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[quote=Anonymous]Hi-
I am a nanny for a 2.5 year old.  The two year old has NOT been going to bed well for the parents at night.  Meaning, they do bedtime routine around 7:30, put him to sleep by 8, and 75% of the time he doesn't actually fall asleep until 10/10:30, occasionally even later.  He shares a room with his 4 year old brother, who goes to sleep almost right away and with no issues.  Because he hasn't been sleeping good at night (or early enough I should say), he has been taking very long naps for me.  We would like his naptime to be in line with what other 2 year olds do, go to sleep after lunch, around 12/12:30.  But, he is super tired in the mornings, and he is ready to pass out around 9 o clock in the morning.  Therefore, sometimes I'll put him down for a nap at 9:30 and he'll sleep until 12:30- sometimes even 1.  If I can wait on his nap, and put him down at 11:30 (a couple days/week we have a 10am class and don't get home until 11), he'll sleep just as long, waking up at 2:30 (ocassionally even until 3).  He often falls asleep in the stroller on the way to or from class though because he's exhausted.
The parents have been getting very frustrated with bedtime, and I don't blame them.
He has never given me any issues with naptime.  I say it's naptime, tuck him in, give him his blankie, and kiss him on the forehead and say "ok, have a good nap!" and that's it.  He doesn't get up, protest, nothing.  I have been firm with him since the beginning.  With them, he gets out of bed multiple times, whines, cries, yells, runs around in protest, etc.... he gets up over and over again.  I am not here to see what they actually do, but the Dad says he "tries" to be firm and brings him back each time, but he (the 2 year old) usually just ends up falling asleep on the couch next to him (the dad)- the dad does work on the couch for a while after the kids go to bed, and then the Dad brings him to bed once he's asleep.
This is not a healthy cycle, and I know it and they know it.  A 3-3.5 hour nap during the day is a pretty long nap, but it's not unheard of for a 2.5 year old.  The Dad asked if I could limit his naps to 2 hours, which is fine, but I know it'll be annoying for me and for him.  Here's the thing- I don't think that 1 less napping hour will make a difference.  The issue is their bedtime shenanigans.
My question, is how can I tell them to cut the BS with bedtime- they need to be firm and make him stay in bed.  If we can break this cycle, his naptime and bedtime schedule will be far more consistent and better for everyone.  The parents are awesome and very easy to talk to, but no one likes to hear that theyre doing it completely wrong.  But they are.  They've clearly given up and let the kid just fall asleep on the couch- and that's what he wants.
Anyways, sorry for the rambling post. Any thoughts?

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