Are nurseries not allowed to wake babies from naps?

[Maternityleavelady]

Is there a new (or indeed old) rule/guideline/policy from government/dept of education/ofsted or some other official body that says that nursery workers may not wake a sleeping baby aged under 2?

I have always asked nurseries to cap my children’s naps after a certain time, to ensure they sleep easily at night, but now my nursery is telling me they aren’t allowed to do this!

if anyone can point me in the direction of the relevant policy/rule please I would be very grateful. Thanks

Ours says they're not allowed to wake sleeping children.

They also say kids can't go in for 24 hours after they've had any calpol which is incredibly annoying and I think callous. Depriving a teething baby of pain relief.

If parents ask us to only allow 1 hour nap then that's what we would do, but we're not to wake them for any other reason for example all other children are awake and it's garden time 1 staff member would stay in with sleeping child and 2 other children (rato) then go out when child wakes.

Calpol rule is silly we give calpol in our nursery, altho we have that rule for antibiotics.

@ZenNudist obviously you were able to keep one child 1:1 awake if you wanted to at home, but really what were you expecting nursery staff to do with a child falling asleep at the table?
They'd have multiple children and staff busy doing things at tea time, clean up and nappy changes before end of day tidying - realistically how were they going to keep an exhausted child awake

I’d be surprised if nursery would follow a separate schedule for an individual baby. They are all put down for naps at the same time.

It's discussed in this article.

Ours follow whatever routine the parents request in the baby room. At two it's up to toddlers and then the nap happens at a scheduled time.

I thought nurseries were expected to follow the home routine for babies, all the ones we viewed said they would.

All this never wake a sleeping baby lark is utter rubbish.

No 2 children are the same. The same as no 2 adults are the same. Sleep needs differ. Some toddlers have higher sleep needs than others. Some less.

By not capping a nap you actually risk making tiredness worse. As if it impacts on night times it then means less night sleep, more tired the next day and an ongoing cycle. There is only so much sleep an individual needs in 24 hours. Have 3 of those hours at lunchtime and you have a restless night when your most important sleep occurs.

This would be a total deal breaker for me with a nursery.

There is scientific evidence supporting allowing babies to sleep as much as they need and this is what we, as a nursery, prefer to do. We won’t wake a baby within a sleep cycle, which is generally around 45min so we will refuse to wake after half hour, for example for this reason. Some babies that are woken before they are ready can be really upset and it is awful to do that to them and then be too busy with other children to just be able to sit and cuddle them. At home it is likely to be a more gentle awakening than in a busy nursery. They are also more tired and stimulated at nursery which is likely another reason they may not sleep
so well at home after a busy day.

We follow home routines for nap times and it makes no difference regarding staff lunch break when babies sleep.

However on the whole we will work with parents to do what is best for the baby and family. Restricted naps are more often requested in the toddler room, especially closer to 2.5/3yo.

The trouble is that parents will generally feel that their situation with their child is reasonable, they know what works for them and their child, the nursery should just do what they say. But not all parents actually are reasonable. Some will say: I don't care how tired the toddler is, and if they're falling asleep in their lunch, don't let them sleep. If they start to drop off, wake them up. Under no circumstances let them nap. Because the parent finds it easier if the child is tired and goes straight to bed when they get home. But it isn't fair to the child or the nursery staff to be shaking a half-comatose toddler awake as they doze into their pasta, or if a child was very tired and is difficult to wake up at the end of the permitted nap, to force them awake. So a nursery having a policy of not capping naps, and saying they won't force a child to stay awake, covers them for parents who have unreasonable expectations.

An example policy might be: "We will distract and discourage sleep if a parent/carer has requested for the child not to sleep, however we will not physically keep your child awake. Similarly, if the child does not want to sleep, we will not force them."

Up to a point, when your child attends a group care setting, you have to accept that they cannot completely match what you do with them at home. There are many other children to care for as well and staff could never meet every child's individual routine, there has to be some expectation that your child fits into the schedule of the day.

I remember kind of asking dd1s naps to be cut short but realistically I thought they probably wouldn’t. I don’t think you can expect them to really

I find most parents have issues at bedtime because they see a hyper child who is bouncing off the walls....which is actually over tiered or they need support with a bedtime routine over a few weeks support they generally settle to a good 12 to 14 hours in 24

Mine do. He is 9 months so in the baby room.

They asked about home routines and are more than happy to follow his schedule as closely as possible including waking him up for naps to be sure he's ready for bedtime at 7 and then will sleep all night.

Some parents want their kids woken up after an hour or so, others fine to let them sleep as long as they need. Some of the kids sleep for 2-3 hours and i feel very envious of them and wish I could nap too!

@uhtredsonofuhtred1 thanks for the solidarity- glad to know I am not the only one with a child who needs limited naps! We are absolutely considering changing childcare providers if this otherwise great nursery can’t see sense! Thanks for sharing your experience

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz i agree. I can imagine her dropping her naps completely earlier than average (as did I when I was a baby)

@Bibbitybobbitty thanks for the references - I will check those out.
It’s very easy for my DC to wake up after 45/50 mins - I just say her name and open the curtains and she wakes easily and then sleeps well all night when this happens. She has an extremely disturbed night when she sleeps for 1.5-2 hours like the nursery want her to

@readingmakesmehappy that calpol rule is crazy too!

We had a few children with nap caps! wasnt too hard to deal with. I know we wouldnt allow it till the 1.5 age group. We also told parents no if there dear little child would wake up a mess (we had one that would refuse snack after nap, toss toys and just generally cause a rucckas if we woke him at 2 insted of 3)

Have you asked them to try waking her very gently, and leave her to sleep if it doesn't work? They may be more open to it if you're clear you're not insisting she be woken no matter what. But that does depend on a nursery where staff aren't required to follow every policy to the letter.