toddler sleeping at nursery?

Question

My friend at woek has a 19 month old son and wants to know if it is illegal to wake the child while he is asleep in nursery.

The nursery nurses have advised the mother that they are not allowed to wake the toddler.

Please advise

I am in the UK

Answer 1

I had exactly the same problem.
My daughter was 2 & had been at nursery for a year when I decided that because she wasn't sleeping properly at night I'd drop the day sleep, this worked fine for the 4 days she was home with me but at nursery we found because she was used to the routine of napping with her friends and because she was probably more active during the 9hrs at nursery she needed at least a 40minute sleep not the 90min sleep she was having at nursery.
I soon noticed that on certain days after nursery she was a complete nightmare to get to sleep & kept waking in the night & then getting up at 5am when I approached the nursery assistant who was her keyworker for 2 of her 3days at school she told me not only was it illegal but she felt it cruel to wake a sleeping child as she was obviously very tired.
"of course she's bloody tired, she was up at 5am let alone that it took her till 10pm to fall asleep when she is normally asleep by 7pm & not to mention the 3 times she woke in the night" I told this so called carer that I PAY YOUR WAGES & that she would look after my daughter the way I told her to & if she did not like it then prehaps we should go & speak to the nursery manager, afterall I have had 2 children at this nursery & my routine with MY children had never been disregarded before she was employed, futhermore I told her I wanted her to provide proof that it is illegal to wake a sleeping child - this is something I never recieved, I also spoke to the manager who apologised as I told her that I would not hesitate to take my daughter out of their £500.00 per month care & report the said carer to ofsted for providing false information to parents.
Tell said nursery to do the job you have employed her to do & it is in the end your choice how you raise your babie no matter what she thinks because even if he is in nursery 5 days a week nobody knows him like you do.

Answer 2

It is not illegal. Maybe your friend is requesting that they do not allow the child to sleep at all and the nursery nurses are saying that they cannot prevent the baby from falling asleep.? This I can understand as it is very difficult to stop a child from falling asleep. But if your friend told them that the child could only sleep for a certain amount of time and then they should wake him, then I can't see why that would be a problem. A 19 month old would need a little nap, especially after a busy morning in nursery.

Answer 3

It isnt that they are not allowed its just the reality of nursery life. I have my son at both his grandma's and at nursery. At first I was fussy about it but at the end of the day they have routines to there days as well. When you hand over your child to a nursery or a family carer because you cant look after them then I personally feel I have to accept any anomolies to his normal day to ensure that he can fit in with the scheme of things. My son never naps at home but he is far more active at nursery and sometimes he literally falls asleep in his food. As for limiting nap times, if you tried to wake my son in the middle of a nap he would scream the place down, thus creating havoc with all the other sleeping children. So no, its not illegal but its not home either.

Answer 4

yes that does seem odd. Every daycare i worked at feed them lunch then nap. Like we have lunch at 11:15 then put the kids down by noon and sleep 12:15-230. Kids sleep better with a full stomach. I wounder why they do it that way. Anyway, I guess if that is how they do it I would do it the same at home. It can be confusing for a little one. Kids who come only 1 day a week usually have lots of problems because they can not follow the routines, We recommend at least 3 days a week.

Answer 5

Nurseries usually have a set nap-time. But if mother requests otherwise, then they should follow this.
Your friend should know that at 19 mnths they stil need a little nap in the day.

Answer 6

Nurseries have strict guidelines. They cannot tell a parent if their child has nits, only issue a general warning. We are PC mad these days. It's not illegal to wake a child just policy I suspect.

Answer 7

They are allowed to wake up the toddler that is rubbish to say that they cant what about meal times do they leave him sleep? or if he needs to be changed? When my daughter was at nursery i told them how long she should sleep for, because it was the same as home they are talking balls tell your friend to tell them.

Answer 8

I'm sure the nursery would be more than happy to follow a routine the mother makes for the child, otherwise i guess they use their own routines.

Answer 9

i have never heard this before! my son in a great daycare but when nap time is up they get them up still sleeping or not. i think they do lunch around 11:30 to 12:00 then nap till around 2:00 then they have snack and go outside. i would check on it if it is causing problems, but sounds like they just let them sleep all they want probably so they have more break time(the teachers i mean)

Answer 10

is it hecks like i would say that the woman is been like that coz if you wake a child up he or she may cry and wake up then she will have a load of crying babys oh the woman