Naps are an important part in promoting health and wellbeing for children in early childhood education and care environments. They offer growing bodies the chance to recharge, regenerate and recuperate and ensure young children have the energy to manage a busy afternoon in care.

There are no laws which dictate how child care providers should offer naps and there are no guidelines or frameworks to determine whether children should be woken from a nap, how long they should be permitted to sleep and whether they can be denied a sleep altogether if that is what a parent requests.

Under National Quality Standard 2.1 each child's health is promoted. Element 2.1.2 states that providers are required to ensure: Each child's comfort is provided for and there are appropriate opportunities to meet each child's need for sleep, rest and relaxation.

This is all very good and well but doesn't stipulate what a provider should do if a parent asks them to wake their child up at a certain time or requests that they don't let a child sleep at all as they believe it is affecting their child's ability to sleep through the night.

Depriving a child of a nap altogether when they need it is a bad idea and most early childhood education and care professionals would be reluctant to follow this course of action. Waking a sleeping child seems to be more of a grey area and a thorough search of sleep and nap related articles online would suggest that there is no clear way to handle this issue.

Given that the NQS clearly requires early childhood education and care providers to supply children with the opportunity to sleep according to their needs it would seem the best way to tackle the issue is by clearly addressing your operating procedures in your sleep policy.

A review of a number of sleep policies posted online by Australian child care providers revealed that many directly address the topic of waking children up on the request of parent. The operating norm it would seem is that children are allowed to sleep for as long as they need unless the parents have stipulated that they be woken up after a certain amount of time has elapsed.

If you don't believe children should be woken up and your operating procedure is to let them sleep until they wake of their own accord then you should set this out clearly in your policy. Writing a sleep policy that is explicit and direct about the benefits of letting children sleep and the reasons why your service does not wake children will hopefully reduce the likelihood of you having to negotiate with a parent who wants you to treat their child differently.

Discussions about sleep should happen when a new family enrols in your service, take time to explain your sleep policy and how it works and give parents the opportunity to provide information on any sleep routines their child has at home. Ensuring you are on the same sheet from the outset will hopefully avoid the need for any awkward conversations and will hopefully facilitate the free flow of conversation as a child grows and their sleep needs change.

It's helpful to remember that many families view early childhood education and care providers as experts on childhood development and may ask for help with any sleep issues they are having with their child. The information below may be helpful for sharing with concerned and sleep-deprived parents:

• Acknowledge how hard it is to have a child who isn't sleeping at night. When a child doesn't sleep the parents don't sleep and everyone is exhausted. Remember, none of us are at our best when we feel sleep deprived! Remind the parents of your sleep policy and what you do to support healthy sleeping habits within your service.
• When parents ask about night time waking, or getting their child to sleep through the night, there is no one strategy that will work for all families. Help parents think through what they will do when the child wakes up so that they have a plan. The plan might include quietly going into the child's room, waiting a few minutes before going in, or safely co-sleeping.
• Help parents understand that it is important to be consistent in responding to a waking child. When parents do the same thing every night the child will know what to expect.
• Ask about the family's bedtime routine, a lot of infants and toddlers sleep better when they eat dinner and go to bed at the same time every night. A bedtime routine might include some activities like bath time, brushing teeth, stories, or a short cuddle and off to sleep. Over time a consistent routine will be a cue that it is time to calm down and be ready for sleep.
• Point out that changes such as teething, developmental milestones or lifestyle changes such as moving house, the arrival of a new baby, house guests or divorce may lead a child to have problems sleeping.
• Just like adults, babies and toddlers can react to stress by losing sleep. Think about the child's experiences while you are with her – have there been any changes in caregivers, peers, or classrooms? Ask the family if there is anything going on in their lives that might be stressful. If so, find out if there are ways that you can support the family and the child.
• Some parents have found that "white noise," that is, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, a fan, or running water helps their baby sleep. If that works try recording the sound to play back during sleep times. A fan can also provide some white noise to drown outside sounds and lull a child to sleep. The white noise can be comforting because it is similar to the sounds babies experienced in the womb.

References

Early Head Start National Resource Center, News You Can Use July 2009