Calling all you experienced Moms! My daughter is about 2 1/2 now, and up until the last couple months she was on a nap schedule for the most part, napping every day unless we had something special going on that day during naptime. Well, now she refuses to stay in bed, wants to play, doesn't fall asleep no matter what I try....unless she's in the car.
Do any of you have any tricks for naptime? If you can't keep your kids in bed, what about quiet time? We've tried it some, but again, it's hard to keep her motivated to stay in her room for quiet time.
Let me know if you have any good ideas...I'm all out!
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Do any of you have any tricks for naptime? If you can't keep your kids in bed, what about quiet time? We've tried it some, but again, it's hard to keep her motivated to stay in her room for quiet time.
10 comments:
My daughter did the same thing. It was just a phase. She takes naps again now and she is almost 3. I would lock her in her room and force her to have quiet time. She was fine with it. She knew that was just the way it was! You could try setting a timer and when it beeps, she can come out. Good luck!
I guess you should start training your baby when to nap. What i did for my baby was, i let him play before the time i want him to take his nap. Like for example, I want him to take his nap at 10am. What i will do is that i will let him play so that he will get very tired before the time i want him to take his nap. Hope this works for you!!!
you need to get those door nob covers that make it so that she can't open the door. That way she is stuck in her room and it will make her take quiet time or maybe even a nap. I did that w/ my 2 1/2 year old girl when she went from her crib to her big girl bed. She cried for about 10 min the first day but after that she new the rules and is doing great! Good luck
Isn't that such a pain. My almost 3 y.o. takes naps still for the most part & I was really worried that he would stop when we mad the switch to the big boy bed. I usually just leave him in there & if he hasn't stopped crying after 10 mins or so then I let him out. Timers are good too & the door nob thing is a good idea too. My almost 7 y.o. refuses to take naps but almost always falls asleep in the car in the late afternoon. See...you do still need a nap. Good luck.
Turn the doorknobs around so that the lock is on the outside and lock her in for a pre-determined length of time. "See you in an hour and a half! You don't have to sleep but you do have to stay in here! I love you!" Grit your teeth through screaming and fits but do not give in. Do her a favor and make sure she has no hope that you are going to let her out early. If she is not sick and the room is baby-proofed, she is FINE. Put in earplugs or turn on your ipod but do not give in. I guarantee that you won't have to hear her scream for more than three days. She needs the rest and its your job to make sure she gets it even if she doesn't think she needs it. I really believe that this sets a precedent for other behaviors too. Kids thrive when they know there is a consistent adult at the helm setting boundaries.
And I really think sometimes they outgrow them. Maybe not at 2 1/2, but when my kids all turned 3, there wasn't anything I could do to get them to sleep. They would lay there staring at the ceiling for hours and still not fall asleep. We eventually had to just accept they were not tired. But if your child gets grumpy without a nap, he still needs one, and frankly, I need them to take a nap too.
get some special toys that she will love that she can only play with for quiet time and as long as she is in her room she can play with them. My friend will lay in bed with her son and read a few books and tells him he needs to lay down for 5 min, she says he usually falls asleep. it took my daughter a while to get used to having a quiet time.
my children have all started to grow out of their sleeps by about 2.5 yrs - sometimes they have reverted back to them at 3.5 when nursery suddenly tires them more, and my son who has only just gone 2 began refusing his naps at 18 months!
i try to make our most tiring activities during the morning as this then helps them fall asleep after lunch, and if she is especially cranky try pushing her somewhere in her buggy - this often works with my son.
other than that, i resign myself to the fact that if its one of the days my son isnt going to have a nap, then he will be going to bed half an hr earlier than normal and try not to stress over it!
I agree with some of the other folks.
Here is my strategy. Neither of my kids nap any more. 2 1/2 and 3/1/2. We do have quiet time. It is an hour long. They do not have to fall asleep but they do have to stay on their beds. If they decide to get off, they go straight to the time out stool. Then back to bed. Sometimes they fall asleep, sometimes they don't. Either way I get an hour of down time. Hope this helps.
my kids were done with naps by 2 1/2 also. but i love quiet time. just explain that quiet time is a chance for her to play in her room and you'll come get her when it's over. You might have to lock the door or use one of those knob things but she'll catch on after a couple days! maybe give her a snack to have in there to make it feel like something fun and not a punishment or anything.
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