Parent has asked for 2 year old to have no sleep during 11 hour day with me

[childminder90210]

Title says it all really parent has asked for 2 year old child not to have a sleep during the day as npt sleeping well at night, but child is with me for 11 hours and I feel its a bit unrealistic but unsure how to deal with this as n
ever been asked this before. My response so far has been well all i can do is try. Have you ever had this before and how did you deal with it as I feel its a little unfair to expect a child to go over 11 hours without a sleep at that age when its quite busy some days here too. Any thoughts or experiences welcome thanks

Can I just say a massive thank youto all of you who have corroborated the napping can lead to ridiculous bedtime issue? My nanny's attitude and the attitude of some of my friends I talked to about the problem - with their 2 hour a day napping 3 and 4 year olds - was that a few minutes sleep didn't make any difference. Well it bloody well did and it was a nightmare.

I remember when my (otherwise lovely nanny) was on notice and when asked about sleep she would say "oh, he just closed his eyes for a few minutes" and I would seethe knowing that was another miserable evening ahead for all of us while she would be at home doing as she jolly well pleased having caused the issue.

bbcessex, I think something similar was happening at DD's nursery until we stamped our feet and she went into the bigger children's room when the others were napping. Turning the lights down, playing soothing music and encouraging DD to lie on a bed was trying to get her to nap (because it's quite nice to have them all napping at the same time, no?), not "letting her sleep if she asks to"

I am also just incredibly jealous of parents of 2, 3, 4 year olds who still get an hour or so to themselves when their little ones are napping!

Italiana, you sound very certain but I think that you are slightly misguided.

I would agree that most children aged 2 do actually need an afternoon sleep. However, some clearly do not. We have the exact problem that familiessharegerms talks about - getting into a vicious cycle of nap -late bedtime - tired in am - nap - late bedtime, hideously screamy etc etc etc.

There is commonly, IME, a period where the nap is on its way out that is tricky to manage. Some day sleep messes up bedtime, but no day sleep makes the child a bit grumpy and tired in the day.

Surely, what nannies and childminders should be doing is working with the parents to meet the needs of the individual child, not trying to impose a one-size-fits-all policy on sleep on all their charges? It can be tempting to think that all children are like the children you've known to date (or like the books say they should be) but in reality there is a wide spectrum of normal (not suggesting that you're doing this OP, by the way!).

On the issue of waking a child, really, you shouldn't feel bad about this. If I get a rare chance for an afternoon nap, then I have to set an alarm to ensure I don't sleep longer than an hour or so otherwise I'm up until 2 a.m. and therein starts a horrible cycle of late to bed, overtired ... Some children are the same.

I think the truth of the matter is that in family life, everyone's needs should be met as far as possible. Obviously, knowingly depriving a child of needed sleep is cruel, as is prodding them awake when they are so tired they are falling asleep in their food. But there is nothing wrong with avoiding the things that always send you child to sleep (cars, pram rides) if you know a sleep's not in their best interests in the long term.

I have only read page one, and I am amazed at all the people saying it is cruel, and poor child etc

She is 2

All 3 of my dcs dropped their last nap at 2. Then they had NO daytime naps for (wait for the shock) 12 whole hours between waking up and going to sleep!!!

One of the 3 dcs would have a down time after lunch (tv usually) and he fell asleep about 2x per week. Other 2 dcs didn't fall asleep.

When I was a kid, my brothers and i also dropped our naps at around 2.

Some kids go on napping til 3 or 4, some don't.

As a CM and a parent, I want to share my mixed experience on this topic.

Each child is different. Likewise, each day is different.

As a parent, my DD2 dropped her daytime sleep before she was 2. Purely because bedtimes were horrendous. The worse time was 2-3.30pm, she perked up once DD1 came home from school.

As a childminder, it can be very difficult keeping a tetchy 2yo awake. They perhaps don't respond to you the way your own child would.

However, having the experience I had with my DDs, I fully empathise with the parents in this situation. Late to bed; tired irritable parents; etc.... Therefore, I support the decision of no daytime sleep.

What I don't agree with, is one of my parents that let their child nap during the day at a weekend, yet I work my butt off keeping them awake in the week as requested!! Total routine breaker!

But the child in question does appear to need a sleep

But steppemum did you not let them sleep or was it something they no longer needed?
I think you should try making the naps shorter, if the child really needs a nap its unfair

I childmind a 3 yr old, who does not really need a sleep any more, but his mother has asked me to let him nap for approx 30mins after lunch, so he doesn't fall asleep on the way home in the car. Falling asleep later in the day makes her night-time a battle ground. I think this family might find that instead of a short nap at 11am, their child will fall asleep on the school run later in the day.

This child does not seem to have trouble getting to sleep at night, but is waking during the night, so perhaps the suggestion of a sleep diary is a good one (ie ... does child wake when the next door neighbour leaves for shift work, when the heating comes on, or whatever).

As others have said, it's always a tricky stage when they are starting to grow out of the need for a sleep.

with mine 2 of them moved to a bed at this age. before they moved, I would put them in a cot and they would cry for quite a while then fall asleep (before that they wouldn't cry, but would settle and snuggle.) So they were already protesting the nap. Once we moved to the bed, they simply would not stay in it.

My ds was tired and probably did still need his nap, but short of tying him to the bed there was no way. We did down time for about 1 year. After lunch, quiet dvd and rest on sofa. He sat still for that half and hour (unheard of at other times) and about once every 3 days he actually fell asleep.

dd2 dropped her nap earlier than that as she climbed out of her cot at 18 months. By then I had a car, and we often went for a drive after lunch, she fell asleep within about 2 minutes in the car. By 2 she wasn't that bothered so I stopped the car. They all fell asleep in the car at awkward times too.

Yes, they were at times tired and needed sleep, but wouldn't go down. If they slept at all after 1pm then we had trouble with bed time. I never tried to keep them awake

So op what had you been doing?

If no am sleep does charge fall asleep in buggy on way to school?

Not misguided but guided by children's physical needs especially those in care for 11 hours a day

After 86 messages it is obvious we have so many opinions and no agreement so hope this c/ms will find a compromise with the parent for everyone's benefit ?

But italiana, not all children's phsyical needs are the same!

Exactly !
I had a mother who insisted her child get 1 hour sleep each afternoon so the child was duly put in bed only to stare at the ceiling for the whole time as I checked him regularly...at least he got a rest
Another insisted I wake the child after 1 1/2 hours...the first did not need the sleep as he was nearly 4, the second being a baby did and got woken up in the middle...which is right and which is wrong?