Toddler and Naps

Hi ladies! I'm a new daycare provider and currently have 2 toddlers in my care, as well as my own. Come April I will have 2 one year olds joining the mix. When it comes to naps, my own daughter and the dcb fall asleep no problem. The other dcg will not unless I sit in the room with her until she falls asleep. It's not because she's crying, it's because if I were to leave, she gets out of bed, destroys the room, walks out of the room, etc. When I go in and tell her it's nap time, she just smiles at me. I'm thinking of putting her in a playpen (hoping she can't climb out of it!) I've been reading a lot of posts on here about nap issues, but the ones that I found all deal with babies crying. Do any of you have any advice for me? Do you all think I should sit with her until she's down? I'm just not sure if I'll have time to do that once April comes around.....

All the children in my care are in playpens. If I were to allow a child to sleep on a cot/mat that wouldn't happen until they were at least 3 or able to show me that they can be trusted to stay put until nap time is over.

all the children here except one are in play pens......last year I started a 22 month old child that could climb out of the play pen. so what I did was listen at the door and everytime he climbed out I opened the door picked him up and with my mean face I said "no climbing out" I plopped him back in and left. I kept repeating till he got it.....even if nap time was over I still put him back in and shut the door for five minutes then went back in and lifted him out ......he needed to learn he needed to stay there till I said he could come out. it took about two weeks ...but the key is don't not smile ....and no other words. good luck

I keep the children in the playpens until a new baby starts and I need to move them on, no matter their age. Then I move them onto cots and there is always a transiton period to teach them that they are expected to stay on the cot the same as they stayed in the playpens.

We all have different setups and mine includes all the children sleeping in the same room, so I sit with them until they are asleep, then I can go to a quiet room and read for my break. Then I'm back in the room before they wake up so I never run into problems. But it sounds like you might have different sleep rooms so I'm no help!

When I transition a child from the pack n play to the cot the expectation is to 'lay on your cot until you are invited off it' however my cots are not in the bedrooms where they could get into anything they are at the end of the hallway and on the two 'landings' in their own space so there is nothing to get into or anywhere to go really ... the first day or so I make sure to stay close on the stairs ~ not beside them but just outside of their view reading my book or on my phone and if I hear them move an inch off that bed they get a little verbal reminder from out of view 'Shhh its quit time you lay quiet on your bed and rest' which usually shocks them into laying back down of 'where did that voice come from' and if they were to actually ignore that and get off the bed I would go up and return them to their bed with another firm reminder 'SHHH quiet time ~ we stay on our bed and rest' ... typically now that I am established my youngest group is excited to be 'big enough for the cot' that I have not had issues with children but occasionally you get newbie who starts and is not use to the 'privilege' it is to be on the cot and they might take 2-3 days of reminding to 'get it' and learn to just stay and rest.

When I was new and trying to sleep train the last of my older newbies to join the group who were a bit 'harder' due to their age and sleep-time resistance issues two logical / natural consequences for NOT resting really worked to get them all on board ... those who did not rest quietly were the LAST to get up off their cots and the others who did a good job and gave me the time to get my chores done got to get up and choose something from the 'wake up jar' which had some 'fun stuff' that they would get to do without the jack in the box who would not stay on their bed ~ Jack in the Boxes had to engage in 'quiet stuff' like reading books and puzzles cause IMO their body had not rested and therefore I was worried would not have enough energy to do the 'fun stuff' .... worked like a charm and within a week I had everyone sleeping for 2-3 hours including 1 whose parent had claimed had never napped for her cause they wanted to all have enough energy to do the FUN stuff when they woke up :)

Thanks for all the advice ladies!! So happy that I found this site!!! :)

Yup, I'm with the others....playpens. It just makes life easier. I, too, wait till they're about 3 or so before moving them to a bed and am very, very firm. It doesn't take long for them to get the picture and stay put.

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Originally Posted by Bookworm

All the children in my care are in playpens. If I were to allow a child to sleep on a cot/mat that wouldn't happen until they were at least 3 or able to show me that they can be trusted to stay put until nap time is over.

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Yup, I agree with this. I start them when they are capable of following the nap time rules and understanding that they are to NOT get off their cot. I find that this is usually between the age of 2 - 3 years and depends on the child's maturity.

I tend to time the move from playpen to cot to coincide with the move from crib to bed at home. then you have the parents generally also reinforcing the stay in bed like a big girl/boy or it is back to the crib like a baby concept.

My kids in playpens are in family bedrooms but those on mats are on my mainfloor (diningroom) so not totally out of earshot and I can peek in on the frequently.