30 minutes to and hour break or lunch time is required by the law for ANYONE. You need at least a minimum break to regroup, eat, so you can finish out your 10 hour day. Seems like you are experiencing burnout and that stems from not having a break during the day. If they fire you because you asked for what’s supposed to be a legally mandated break sue their behinds.

PP who failed to get preschoolers to nap and spends her days in museums (most likely sipping her coffee in shopping malls), please do some reading, kids' brains need time to process, either during nap or with quiet time. They cannot be "on" the entire day. You sound a bit hyperactive. Their development depends on proper rest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. He's a preschooler and parents are right.

Except he’s clearly not in preschool, he is home with a nanny who is not getting the break she is legally required to receive during a 10 HOUR WORKDAY. And yes even in preschool, 3 year olds do nap.

Please point to the law that legally guarantees any break for domestic workers. Nannies aren’t daycare workers, we don’t have the same requirements or protections.

Infants and toddlers nap. Preschoolers at home normally drop the nap. If you don’t like it, move on to a family with an infant.

Nanny here. I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum. I hate working with infants because I get bored… When toddlers go to one nap the magic begins, but when preschoolers give up the nap… that’s magic time! Ymmv.

As preschoolers start to transition away from naps, I put them to bed and let them know they need to keep their eyes closed for five mins. If they’re awake after ten, they can get up and play quietly, look at books, draw, do puzzles, or do anything else quietly and independently in their bedroom for the rest of the quiet hour (visual timer shows how much time is left). Once they’re no longer falling asleep more than once a week, I stop having them lie down unless they want to, but we continue the quiet hour. When they haven’t had a nap for a month and don’t seem to need a rest break anymore, we start leaving the house all day 1-2 days per week, and the other days are split 50/50. We get memberships to museums, trampoline parks, zoo, aquarium, science center, etc. We explore public transit, go to the airport, go to a farm, explore history around us. Science center, playgrounds, hiking, picnic lunches, and other fun explorations become commonplace. Everyday is an adventure, and we have 1-2 years of being able to go all over without needing to be home everyday by lunchtime. A good mix of gross and fine motor skills, plenty of learning opportunities, plenty of socialization with people of various ages, and the opportunity to attend classes and learn the skills needed to thrive in a classroom are all possible. And no, I don’t care about not having a break during a 12-16 hour day, because I’m having fun with that child, and there’s plenty of time for me to sit and watch while they run and burn off energy.

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. He's a preschooler and parents are right.

Except he’s clearly not in preschool, he is home with a nanny who is not getting the break she is legally required to receive during a 10 HOUR WORKDAY. And yes even in preschool, 3 year olds do nap.

How much is the overtime rate you get those 10 extra hours a week? Is is worth to stay and exhaust yourself?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. He's a preschooler and parents are right.

If he was in daycare, there would be a nap or quiet time daily even atv4.

If he were in daycare, there would be the peer pressure to conform.

Everyone here is forgetting that kids have different needs. Our pediatrician said we should give our non-napping 2 year old an hour of quiet time in the crib because she happily sings to herself and is in a good mood when it’s over. My husband asked if 2 hours was ok and the pediatrician said no. Our child is almost 3 now and sometimes she fusses when we try to give her crib time, so we don’t force it those days.

Asking the parents to give you an hour break is not appropriate unless they somehow have easy flexible jobs that pay well enough for a nanny. Anyway I doubt they work from home since the OP is doing 10 hour days. Your best bet might be to ask for an 8 or 9 hour day and they can either find a babysitter to fill that gap or stagger their work hours so one parent gets home sooner. Most likely they’ll need to let you go. At age 3, the kid can go to preschool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. He's a preschooler and parents are right.

If he was in daycare, there would be a nap or quiet time daily even atv4.

He's not in daycare and therefore is not subject to daycare schedules.

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. He's a preschooler and parents are right.

If he was in daycare, there would be a nap or quiet time daily even atv4.