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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>switching nap areas
mamamanda 10:15 AM 05-23-2015
Does anyone successfully use the play as a nap area too? Currently I have 2 bedrooms in my daycare area. One is a dedicated play room set up like centers & the other I my boys' bedroom. The dcks are only allowed in the boys' room during nap time when we pull out nap mats for them to sleep on. My baby has always slept in a bassinet in my room, but I'm ready to move him to his crib in his bedroom. The problem is he still naps 2-3 times a day & his nap times overlap with dcks nap time & he is a very light sleeper. I know they would adjust if I laid them all down at the same time, but he isn't ready for afternoon nap until an hour after they lay down & he cries for a minute or two when going to sleep which would wake them up. I'm thinking I have 2 options. Either move him in crib at night but keep him napping in my room during the day, or use playroom as a nap room for dcks. Would they be too distracted by all the toys? Is that fair to them? Thanks for the input.
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momofsix 10:52 AM 05-23-2015
My daycare room is used for everything including nap. I just make sure the kids are positioned to that no toys are in reach of their sleeping mats. The lights go off, the lullabies get turned on, and it's never been a problem!
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e.j. 11:47 AM 05-23-2015
I nap the kids in my day care room as well. The younger kids, who would be most distracted by the toys, are napped in port-a-cribs until I know they won't be tempted to get off a cot to go play with them. Younger kids who have earned their way onto cots sleep in the middle of the room where they can't reach any toys and older, more trusted kids sleep on the outside of the room where they can reach toys but they don't. They know if they start to play with the toys, their cot will be moved closer to where I sit during nap time so I can keep a closer eye on them- apparently, a fate worse than death!

Between making sure they get plenty of fresh air and activity during the morning and a cd of very soothing music that I play while the kids fall asleep, so far, I've been very lucky. They all sleep soundly and rarely wake up even when the infants cry.

If it were me making the decision, I would start napping the dc kids in the playroom to get them used to sleeping in there and I would continue to nap the baby in my bedroom for now. Once the newness of sleeping in the play room wears off, I'd try switching the baby to his room to see how it goes.
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childcaremom 12:36 PM 05-23-2015
I have my younger ones in pnps sleep separately from the older ones in cots.

Cots are downstairs in the playroom. They have never gotten off their cot to play.

If it's new to them, I can see how it might initially be a distraction but I think they would catch on quickly.
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spinnymarie 11:22 AM 05-26-2015
Kids under 15 months here have to have a pnp. Those kids (4) sleep in a separate room that's always dark.
Everyone else sleeps in the playroom on a cot. Kids that are up often and need to nap are within my or my asst's reach. Kids that are old enough to be awake know not to get up, and they sleep further from other kids. We kind of block off toys/views of other kids with toys/large climbing blocks, etc.
We put out the cots, turn down the lights and let them all read for a few minutes, then we turn off all lights and turn on two books on tape, and then turn on white noise for the rest of nap.
Works fairly well.
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AmyKidsCo 01:26 PM 05-26-2015
My kiddos sleep all over the house.

I have two 3 years olds sleeping upstairs - the girl in my 20 yr old DD's room and the boy in my 16 yr old DS's room. (It's my grandson - I don't think I'd put a non-related DCK in my DS's room because he's sometimes in there in the afternoons and I wouldn't want to open him up to any accusations.)

My under-twos sleep in PnPs in the living room. My just-turned-two yr old sleeps in the dining room and an almost-4 yr old sleeps in the playroom. I also have a PT 2 and 3 yr olds who also sleep in the dining room, on alternating days. (They have separate mats)

So yes, it's possible to have children sleep in the playroom. Make sure the area is cleaned up and they know the expectation. (I put older ones in the playroom, so if they play quietly for a while it's not a big deal)
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spud912 02:00 PM 05-26-2015
I also do trial and error throughout the house. I used to nap the kiddos in my middle dd's room when she was still the youngest and a baby. She would nap in my bedroom. As she grew older and needed her independence, I no longer allowed dck's in her room.

Currently, 3 of my 4 dck's sleep in my playroom. They are separated by various things so they can't see each other (the slide, a floor mat that I prop up during nap and the normal room dividers). The last dck is loud and easily distracted so he sleeps by himself in the family living room. My children nap in their own bedrooms upstairs.

I have a lot of background noise so they are not awakened as easily (like fans, classical music on the Pandora, etc).
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