All of my dcks sleep but a few really fight it sometimes. Talking to their neighbor, multiple trips to the potty, etc. How strict are you at naptime as far as the kids staying on their mats/cots, being quiet, etc.?

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i'd say pretty strict. I have movers and talkers too and if I let them continue no one would ever sleep. If I had kids in cribs though, I let them do their thing until they are asleep. Once you graduate to a mat it's lay quietly and still for the duration. They sleep much better if I make sure to enforce that too.

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I have a 3 yr, 23mts and 19mts right now all on nap mats. Every day they nap from 12-2 and NO one gets up. Sometimes the 2 little ones will wake up and I just put my finger to my mouth and say shhh. And no one talks! But I have a group of really good kids.

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Well, I only have one old enough to get up on her own , but the day I caught her up waking up the babies in the baby bed and pnp, I took the babies out and made her sit, not lay back down, on her bed for 30 minutes AFTER nap time was over, while we all had fun in the den in ear shot.

She never got up and messed with the babies again.

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Very strict. I need nap time. They all go potty right before we lay down, I read 2 stories, shades get pulled music goes on, and you lay your head down. I sit in the room with them and read a book while they all fall asleep. When one feels the need to start rolling around or making noises, i simply whisper "shhh, it's resting time" and they quiet down. I have a 4 year old right now that informed me yesterday that she doesn't like nap time, I told her when she goes to kindergarten she won't be required to take one here anymore. I also had a dad ask me how long little one sleeps as she took a 2 hour nap this weekend and then didn't want to go to bed that night, they didn't nap her sunday and she went right to bed. She is 2.5 yrs old. If they ask me not to nap her, I will give them the option of her laying down at nap time like everyone else or finding new daycare. I do not do nap time activities. I certainly can't make any one sleep, but if they fall asleep I will not be waking them up and if they don't sleep they can certainly rest quietly.
Now I will have to rethink my whole outlook this summer as I will have a lot of older kids, but I will cross that bridge when we get there. Not looking forward to it!

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I'm pretty strict too. Most of my kids are here 10-12 hours and not only do I need naptime, but they do too! As soon as the naptime music starts, I'm all business and I'm VERY firm about there being no talking, excessive moving on the cots, etc. I have a pretty small space for the kids to nap -- some days they're only 2 feet apart, so it's essential for that everyone stays still and quiet if anyone is going to sleep.

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This sounds just like my routine. We have the same nap time CD, blinds darkened, everyone on their mats and I'm very strict with them about staying still and quiet. I also need nap time desperately and don't do any other activities...it's nap or choose another daycare.

I had 2 moms just ask me to start waking their kids up after 2 hours because they are having a hard time getting them to sleep at night (both girls are 4...moms are friends). One of the girls can easily sleep 3 if not woken and the other is pretty good with 2. I just hate to wake kids. So once it hits a certain time I just open the blinds and switch the music but I don't physically pick the kids up to get them up . I just let them wake on their own.

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Please tell me the kids that come eleven/twelve hours are only part time.

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One is full-time, which means she's in my care 55-60 hours a week. Her parents work an hour away, and their shifts are very close timing-wise. One picks up and the other drops off, and they do take every opportunity to keep their LO home, so it's all good. The other kids with long days are 2 to 3 days a week, and spend the remaining days at home with dcmom. Still, the more time a dc kid spends here, the better behaved they tend to be .

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This is nap time at my house to a tee! Everyone except the baby has a mat/cot and sleep close together. I have my movers and wigglers too but if they continue after being told to stop, they lose the cot/mat because that is usually what is so annoying is the sound of the mat itself. They have pillows and blankets and I play music and/or a story on CD to listen too. They aren't required to actually sleep....just rest. In the summer, my older kids can either go outside WITHOUT disturbing the younger ones or they can have rest too...I decide who has rest and who gets to go outside.

.....and to Nannyde, some of my kids (5 of them) are here 4-5 days per week for 10-11 hours per day. Even after, I went to contracted hours and changing my daily rate to mean 9 hours per day with anything over the 9 hours being an over-time rate...those 5 parents still pay the over-time rate AFTER the daily (9 hour) rate....so go figure. ....I honestly thought it would encourage them to have more face time with their kids....but I think I got a few of those who have kids, not wanted them. kwim?

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I make everyone lay quietly to it is time to rest or sleep and most know it. For everyone who is playing CD's for nap has anyone herd of Pandora radio. It is internet based and you are allowed so many hrs a month or you can sign up and it is about $35 a year for unlimited. You can go on there and you make your own station I like Alvin and the chipmunks or mickey mouse for during the day and classic lullaby's or Barny sleepy time for nap and it will play everything like that until you turn it off no commercials or being worried about something playing that they shouldn't hear. It is great.

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I JUST started doing quiet time for my older kids. I used to just allow them to watch a movie during quiet time.

However, last week I started requiring a quiet time because my days are so long, and I no longer have an assistant to break me.

I have 3 five year old boys that do not need to NAP, but I decided that they still need quiet. (They all are summer birthdays and will be going to K in the fall)

I put on some music and put a "visualization" from windows media player on my TV (my computer is attached to my TV). They listen to the music and can watch the visualization for 30-45 minutes each day. I'm working on making it an hour, but I figure little by little.

Right now, after the quiet time is over, they are allowed to watch part of a movie until the littles wake up.

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All of mine rest....most of them sleep. We are very firm that they need to stay on their cots and lay quietly. The 3 and 4 y/o's are allowed to take a book with them to their cot and lay there and look at the book. But when the lights are off and the music is on, they are to lay quietly.

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