Help!! Me.. With naps!!

[Brooke91]

So I have 6 kids.

3 little ones
3older ones..

I have 4 rooms I can use for napping

I usually put the 3 younger ones in one room then I have to split up the rest..
I'm having trouble getting the kids to sleep or rather go to sleep.. This is my recharge time/time to eat lunch!! And Imststying to go nuts because I don't ever get more the 30 minutes.. Constantly telling the kids they need to be quiet lying down ect!!

If I put two of the older ones together they do not nap.. Or they keep the you get ones up or wake them up with their crying!! What do I do!!

I've been trying to think up an appropriate consequence for not napping.. Such as not being able to play outside if they don't nap.. But that seems unfair to the other kids.. Or maybe they have to sit outside and watch the other kids play??


Also what do I do with chikdren that only sleep for an hour!! I really need this time to recharge and get and and snack ready!
Suggestions and advice welcome!!

[Judy Trickett]

ALL my dckids sleep in the same room and I have all of them sleep. If you don't nap you don't stay in my care. Period.

You need to be a little more Nazi. You need to park yourself in the hallway and swoop down on them the SECOND they get up or screw around or make noise. Hone in on EVERY single infraction. Yes, you will have to give up a few days of your break but it will be worth it.

You just need to set the standard that naptime is naptime and they WILL stay laying down and quiet until YOU come get them and allow them to get up.

I have all my kids 20 months and older on napmats and they stay on those mats the entire time. A kid would have to have lost their freaking mind, here, to get off that mat before naptime was over. :no: It CAN be done. :yes:

[Momof4]

I have to agree with Judy. I have one naproom and all the children fall asleep and wake up within 1/2 hour of each other because they know our routines and they know I have clear expectations from them. I sit right here in the room with them and shush them if necessary and tell them that I'm taking care of them until they are sound asleep. Some days they ask for a few songs. It works.

When I have a new baby join I sleep them in the next room so I can sit with them to help them learn that naptime means laying down and sleeping with no other options. By training them this way for a couple of months I am rewarded by having them mix in as quickly as possible with the others.

Blackout curtains help a lot too!

[Crayola kiddies]

mine are all in different rooms and I have a few fans running here and there and they all sleep for 3 hours. if they wake up early they all know to stay quiet. but Judys right .....swoop in on them with your mean face and it wont take long. get some nap mats and put each kid in a different place ....hallways , living room, dining room, and the little ones each in a bedroom by themselves. you'll get your break soon enough.