What do you do with SCREAMERS?

[sweetness852010]

I am so fed up with my 2.5yr dcb he has some major issues and one of them im having trouble with is that he SCREAMS. I put him down at nap and he screams at the top of his lungs pulls all my sons toys in the playpen. Banhs on the play pen. But its just the screaming im at my wits end with he is so loud that it wakes every one else up even my neighbour goes who is the screamer? So my nieghbours hear him too:( what should i do? I feel lile letting him go but he has an older brother here too and that would be a big chuck out of my pay until i find 2 more kids. Any advice

[playfelt]

If he isn't going to sleep anyways then put his playpen in the room with you and just keep laying him down till he gets it. He should not have his playpen where he can reach anything such as toys. At the same time he really shouldn't be in a playpen either as he is probably nearing the weight limits and certainly if he is not going to lay still so there is danger of tipping it over or breaking it. I would be "screaming" back in my very angry voice to let him know that I have had enough. They are smart and they get it. He is old enough to be bribed too - no rest quietly (keep him down on level you are on) no treat after, etc.

Make sure his parents know about the napping issues and make sure they are letting him cry it out at home. If he is the younger then they may be going to him at the first whimper lest the older brother be woken up. That will need to change.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

Since this child is a little older my approach of how to handle the situation will be a little more "hard core" than it would be for a younger child - my feeling is that by the time a child is two and a half they are perfectly old enough to understand the idea of quiet time. First, you need to master an "I mean business face/body language" The first time that this child makes a peep of noise, you march into the nursery and make sure he understands that this stuff is not going to fly. No soft clucking and fussing, no asking him what's wrong. He's old enough for you to let him know that he's doing something very wrong - my phrase is "We don't make noise during naptime " Put him back in his bed, firmly tell him to stop making noise, and leave him there. If he proceeds to cry, and if he doesn't stop yowling in a reasonable amount of time (and be prepared to wait what will seem like a long time - these kind of kids can be stubborn) take him out of his crib and tell him that if he can't rest quietly in his bed, then he won't have that priviledge - sit him on a mat (I call it our naughty spot) There's no chatting or eye contact - you're trying to make him understand that he can have his quiet time in a comfty crib with his own bedding and cuddle toys, or he can spend the entire quiet time sitting on the floor - his choice to make. The first time that you have to do this there will be no quiet time for you that day. Sorry ! :( But the next day should be better - I've never had a kid take longer than a couple of days to "get it" I've had a couple of kids over the years who were absolute brats when it came to nap time. I'm not a harsh person by nature, but I found when I cut out the soft touch stuff they got the picture PDQ and went the heck to sleep. ;)

[Momof4]

I do exactly as Playfelt said, stay beside them when they are new until they learn that naptime is for sleeping and there is no other option. It's exhausting when you don't even get a break in the middle of the day but it's worth it when the child finally realizes the rule for naptime is not negotiable.