Need some ideas as days off from school drove me absolutely batty with this kid! He is 5 1/2, all I ask of my SA children is that they lay quietly during naptime and watch a movie while the youngers are sleeping. They range from 4 up to 10. We spend our mornings outside so afternoon "quiet time" is usually pretty simple. They relax and I have no problems, except for the one! He cannot in any way shape or form be still for more than 5 secs, he is constantly smacking his hand, kicking his feet, rolling back and forth, etc. It drives me absolutely nuts. It's a distraction to the kids who are behaving and doing what I ask of them. I don't expect him to fall asleep, but if he is steady yawning the whole time why can't he take a little rest instead of moving all around every single day???? I know he does goes home and naps every evening too and is exhausted every morning at drop off....

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If the kid can't keep from disturbing the others, just move him to anywhere where he can be separated from the other kids (a cot in the kitchen or hallway?). Hand him some books or crayons and tell him that he can have another chance tomorrow. If he continues to disturb the group, continue to segregate.

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Nap time has turned into a competition for the older kids in my group (5 five year olds). We play the "Who Can Keep Their Head on the Pillow the Longest Game" and the "Who Can Be Quiet The Longest Game". My group is so competitive that most are asleep before the youngest kids and the ones who don't fall asleep stay very quiet. Once in awhile, someone will say, "If I win, can we have (whatever he or she likes best) for snack when we wake up?! Usually, though, they don't even ask. They just like being able to say they won.

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What time does he get there?

I had a DCB4 who wouldn't sleep at nap time. Turns out DCM was putting him to bed very early. Normal DC routine the DCB would lay back down until breakfast two hours later. I stopped doing that & had him sit on the couch with a book. If he wouldn't sit on his bottom he sat on the floor. If he didn't want the book his other option was to watch me do paperwork. Morning boredom made him tired lol.

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We have this problem too. We have a 3 year old dcg that refuses to nap most of the time and would wake everyone else that was in the room with her. We finally had to separate her into a room by herself and give her constant reminders to lay down and be quiet. Now she is fairly calm, (still rarely sleeps but atleast stays quiet in the bed). Just keep reminding them to be quiet I guess. I really don't know what else to do.

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I have a 6 year old dcg whom I have tried to let color or look at books or some other quiet activity at nap time. She always made too much noise and would end up waking up or keeping them awake so after many warnings and her ignoring each warning she now has to lay down and rest or nap quietly with the other's.

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We did this with our 6 year old dcg too. I feel sorry because I told the parents she would be able to do quiet activities at naptime but it just didn't worked out like I hoped.

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My SA have to lie quietly and sustained silent reading for 30 minutes, then they get quiet activities (legos, coloring, educational computer game turns)
For some kids, a 2 hour movie each day just doesn't keep their attention. I have one boy like that. No way could he sit quietly for movies, but he can hyper-focus on legos for hours on end...

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My nephew (4) does this. Can't sit still, won't stop talking. My sister picks him up in the evenings and often he falls asleep on the way home and sleeps the rest of the night. Rinse, repeat the next day. I've talked to her about putting an end to going to bed so early (sometimes by 630pm and without dinner) because he obviously needs a nap in order to have a regular sheep schedule, but if any of you have been following my sister drama updates, you'll understand what I'm dealing with with her.

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