Naptime at the crèche

CPTM

My daughter (3 yrs) and one other child in her crèche room has outgrown their nap. The problem is that the rest of the kids in her room still nap which means that for 1 to 1.5 hours she is being told to sit quiet in a dark room and do something like a puzzle. We're told sometimes that she's "not listening" around naptime which probably means she's not complying and wants to play in the garden with the kids from the other room that she can see through the partition window. Sometimes she can join them but because of ratios sometimes she can't.

To be honest she's a very happy child who is miserable going in there in the mornings and I feel bad for her.

But just on the naptime and having to sit in a dark room. Is this standard for anyone else as well?

drunkmonkey

I’d be kicking back at them if she’s not happy going in, seems kinda cruel to have her left alone, let her out to play.

CPTM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123571487#Comment_123571487

Thanks.. Problem is the ratios. Well not a problem per se, but they say if she goes out to play with the other class they would be breaking ratio rules. Sometimes there is a kid from that class away on holidays and she's allowed out to play with them.

Big Bag of Chips

Are the same ratios needed in a room full of sleeping children?

Surely they can spare a minder in that room to cover the children who are awake rather than having them all there watching children sleeping.

CPTM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123571504#Comment_123571504

No as far as I know, the legal rules around ratios don’t change just because the kids are asleep unfortunately. It's probably made worse by the fact there are staff lunch breaks etc.

salmocab

my wife runs a crèche and this comes up regularly. They can’t shift kids about because of staffing ratios. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place

the_amazing_raisin

My kids creche would limit the naptime of the pre-school room (3-4yo) to 45 minutes and the kids who didn't take naps would go into the garden

It worked but it was a bit of a shock for the kids who were used to 2 hour naps

I think one of the managers would step in during their lunch break to stop the ratios from getting broken

I know the creche would try to maintain an extra staff member for situations where someone was taking a break or they needed to keep the ratio correct

Problem is they're short staffed a lot of the time anyway, like many creches