3.)Share a piece of unsolicited parenting advice...only I'm soliciting it.
A few people have made comments to me regarding the luxury that is the daily nap time experience and how it is that I am able to get all the kids sleeping at the same time.
For those of you who are not aware, I run a home daycare. There are typically between 9 and 12 kids here everyday. And everyday, every single child lays down for a nap from 12:30 to 3:00. I spend 7am to 12:30 running around, getting kids ready for school, cooking, preparing circle time and art, cleaning up, settling fights, organizing games, changing diapers, and playing with babies.
Without nap time to re-organize myself, check email, update bookkeeping and attendance information, and to just take a break, these children would run me into the ground. So nap time is absolutely necessary. For all of us.
I'm going to tell you my trick...and if you have a baby or a tiny tot you should really consider starting this even if there aren't any other kids in your care. Here's what you do.
At lunch time start turning things down. Close the blinds, turn off the kitchen lights (if it's not too dark), turn on the stove fan, play some quiet music. We're just gonna c-a-l-m down. I'll explain to any newbies that we're going to have a rest time after lunch, and I might remind the little ones (like Kainoa) that it's time to go night night soon, but everyone else moves like clockwork. They know the drill. A couple of the older ones look at books a bit longer, but everyone falls asleep.
Now. I'm not saying this is fool proof. I realize there are kids out there who just plain refuse to nap. My best friend has worked in daycare for years and she runs a summer time preschool program. Her son rarely naps. She sends him to his room to rest and that's exactly what he does. When she peeks her head in he pops up with a "hi mom!", as happy and non sleepy as a child can possibly be.
I don't know what to do about that. I think I would cry. I have to have that quiet time. Maile turns SIX in October and she's still taking naps. Sooooo...that's just not gonna work for me, and thankfully I don't have to make it work for me. These kids sleep!
And now I'm curious...what's your nap routine like? Do your kids even take naps? Do you have a special trick to get them to sleep? Or how old were they when they stopped?
Now it's your turn.
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. Linky!!
The Prompts:
1.) Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page and share two “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
2.) What do you aspire to be?
3.)Share a piece of unsolicited parenting advice...only I'm soliciting it.
4.)Tell us about your blogline...how long have you been blogging, when did you start, what were/are your goals for your blog, etc.
5.)If you had 5000 dollars to give away or donate to a charity...explain what you would do with it and why.
67 comments:
OK, my Allie is 3, and I still think she needs a nap. But she's at preschool all week, so I can only try this theory on the weekends. Do you think it would still work even if it's not consistent?
Naptime can be a precious gift...or a total nightmare. I look forward to naptime. And when it doesn't happen I am not too happy. But J-bug still has to stay in her room {thouhj she comes out like every 5 minutes}. I hope nap time stays forever.
I used to work in a daycare and we did the same thing. As soon as lunch was over we turned out the lights and turned on classical music. While the kids ate we got out the mats and blankets and had everything ready. They would all sleep till about 2:30-3 (1-2 year olds though).
My son stopped napping at 2 and I did cry over that! My 3 yr old though still naps 2-3 hours a day. We eat lunch and then 20 mins later she knows its nap time and sometimes she will bring herself to the living room door and point to go up to bed and she'll do the sign for sleep.
Now if you have advice for sleeping through the night let me know. That's where she doesn't seem to get the sleep thing! (And we've taken away nap and that just made it worse.)
Great advice! I used to work at a daycare. I would do the same thing. Start calming things down ahead of time, turn of some of the lights, close the blinds. We had a lot more kids, so sometimes it was harder, but most of them went to sleep.
For Saylor, it is SO easy. I close her blinds & turn on a fan. I get her her blankies and her binky, and tell her it's time to go to sleep. She goes willingly, and says 'bye bye'. That's it!! I got so lucky with both of my girls.
Sometimes at night, she's more reluctant. And sometimes she wakes up at 5 am and I'm not having that.
I tell her quietly, "Saylor,it's time to go to sleep. Mommy & daddy are going nigh-night. Sissy is going nigh-night. The kitties are going nigh-night. {and just recently I've added this, and it works like.a.charm!} Barney is going nigh-night. It's time for you to go nigh-night too."
She usually nods & lays down.
On the days or nights that she cries, I just tell her goodnight, that I'll come check on her in a few minutes, and let her cry it out. Because basically, it's just whining crying, not like an infant crying.
Those are my tricks!
I think I stopped napping around 4 or 5 We were living in NY and I was at a "Big Girl" school. I was told that only babies nap. So that was it. Now I nap whenever I can!
I used to love the mid day nap time in my house. Just a couple of hours to get organised and ready for the afternoon. You really miss it when the little ones decide they no longer need it!
