Day-care centers work at night, too

Like a lot of children 3 years old, Timmy Fuller enjoys hearing a bedtime story before he settles down for the night.

Fuller always listens to his stories with his two stuffed seals, but many nights he's not tucked into bed during the stories. He's being read to on a cot at one of the valley's 24-hour child-care services.

As many as five nights a week, Fuller and his seals are joined by other children and their fuzzy bedtime friends at Lit'l Scholar Academy at Desert Inn Road and Mojave Avenue.

Lit'l Scholar's Desert Inn location is one of a handful of centers that offer 24-hour child care and peace of mind for valley parents who have to work swing or graveyard shifts.

Lisa Fuller, a manager at a local restaurant who works a shift that often doesn't end until after midnight, said she couldn't get by without 24-hour care for her son.

"My husband works a swing shift (3 to 11:30 p.m.) as an engineer at a hotel-casino, which is close to the schedule that I work," Fuller said. "We were so happy to find a facility that would take Timmy until late at night or overnight if we needed it.

"I don't think we could work our jobs if we didn't know he was in a safe place."

Grandma Thompson's Romp N Play, about a block east of the Strip near the Stratosphere hotel-casino, has been a home away from home for the children of late shift and casino workers since 1968.

"We're in a convenient location for casino workers, and a lot of them use our services," said Ken Thompson, the owner and son of Romp N Play's namesake. "We have kids being dropped off at all hours. In a 24-hour town, you need 24- hour day care."

Lit'l Scholar, which opened in 1969, has been offering 24-hour care since 1975.

"In this town there are some different shifts," owner Gary Vause said. "When people leave the most precious thing they have with you overnight, you want them to have confidence that they are receiving the best care possible."

Romp N Play has space for about 30 overnight guests and usually has about 15 on weeknights, while Lit'l Scholar has room for 20 beds and usually has half a dozen overnight visitors each evening.

Both child-care centers use small child-size beds and prepare three meals a day. Overnight staff members take care of any needs their small visitors may have.

"Just like kids at home they wake up with bad dreams, get sick, wet their beds or need a drink of water," Thompson said.

At Lit'l Scholar, Sandy Clegg has been the overnight employee for six years and says the biggest challenge is gaining the trust of her sleeping charges.

"Sometimes it takes the new kids a couple of days to adjust, but once you gain their trust, they realize that I'm always there if they need anything," Clegg says. "Usually if they wake up, they'll see me and go right back to sleep."

It's not always an easy adjustment, though. Timmy Fuller found it difficult to sleep away from his family, his mother said.

"It was tough at first," Lisa Fuller said. "Going to a new place without your parents is always hard, but now that he's use to it he just loves it. He says he's going to school to see his friends."

Children usually make the adjustment to spending the night away from home, Thompson said. Care givers just need to be patient with them.

"We had a little 2-year-old girl named Jaimie come to us and it was like she had been here all her life," Thompson said.

"She was running around having fun from the moment she got here.

"Then we had a little guy named Mike who cried all day long the first two weeks he was here. He finally got use to it. The rest of the kids fall somewhere between those two in how long it takes them to adjust."

While the children sleep, Clegg is awake, having adjusted herself to working a graveyard shift like many of the parents who use the overnight care. Clegg usually goes to sleep at about 1:30 p.m. and wakes up at 8:30 p.m. before reporting to work at 10:30.

"Parents are dropping off and picking up kids at all hours, so it's not that hard to stay awake," Clegg said.

During the day, Lit'l Scholar serves as a preschool for children 3 years old and up and offers day care to toddlers. At night, the school tries to be more like home, providing children the opportunity to play, have dinner and hit the sack.

Bedtime on school nights is 8 p.m., unless a child arrives later.

"We have parents who are dancers, electricians, dealers, nurses and a variety of other jobs, so we try to be parent-friendly and be available for their schedules," Lit'l Scholar supervisor Kristina Novak said. "We keep the kids that are staying the night on a school schedule."

Lit'l Scholar offers full-day rates for about $100 a week, or half-day rates for $75 a week. At Grandma Thompson's, rates are based on the child's age and are available by the hour, day or week for the convenience of the parent. Neither charges more for night care.

Both child-care centers feature a rotating menu to appease their charges' appetites. Lit'l Scholar offers such kid favorites as Spaghetti-O's, Beanies and Weenies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"I like Spaghetti-O's the best," said 7-year-old Osmary Mora. "My brother and me have a good time here. We like it."

Business for centers that offer 24-hour child care is supplemented by tourists, Novak said.

"Sometimes we get people that are visiting and want to spend a night on the Strip and go to a show," she said.

"They leave their children with us so that they can have a night to themselves." If the Fullers ever want to catch a show, it would be fine with Timmy.

"Yeah, it's fun," Timmy said of Lit'l Scholar as he made a pizza out of Play-Doh in the play room. "Do you want some pizza?"

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