A child does not sleep in kindergarten: how long does quiet time last in a childcare center, why does the baby not want to rest, what needs to be done and how to put it to bed?

Most often, children develop a negative attitude towards kindergarten precisely because of quiet time. Every trip to the garden begins with a storm of protests and objections, and it is often difficult to understand what causes such hysterics. Is this a common whim or an individual peculiarity of the baby? Why does a child refuse to sleep in the garden? How to help a child fall asleep and what advice can be given to parents and educators in this case?

How long does a child's nap last in kindergarten?

Children are usually put to bed at one o'clock. Sleep lasts two hours, but in different age groups the time may be longer.

Let's look at these differences using the example of different age groups:

The younger group , unlike the rest, may be given not two hours to sleep, but three, as in a nursery.
The average group sleeps for two hours most often.
The senior group sleeps for two to one and a half hours, the same as the preparatory group.

Sleep time may vary in different kindergartens.

How are babies laid out?

Before quiet time, children must have lunch, then wash their hands and face, and visit the toilet.
After that they go to the bedroom. Teachers immediately pay attention to children who find it difficult to calm down and get ready for sleep; they can come up to them and ask what is bothering them, patting them on the back.

Why doesn't the baby want to go to bed during quiet time?

Refusal to sleep can be caused by various reasons:

Difficult adaptation. The adaptation period can be very difficult for some guys; it can manifest itself not only in refusal to sleep.
This is a period of adaptation to new conditions - constant contact with other children, a new regime and rules, early separation from mother... To make the adaptation period easier, you need to prepare the child for a new life in advance: tell him about the kindergarten, explain that this is a new step on the way to growing up. It is important to try to spend as much time as possible with your child - play with him, read before bed, ask him how his day went, what new things he saw or learned today.
Sleep patterns are disrupted. The cause may be irregular bedtime and short sleep, insomnia. The child may simply not want to sleep on time. To avoid this problem, just try to put your baby to bed at the same time, and before bedtime, reduce all active games and distractions (TV, bright lights) to a minimum.
The baby woke up late and was not tired. Waking up late can also be a reason for not sleeping. In this case, by the time of daytime sleep, the child simply does not have time to get tired. The optimal wake time for children aged 3–6 years is about 6 hours. It is necessary to find the optimal time to get up in the morning. Start waking up your baby at 6:30-7:00.
The child cannot relax. This may also be due to difficult adaptation. You can let your child put his favorite toy in the crib, so he will feel calmer. Reading out loud is soothing.
Other children are in the way. This also happens often; in this case, you can ask the teacher to come up with some kind of activity for the troublemaker, for example, drawing or plasticine, so as not to distract other children from sleep. Read below for tips for teachers on how to put children to sleep easier.
Fear of separation from mother. It increases the child’s anxiety, it is important for parents to provide psychological support for him, to spend more time outside the kindergarten in joint games. It is important for parents to be sure that they are doing everything correctly, to try to get rid of the feeling of guilt for the fact that the child goes to kindergarten. There is no need to rush to leave the baby for the whole day. First, try to pick him up immediately after sleep and go for a walk together to teach him to happily go to kindergarten.
Hyperexcitability. In this case, you should not force the baby to sleep. Ask the teacher to sit with the child on the crib for a while and stroke his back. This will help the child calm down and fall asleep faster.
Distractions. This could be extraneous noise, the temperature in the room, or the buzzing of insects. Talk to your child's teacher about this feature of your child.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with other materials on the topic of problems of children in kindergarten related to health and adaptation. Read about how to understand that a child is being bullied and teach him to stand up for himself, what to do if your child is often sick, how to strengthen his immunity and whether it is worth taking a sick person to kindergarten, and also what to do if your child refuses to eat or constantly fights .

How should educators behave?

What should a teacher do? It happens that the reason for the refusal to sleep is the teachers themselves.

If a child does not fall asleep, they begin to intimidate him: “If you don’t sleep, I’ll send you to the closet,” “A little gray top will come and bite you on the side.”

In this case, it is important and necessary to talk with the teacher, calmly and diplomatically tell him about what you don’t like. Suggest changing “tactics”.

If, nevertheless, the teacher does not want to meet halfway and stubbornly stands his ground, just take the baby for nap time and put him to bed at home, and then he may begin to sleep in the garden.

If you cannot do this, there is nothing else to do but transfer to another kindergarten. Take a closer look at the emotional background in kindergarten, at other children.

Pay attention to their attitude towards your child, how he perceives them, maybe there are a lot of children in the group and the baby is not yet used to their company? Then just transfer him to another group, where the number of children will be smaller.