First time doing this and I messed up!! Can you delete my #14 listing? It didn't work cuz I typed it wrong!! SORRY :(
#16 works just fine!!
I'll try harder next time!! :)
Hallie
I'm a nanny and I insist the kids take a "rest time". The Mom doesn't agree with me, but oh well. If she wants me there full time doing all the childcare, laundry, linens, cooking, cleaning and errands than I need an hour every afternoon so I can actually EAT LUNCH. So those kids know now they go to their room for an hour. i don't care if they sleep, but they're up there reading or playing DS or something while I get some sanity time. The Mom and I battle over this EVERY DAY (and I've been working there for 14 months). She's a "stay at home mom" and does nothing all day and will tell the kids they can get up and then guess who's entertaining them? Not her, ME. Argh, it annoys the piss out of me.
The nap because I say so. So let it be written, so let it be done. Basically, they have no other options, and the pre-nap war zone they create before nap time is pretty freakin' exhausting (for all of us) that the 4 year old and the 1 year old conk out and stay out for 2-3 hours. Can I get a woot! The oldest one will be 8 this fall and I don't require him to nap. He's usually at school and when he's not he can very easily (& quietly) entertain himself. He's awesome:).
I miss nap time ... I wish they had it here at work. I would love it.
Holy moly, I can't believe they lie down for that long! My kid wouldn't sleep at night if he would've napped that long. He stopped napping around age 3-4 when he quit showing signs of sleepiness. So I didn't make him rest any longer. But if I DO need a break then I tell him Mom needs some quiet time and he has to play quietly in his room. This has been our game plan for the last 3 years. Of course, we don't get up early, but if we did, he probably would have continued to nap longer.
I love that the dog also has a rest spot. Lol.
And Yaya, wtf?? That's the only way you can get a lunch hour? I'd set that "Stay at Home Mom" straight! You deserve a set time off or more money!
I wish my son would still nap at home on a daily basis. He only naps in the car if he is super tired and worn out. That only lasts about a 1/2 hour anyway. Luckily he is a great car rider and will nap in the car for a few hours on a trip. That is something that is hereditary b/c the car gets me to sleep too. I wish I could run a daycare and make some extra cash, I just don't have the patience to care for other people's kids. I struggle every day as a mom of one. Take care and I hope you enjoy my two prompts, one on each blog.
-Kiki
Ok I think you should start a new career as Supernanny and come to my house to get my 7 and 5 year old nap!
I need a break!
My kids are now 12 and 9, so obviously we are beyond naps but I was very much a believer in having my kids in a routine. Once they started school even, in PreK, they still took naps, so I guess I would say they napped until they were around 4 or 5. The daycare the attended did the same as you, they turned down the lights and put soft music on and everyone had to lay down for at least 2 hours.
Moose is 2 and he definitely still needs a nap (omg I just referred to him as 2 without blinking an eye...and I have 2 weeks left!). Around 1:15 I remind him that soon it's night-night time. Then we make our way to his room (or earlier if he looks that tired) to rock in his recliner and read a story (unless he's just too tired). I may sing him a lullabye. Then I just lay him down, pull up his crib side, and slip out. He's got his thumb so he's good. He's down at 1:30, then (at the earliest) he's up at 3 but sometimes it's not until 4:15 or so. The other day it was closer to 5:20!!!! It was SWEET! :)
STOP?! STOP napping?!?!Whadayamean STOP?! My kids are 24 and 21 and I'm 42.
You can't make me stop.
That's a great plan! I love naps too!
Great advice. Now, how do you stop your 31 year old husband from wanting to take a nap every Saturday and Sunday. I don't know why, but it really annoys me!
i wrote a little bit about naps too! it's my fave time of the day! lol!
I miss my naps, too. Since my kids are in high school, they don't nap anymore; but they stay up until 1am and sleep in until 10am. JEAL.OUS.Y! Really, scan your horizon and you should be able to catch just a glint of the green glow from my shining aura. Nice prompts, Kat!
When my 2nd baby was born,my older daughter (2 1/2) decided that she didn't need to take naps anymore. I was determined not to let that happen, so I would often take them for a car ride ("Let's go look at houses, girls!") until they were both asleep. I am right there with you--I need the quiet time to recoup. Luckily, AJ still naps most of the time, and even my 6 year old would regularly sleep after she got home from kindergarten.
That's awesome! My girls are 16 months apart (2,3) and synchronized naptime is a MUST at our house. :)
My son flat out refused to take daily naps about age 2.5. I tried everything and it didn't work. Finally, we compromised ... he only has to take naps twice a week. It seems to work for him and it works for me. (Of course, I nap with him on those days.) The pay off is that he goes to be at 7:00 pm on the days he doesn't take a nap and falls asleep almost right away. And then I have the whole night to myself, which is lovely. : )'
But I could see that daily naps for a home day care would be CRITICAL!
