Question

Help with case study?

Ethical Case:
The Working Mother

Timothy’s mother has asked you not to allow her four-year-old son to nap in the afternoon. She says, "Whenever he naps he stays up until 10:00 at night. I have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to go to work. I am not getting enough sleep." Along with the rest of the children, Timothy takes a one-hour nap almost every day. He seems to need it in order to stay in good spirits in the afternoon.

question - Formulate a decision about what should be done.

Answer 1

This is a very opinionated question, so I don't know how much I can help, but as the babysitter of four kids around this age- I would suggest telling Timothy that he can take a nap if he wants, but he still has to go to bed early- (8 or 9 or whatever.) he doesn't neccesarily have to sleep, but he does have to stay in bed quietly and not disturb his mother. (my family does the same thing, they're allowed to read or talk to each other quietly if they're the 2 that share a room.) Likewise if he doesn't take a nap and becomes grouchy, he could be "punished" by going to bed earlier, which may end up helping. Timothy might be agreeable to not taking a nap because you could frame it like him being a "big kid."

You could also just make it so his naps are shorter, and wake him up on your own instead of letting him sleep for a full 2-3 hours.