Restless fidget

Angelina, mother of 5-year-old Nikita

“My son gets up very early, sometimes he even comes to wake me up. As soon as he opens his eyes, he is already on his feet. But getting dressed or washing quickly is an insurmountable problem, since Nikita is constantly distracted from the task. He urgently needs to run to the toys, rage, jump, scream. But when it comes to washing, dressing and breakfast, problems begin. He plays with water in the bathroom, builds towers out of food at breakfast (and gets “stuck” in the kitchen for half an hour), gets dressed, and gets distracted by toys. And so every morning! How can you get to kindergarten on time?”

Recommendations from a psychologist

At the age of five, children do not know how to keep track of time. At this age, the baby's main activity is play. The entire process of education in kindergarten is built through play. And games can help you with this. Buy a bright alarm clock and an hourglass for the bath. Have a competition. Let the baby wash his face and brush his teeth faster than the sand finishes pouring in. Invite your son to get dressed while you make the bed. Let him have time to have breakfast in 15 minutes, etc... The desire to win will help the baby concentrate on one thing. Surely, the result will please you.

It is important to get your child interested in the game by saying something like: “I bet you can’t get dressed in 3 minutes?” or “Let’s see which of us can tie his shoelaces faster,” and the result won’t take long to arrive.

Most children at this age have not yet developed a sense of responsibility. They don’t understand why they can’t be late for exercise and don’t feel guilty. Children need to be motivated by offering them something they love in return: a trip to the cinema, rides, a new toy. Get your child interested so that he learns to control time himself and strives not to be late in the morning. Just keep the line, don’t let the child take advantage of the position, and reward only for the task when the child really tried.

How to put a baby to bed: tips for educators

In order for preschoolers to go to bed on time, the teacher must follow the daily routine in the group. Thanks to this, children will develop a physiological habit and at the moment of sleep, they will be ready for daytime rest.
It is useful to carry out water procedures. Perform foot soaking, which can also be beneficial in hardening.
Pay attention to the lighting. It should not be bright, and it is advisable to close the curtains.
Different methods can be used for different groups.
So, with children of the younger group, it is best to approach each one individually, talk to them in a calm, friendly manner, you can talk about what wonderful dreams they will have, how they will then tell their mother about it, etc. etc. It is important for babies that when they sleep, they have a favorite thing or toy with them that would remind them of home and mother. You can explain to children from older groups that sleep is a necessary rest for the body.
It is also important that the room has a pleasant environment, without bright colors or any distractions. It is best if the sleeping room is in pastel colors.

From work experience “All children should sleep.” Consultation for educators and parents

Maria Semenchenko

From work experience “All children should sleep.” Consultation for educators and parents

I have been working in kindergarten for a long time . At one time, I, as well as a young mother and at the same time a novice teacher , was faced with the question: “How to put children to bed so that they sleep healthy, long sleep?” Benjamin Spock in the book "Baby and Child Care"

wrote:
“Going to bed
should bring joy to the child .
The main task is not just to convince the child that he needs to sleep , but to set him up for sleep. Educators must use not only pedagogical methods, but also show children their love and concern for them.
should good sleep . First of all, the decor in the bedroom. As is correct, pastel colors should To create a favorable atmosphere, our manager took care of the choice of colors in the bedrooms. The walls are pale pink, the curtains are the same shade, and the bedspreads are pale pink. The bedroom windows are shaded by white sliding blinds. The palace was chosen in a calm light beige color. In the group of kids, everything is in soft light green tones.

When putting children to sleep in different age groups, I use different methods. In the younger group, of course, I approach every child. I talk in a calm, soothing voice, stroke your head, back, shoulders and carefully cover you with a blanket. I say that he will now have a wonderful dream, which he will then tell to me and his mother. And he will not sleep , but with the children and his toy. It’s good when parents bring their child his favorite toy, which he takes with him. She is constantly on the crib and is intended only for sleeping. The toy reminds the baby of his mother and home, and he feels calmer with it.

Before going to bed, in the younger group, I invite the child to go into the bedroom, look at her crib, I say that she has been waiting all day to meet him. From my experience I can say that many children enjoy this process. When they wake up, they tell their mother with great delight about what they saw in their dream, and they felt very good. I tell older children that our body needs rest.

If we don't rest, we will get sick. I give examples, comparing the child’s body with equipment that can break if it is constantly on (for example, a TV, but we have a living organism and we, moreover, need to rest well in order to recuperate. When talking with children, I use the word rest, and don't sleep .