Ok apparently this is a hot topic. Three guesses what I wrote about, too ;)
And yes, the wee ones still nap. Mister Man doesn't only because he was in afternoon school all year long, so he's out of the habit, but I still put him down whenever he's home, and he will ask for a nap. Or ask why he can't take a nap when he has school sometimes. Little Miss totally still a napper... and turning four in August!
Yep, when I'm a mom, naps and quiet time will be critical! :) Good post!
Kaish was such a great napper! He didn't quit until he went to first grade. I loved it : ).
I did the same thing you did. Just try to turn the excitement level down!
I miss naps!
That is awesome you can get them all to nap, my son quit napping at 4.
Put Pie is 9 months old and I truly had no idea what I was doing, but somehow I established a routine. She has never liked napping, but she still takes 2 naps a day. I take her into her room which is dark read her a book and feed her. As soon as I pull out that book her whole bady starts to relax. She does better when she's rested and so do I. Shoot, I still nap. I don't see why naps should ever go away.
Great routine, I can imagine the kids eating lunch at your place. So relaxed and calm, some of them probably have a heard time keeping their eyes open.
We have the same routine for nap and bedtime:
1. Bedtime only: Bath/pajamas.
2. Story
3. Brush teeth
4. Go Potty
5. Pat for 5 minutes (we set a timer)
It use to get out of control. We would be patting my daughter's back for 2 hours some nights. With the timer, she knows it is not up to us, once it goes off, we have to leave.
My oldest son was so upset on his first day of 1st grade because they didn't take naps. He is 10 now and still loves taking naps. My 4 year old on the other hand only takes naps on days that she has to get up early.
Sounds like your system works. I think it's all about schedules. Kids work well on them.
I don't run a home daycare but I have 5 kids...so it's like I do.
Nap time is essential for me. Everyone goes to their room to do their school work or read quietly. Once you get old enough you can play quietly or do crafts or whatever.
My 3 yo lays in the living room with me and she usually takes a nap. We had a few days last week where she didnt and I began to wonder if she was done with naps. but we are back on track this week. She is suppose to lay on her pallet with her books or her dolls and can't get up till I tell her to.
I dont know how moms make it through the day without rest time.
Nap? I have a very vague memory of what that word means...very!
About the same as yours, 1 to 3:30 or 4:00. Our boy sleeps religiously, girl is hit and miss. Sometimes she skips the nap but we still make her sit in her room and read books, or play quietly with her leap frog game. I sleep religiously during naptime as well, on the weekends when I'm home anyway. Of course, I kinda dozed off for a minute at work yesterday.
I love that the dog takes a nap with the kids! We don't have nap time any more. Sigh.
Amen to the nap! My favorite is when a parent says "My 1 year old just doesn't want to nap any more." Well she doesn't want to wear her car seat seatbelt or brush her teeth but you do that to keep her safe and healthy. Sleep/rest is the same thing!! My girlfriend makes her kids nap/rest until they go to school full time. I'll be doing the same thing.
So you're like the nap whisperer then?
We don't take naps as much as we used to. But if there's a day when I need one, we've got em trained well enough to know how to get er done.
Great advice Kat. I did the same prompt but I can't say my advice is quite as good as yours.
The Son is 5 and will nap very rarely. When he does, he usually has trouble getting to sleep at night so unless Momma really needs a nap, we don't take them any more. When he was really little, he was a great napper, I did similar things to you and it worked every time.
Have a great Thursday Kat!
I got lucky, I have 2, 15 months apart, one is 2 and the other 9 months and they nap at the same time! Between 12:45 and at least 2:30 or 3. The little one takes a snooze in the morning, we wake him after about 45 min if he doesn't wake himself, and it's off to the crib at 12:45 and off to dream land for both of them at the same time! We started them young! But you are right you definitely need that time to recoop yourself for the afternoon!
Naptime is CRUCIAL! My 4yo doesn't usually sleep anymore but she has rest time.
My little one stopped taking naps at 2 :(
When I did daycare a couple of years ago I had a mom that said that she pays me for all day so she wanted me to use naptime as one on one learning time with her child (3) instead of time for myself...I let her know that would not happen and that she would need to find somewhere else for her son!
I am glad that you did this post. I was just wondering this myself. That is awesome that they all sleep. I just run my kids raged in the mornings so that my 12pm they are begging for a nap. All expect Hayden will just rest but is good b/c the house is quiet and I get my time.
