Naps?

[Daycaremomma01]

My kiddos nap from 1-3pm.
Lately I have been having issues with one child (she will be 2 in a couple months).
At nap time, she does anything she can to keep from sleeping - kicks around, scratches and jumps in the pack and play (making the most awful amount of noise) yells and laughs and screams/squeals.
She does this the WHOLE 2 hours. Of my 4 other kids, this doesn’t phase 2 of them (4 & 3) - they have no issue falling asleep and sleeping through her noise. My other two (2 & almost 2) can’t fall asleep most of the time, and when they do, she manages to wake them up (even at the other end of my house - these two lighter sleepers are my daughter and nephew, so she sleeps in her bed, and he sleeps in my sons room) They are super cranky and whiny when they don’t get good naps.

I am currently sitting in the floor next to this child (she’s in the PnP) because if I move away for even a second she’s right back to making noise.

Here’s the kicker - as soon as everyone else is awake and has been changed and to the potty, we have afternoon snack and she will fall asleep at the table!

Help?!
Suggestions? Tips? Advice?

Note: I can’t really alter nap time because I have 3 kids who get off the bus around 3:30.

[jenboo]

Originally Posted by Daycaremomma01

My kiddos nap from 1-3pm.
Lately I have been having issues with one child (she will be 2 in a couple months).
At nap time, she does anything she can to keep from sleeping - kicks around, scratches and jumps in the pack and play (making the most awful amount of noise) yells and laughs and screams/squeals.
She does this the WHOLE 2 hours. Of my 4 other kids, this doesn’t phase 2 of them (4 & 3) - they have no issue falling asleep and sleeping through her noise. My other two (2 & almost 2) can’t fall asleep most of the time, and when they do, she manages to wake them up (even at the other end of my house - these two lighter sleepers are my daughter and nephew, so she sleeps in her bed, and he sleeps in my sons room) They are super cranky and whiny when they don’t get good naps.

I am currently sitting in the floor next to this child (she’s in the PnP) because if I move away for even a second she’s right back to making noise.

Here’s the kicker - as soon as everyone else is awake and has been changed and to the potty, we have afternoon snack and she will fall asleep at the table!

Help?!
Suggestions? Tips? Advice?

Note: I can’t really alter nap time because I have 3 kids who get off the bus around 3:30.

Can you put her on a cot/mat and pat her to sleep? It takes some time commitment to front but I find kids tend to nap better this way.

[littlefriends]

Originally Posted by jenboo

Can you put her on a cot/mat and pat her to sleep? It takes some time commitment to front but I find kids tend to nap better this way.

This is what I do with my tough napper. I put her mat off a bit from the others and sit next to her. Lay her on her tummy and pat her booty until she’s out. At first it took forever but now it’s no more than 10-15 min.

[hwichlaz]

she's too old for a pnp. PUt her on a mat, sit next to her with your hand on her and read a novel. Everytime she sits up, lay her back down. No talking, no eye contact.

[Daycaremomma01]

We’ve tried a mat/patting - I spent the whole nap time chasing her down and putting her back on the mat.
She’s a very defiant child - “no” is a game to her - tell her no, stop, shhhh and she looks at you like “what are you going to do about it” and continues.

I’ll have to try keeping my hand on her until she’s asleep and see if that helps at all.

Also...in this situation, today, for example - she finally went to sleep around 2:45ish - just as the others were starting to get restless and easing awake - would you let her continue to sleep or wake her?
She’s a heavy sleeper - it’s HARD to wake her. Generally I’m against waking a sleeping child when unnecessary, but I feel like she needs to wake with everyone else - you chose not to sleep during nap time, so you only get a short nap...?
Even if she’s woken, she’s a very bubbly giggly child - she doesn’t wake up upset or grumpy, hardly ever (for her, being grumpy at all is a red flag that she’s not feeling well.

[littlefriends]

Wake her! Only infants sleep when they want to at my house. Once they’re out of the pnp then they nap during nap time. Once nap is over everyone is up and it’s snack time.

[lovemykidstoo]

Is it possible to put her down 30 minutes before the other kids? If she is a heavy sleeper, then maybe she would be asleep when you put the others down?

[Daycaremomma01]

Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo

Is it possible to put her down 30 minutes before the other kids? If she is a heavy sleeper, then maybe she would be asleep when you put the others down?

She’s usually the first one I put down, we do lunch and then about 15-20 mins of nap prep (wiping them off, diaper changes & potty breaks) and she’s the kid who eats a few bites and then plays with her food, if I let her sit at the table til everyone’s done she just gets them all riled up, so I usually have her laid down earlier, and if I don’t put her in the PnP she’s all over the place, and when I put her in the PnP she jumps around and just makes as much noise as she can until I can sit there and shhhs her every couple seconds.
I’ve been keeping her....8 weeks this week, and haven’t had a whole lot of issue with it until last week other than she won’t stay on a mat.
I’m wondering if maybe dcm is getting her in bed earlier or letting her sleep a little later or something.

[284878]

I've heard of some providers using a cot/ mat or with a play yard around it. That way if she gets up and runs she can't leave the Playard.
Is there any way you can separate her nap space from everybody else?

Before a family starts I have the family do in about me for each child. My about me contains bedtime and wake-up time. Than I know if the child is getting enough sleep or not. Being overly tired can cause a child to be restless at next time just as much as being Wide Awake. A child that refuses to eat can also be due to exhaustion.

I've heard of another provider that moved nap time to before lunch. She said it made a huge difference and how the children behaved for the day. She would do breakfast play a.m. snack nap lunch play and go home.

[Blackcat31]

Rest time is an important part of the day.

If after 8 weeks this child has made no improvement, there is no way I'd be willing to keep her in care.

I can't let one defiant 2 yr old disrupt the other kids that do listen and behave. It's simply not fair to everyone else.

[Ariana]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

Rest time is an important part of the day.

If after 8 weeks this child has made no improvement, there is no way I'd be willing to keep her in care.

I can't let one defiant 2 yr old disrupt the other kids that do listen and behave. It's simply not fair to everyone else.

Agreed! This child is clearly tired. Try the cot/mat with hand on her back and lay her down as many times as you need. If there is no improvement in 3 days terminate care.

[Daycaremomma01]

Originally Posted by 284878

I've heard of some providers using a cot/ mat or with a play yard around it. That way if she gets up and runs she can't leave the Playard.
Is there any way you can separate her nap space from everybody else?

Before a family starts I have the family do in about me for each child. My about me contains bedtime and wake-up time. Than I know if the child is getting enough sleep or not. Being overly tired can cause a child to be restless at next time just as much as being Wide Awake. A child that refuses to eat can also be due to exhaustion.

I've heard of another provider that moved nap time to before lunch. She said it made a huge difference and how the children behaved for the day. She would do breakfast play a.m. snack nap lunch play and go home.

I’ve tried the play yard... I have hardwood floors, so it just slides, even with “anti-slide” sticky things on it. It only slowed her down momentarily.

I’m going to try naps before lunch today. And see how that goes.

[Daycaremomma01]

UPDATE: by the time I got everyone changed and to the potty it was about 10:40. Laid DCG on a mat in the floor next to me, I patted her back and she was OUT in less than 5 mins.

I think I may need to change up our routine a bit and start naps around 10:30-11ish. I feel like maybe she’s just been overly tired. Her older brother informed me also that she is put to bed with a bottle at home for nights and naps...so maybe that’s what she’s been wanting/waiting on from me as well. (Not happening here though, she’ll have to get used to not having one for naps when she’s here)

But she did awesome today!
Thanks for the input!