The process of getting ready for bed begins after lunch. I set the children up for sleep immediately after leaving the dinner table. I set a calm tone, saying that the younger children are already asleep . Sometimes we go into the younger group to make sure that the kids are really asleep and we need to be quiet, don’t stomp our feet, don’t noisily move chairs when undressing. Then we go to the washroom, where the necessary procedures are carried out. While undressing the children, I tell them that when they wake up, something new and interesting will be waiting for them, I wish them pleasant dreams. I read or tell fairy tales to children.

Music plays a special role in this process. While putting the children to bed, I sing lullabies to them. It was not without reason that lullabies were sung in ancient times: they have a calming effect on the nervous system. But I usually sing a lullaby, making it up as I go about my day. In small verses, I sing about the good and bad deeds of the children, thereby giving them the opportunity to calmly evaluate both their actions and those of other children. I sing about what they did today, what new things they learned, thereby consolidating past activities in the children’s memory. At the same time, I notice that even those children who have never slept at home during the day get used to it and begin to calmly fall asleep.

Children really like the lullaby song that I composed myself. It is suitable for children of all age groups. I will publish the text in the next post.

Working with parents is of great importance for older children to get used to the daily routine . After all, many parents do not put their children to bed , thereby disrupting their rhythm of life. Even if the child flatly refuses to sleep , it is necessary that he at least just lie in the crib. I often raise this important issue at parent-teacher meetings .

It is also very important how children . In my group there is a rule of “silence”

.
Children not only wake up in silence, but when getting dressed and putting themselves in order, they try not to make noise in order to give the other children the opportunity to wake up in silence. Without opening the blinds, I say in a quiet voice that it’s time to get up. When the awakened children get up , I open the blinds on the windows and slowly begin to wake up those who have not yet woken up: I approach them, talk quietly, affectionately calling them by name, saying that it’s time to wake up.
You probably have a question (how many children are in the group, the children in my group are always over 30, or rather 35-36. Therefore, I teach my children to help me when they wake up, they help with pleasure! When the children get up , stretch, smile at me - An unusually warm feeling of gratitude fills my heart for the fact that they are in my life. And I was lucky enough to find my favorite profession and daily experience a feeling of joy from communicating with children.

Is it possible to replace the daytime rest with something?

Daytime sleep is necessary for the full physical and mental development of children. However, as you age, your need for sleep decreases. This usually happens from 4-5 years of age. Then, instead of sleep, it will be enough to just lie down for a while and listen to a book or play any calm games - blocks, puzzles, drawing (active activities and games are not suitable for normal recuperation). For relaxation at this age, this will be enough.

But in kindergarten, everyone goes to sleep during the day, regardless of age, and parents and teachers are faced with a question that can be solved in two ways:

Parents can pick up their child from kindergarten during nap time and take him to clubs, and then bring him back - in many kindergartens, educational activities and games are held after afternoon tea.
Together with parents whose children also do not sleep during the day, You can negotiate with the teacher about daytime activities for children.
For example, when all the other children in the group are resting, several children can spend time with another teacher in the gym, on a walk, or simply playing together outside the bedroom (this practice also exists, but quite rarely, mainly if the child cannot sleep, he is asked to just lie quietly and not disturb others’ sleep).
If a child cannot sleep, the teacher calls his parents and asks them to pick up the baby.

Many parents and educators are faced with the problem of a child refusing to sleep in kindergarten during quiet hours. The main thing in this case is to find out the reason for this behavior and treat the baby with maximum care and understanding.

Requirements for the daily routine in kindergarten according to SanPiN

In order to make a child’s stay in kindergarten safe and provide him with proper education and nutrition, standards have been developed that must be observed in all kindergartens. Sanitary rules and regulations (SanPiN), in addition to the mandatory ones, contain general recommendations, if followed, you can achieve the most optimal microclimate in the group, as well as increase the learning ability of children.

According to these standards, children are provided with 4 meals a day at intervals of up to 4 hours. The duration of daytime sleep should be 2-2.5 hours in the presence of a teacher. It is not recommended to carry out active activities before bedtime.

The duration of walks in the fresh air should be 3-4 hours at an air temperature of at least -15°C. It is recommended to divide this time into two walks.

Moms and dads should understand that napping during the day helps the child cope with stress. A child who does not sleep during the day will be more difficult to put to sleep at night due to increased cortisol hormone. But the older children get, the less sleep they need. If a child is ready physically and psychologically to give up daytime sleep, he should not be forced to sleep.