Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Early Risers From Nap
jennajury 11:12 AM 11-17-2011
I am just wondering if anyone has to deal with early risers at naptime and have the play room and naptime in same area? I have a 2 yo dcg who has alays given me headaches at naptime. I just don't know what to do with her. The main issue is she always wakes up earflier than the other kids.sometimes up to an hour or more earlier yet I have no where to take her for her to play and she has a hard time being quiet. I mean after all she is only two. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make nap time more peaceful for her but also for the other kids because they are the ones getting the short end of the deal by accidently being woken up early by her.
Reply
jennajury 11:16 AM 11-17-2011
*Sorry for spelling mistakes- I typed this on my phone.
Reply
lpperry 11:21 AM 11-17-2011
I have all of my kids separated for napping. The most I have in one room is 2. I don't ever have a short napper with a good napper. Only 2 good nappers get to nap together.

It sounds like it doesn't really matter if you separate her for the nap though. If she wakes up, she still can't play in the playroom. Do you have another room in your house that she can play in? Can you bring a few toys into your living room and sit with her? Do you have to stay in the same room as the nappers?

How long is the 2 year old sleeping? I don't allow "short naps." Some sleep longer than others, but if a 2 year old is only sleeping for an hour and 1/2 or less, they are required to stay on their mat/in their bed. I don't let them get up after a short nap. I don't have any short nappers, because if I have them stay in their bed/on mats, they either go back to sleep, or learn to sleep longer in the first place.
Reply
jennajury 11:26 AM 11-17-2011
My house is not very big this is the reason why they are all in the same room together. I did have them seperated at one point in time but it was more difficult than helpful. I believe that seeing the other kids napping around her has made it easier on her to fall asleep however she still only sleeps for about an hour some days more some days less. I cannot get her up because she is loud and wakes the other kids up, I cannot take her to another room to play because there is really no other room to take her. However making her stay on her mat does not work either because she, again like I said, is loud, and when I tell her it's quiet time ,which means to be quiet she laughs, says shhhh and gets louder. It's an endless circle it seems.
Reply
jennajury 11:28 AM 11-17-2011
like i said one reason they are no longer seperated is because it was not helpful. A second reason is because like I said my house is small, therefore when my husband was home on his days off or got off from work and they were still napping there was absolutely no place for him to go off to because every room was occupied.
Reply
Heidi 11:35 AM 11-17-2011
I would go back to putting her in her own room, but put her down last so she knows everyone else is sleeping. Some white noise as a barrier would help the other children if she is loud upon waking. A fan in her room and a fan in the other's (or wave machine, or whatever you like), will hopefully keep her from waking everyone else.

If she is loud but relatively happy, that's fine. A stuffed animal or a cardboard book would be ok too. BTW, "crib talk" is an important developmental stage where children process what they are learning. Unfortunately, some kids crib talk can be rather loud!

IF she cries and whines, go in periodically and let her know it is still quiet time, everyone is still sleeping. Get her up first, so she sees that she wasn't missing out on anything.

I go around signing "it's 3 oclock it time to get up" as I am getting kids up. It's their sign that I will come get them. You could also use an alarm clock or something. That way she knows, "when I hear this....naptime is over"
Reply
NiNi.R. 02:23 PM 11-17-2011
I sometimes have one that rises early, she is 18 months, (all my kids also sleep in the play room) and I bring her out into the living room and sit her in the high chair with a book or puzzle to keep her quietly occupied until the others wake.
Reply
grandmom 02:58 PM 11-17-2011
Here, they stay on their nap mat, or in the pnp until the lights are turned on. They get used to it. Yes, some are loud at first, but I'm relentless. They don't get up till nap is over. Your little one likely might nap longer if given the chance to stay on the mat and go back to sleep.
Reply
mac60 03:18 AM 11-18-2011
Originally Posted by grandmom:
Here, they stay on their nap mat, or in the pnp until the lights are turned on. They get used to it. Yes, some are loud at first, but I'm relentless. They don't get up till nap is over. Your little one likely might nap longer if given the chance to stay on the mat and go back to sleep.
Yep, this. No exceptions at nap time for anyone. Unless they want a special spot in the kitchen for disrupting others. Naptime is sacred here. My days are 11+ hours long. Not much of a problem anyways here.
Reply
nannyde 05:31 AM 11-18-2011
I don't allow kids to be up at nap. The only way I can make that happen is to have the space it takes to separate them from me and divide up the ones who are more likely to wake away from the deep sleepers. I also have confining equipment that is deep and long. It holds an average size kid to the mid to late threes.

A lot of nap issues are really space issues. If you care for more kids than you can easily separate at nap then you are most likely going to have nap issues.

I wish I could give technique but I don't have any experience with two year olds who CAN get out of their beds.
Reply
Michelle 01:32 PM 11-18-2011
I am having such a terrible time today, I was fantasizing of a ten story house with ten bedrooms and putting these kids on their own floor so they would stop messing around!

Believe me, you are not alone, I just gave up, turned on a Disney movie and made them stay on their cots while watching it.
Oh, happy Friday!!!
Reply
dave4him 01:35 PM 11-18-2011
Just have to deal with them as they come. I tell my twins though when one wakes up crying that if they dont stop they will wake up their sister or brother and then i cant carry them around alone....
Reply
Tags:early riser, nap - disruptions, nap - early wake up, naptime - requirements, naptime issues, naptime routine
Reply Up