rightly slammed by OFSTED.

I've never come across any controversy about 'naps' except on Mumsnet. I always let mine sleep when they wanted to, I'd often sleep with them. My idea of sheer bliss is being allowed to nap if I feel I need to - and not be woken! I'm going to have one now, cu l8a. zzzzzzz

If I wrote on Mumsnet that my toddler/preschooler wouldn’t settle down until 10/11pm and was exhausted in the morning, I guarantee one of the first suggestions would be to cut down on daytime naps or make sure they don’t nap after a certain time. If daytime naps aren’t a problem for your kids then crack on but for some kids they do mess with nighttime sleep.

@ArfArfBarf No the advice is often to introduce naps.

When my grandson was at nursery they had an early lunch then all lay down on little mattresses with blankets for an hour of 'quiet time'. At the end of the hour they were all encouraged to get up - some had slept, some had giggled. 6.30 obviously works for the OP's toddler so is not too early a bedtime. Being 'shocked' is a bit of an overreaction IMO.

I started school when I was four. In the afternoon we were all given flat little cushions to put on our desks and told to fold our arms and put our heads on them to have a sleep. zzzzzzz for an hour.