Oops. . . I have a few extra words on Mr. Linky after my blog's name. Sorry. I love reading all these creative thoughts!
I have two that still take naps. They NEED naps I need them to take naps, I dread the day they stop taking naps. My oldest stopped at three but my middle one is almost 4 and is still napping so i think it depends upon the child.
Not participating this week again. I hope to return soon.
I would d.i.e. without naptime. Luckily, my kids still nap-they'll be 4 in August. I plan to keep them napping as long as possible:) It is such a sanity saver. Not to mention, that I usually lie down and take a nap of my own!!!!
I'm going to turn down the lights and take a nap now. :-)
Naps are definite during the week due to daycare. When he goes down he can nap for a good 2-3 hours. But he's not going to be napping much longer because he's just way too awake at night after having a nap during the day. I have a ball of energy on my hands when he naps and there isn't much I can do about it at school but at home, on the weekends, I forgo the naps and just put him to bed a little earlier.
I think anyone turning off the lights, closing the blinds, and all of that other stuff would put me to sleep too!
My L naps for up to three hours and you just made my YEAR by saying your six year old still naps. May I be so lucky.
Today is my first day to join in on your fun! My 7 year old was a champion napper. My 4 year old still desperately needs them, but refuses to take them. He is so afraid he is going to miss out on the party. He starts a preschool in the Fall which is required to have a 2 hour nap. I'm 99% positive he will nap everyday for them.
Can't you keep the doggie...he's sleeping so nicely with the group.
:-)
Great tip. Too bad my kids are way past that stage! Both of them stopped napping around 3 years old. The did have to have mat time in Kindergarten and neither of them ever fell asleep for that.
ooooohhhh I'm lucky number 69! and I second the vote that you keep the dog!
Now if I only really had an extra $5000 to give away to charity. I wish I could help more.
My $25 at Christmas will have to do for now.
I enjoyed the prompts, and have managed to make it to several other's blogs to read their responses. I'm so glad you do this each week, and that I recently found your blog so I can participate.
My twin boys were awesome nappers. Started at 4 months and were still sleeping until age 4. Now they do quiet time from 1-3P. My oldest daughter was NEVER a good napper. Lets not even go there. The worst thing I ever did was potty train her and take her out of the crib. Looking bag, I should have changed some more messy diapers in exchange for her napping...but she does not-so-quiet time in her room. She stays in there...but its a mess when she comes out!
That said, all of my kids go to bed at 7:30P...used to be 7P. It rocks!
Both my boys quit their naps at 3! But I did continue to make them have "rest time" in their rooms because like you, I needed that quiet time BAD!
When I was 5 and 6 I had a neighborhood stay-at-home mom who babysat me. She had two kids (my best friends), and everyday the three of us had to have "quiet time." It didn't mean we had to nap, but it DID mean we had to stay in different rooms and be quiet. I'm sure she would have lost her mind otherwise, haha.
My nap time involves....me. Every day about 3:00 for 20 or 30 minutes. I love being 62. :) blessings, marlene
Even the dog??? Okay, my boys took naps when they were younger, but I when I was staying at home I kinda got out of the routine. So for them it was not a daily routine, and I think that's what it takes. My daughter NEVER took naps. Even stayed up all day as a baby. I'd try to put her down and end up being the one to sleep only to wake up with her big eyes watching me. Naps? What's that? Who's he?
Number 5: I would go to SITScation!!!
I have to say you are blessed. I have two girls that quit napping by three. They refused to sleep. I even put the baby gate up for a while to make them stay in their room for "quiet time". But after a week or two of them just playing in their rooms and not actually napping (though I must also note that they weren't playing with toys because those were shut away in the closet with child lock handles) I gave up. Now they are 9 and 5 and I have days still when I wish they would nap!
I can barely stand having one kid around the office when I'm working, nor can I imagine having kids yet. That clock is soooo not ticking. Lots of love Mama Kat
I know how good I feel after a good nap!
Good on you, Mama!
So I see its for wednesdays... but I linked mine anyways.. here on Friday.. now I have an overwhelming urge to go thru and find the rules.. to make sure its ok I play... lol...
I work in a pre-school/kinder and we have a lunch/nap room. Towards the end of lunch, we pull the blinds, turn on quiet music, etc. The kids in our room are mostly 3-4 years old and it just depends. Some days lots of the kids nap, other days no one does. We just never know. It sounds like you have a good system in place! :)
Well I am participating for the first time...hope I linked up right! Sorry I'm way late.
And while I'm not a mom yet, I totally agree with your method on napping as I used to be a grade school teacher and it's all about setting the "mood".
Now I'm off to check out at least the 3 before me. Because I'm all about following directions and being teacher's pet. Good times!
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