Printable View
I have 4-5 toddlers here per day. One currently is 15 months and has a morning and afternoon nap and still needs both. However my other dck's are 2 and more then 3 days a week come cranky first thing in the morning and look tired. Do you think it would be a good idea to create a morning nap routine? This will most likely shorten the afternoon nap but sometimes I think it's necessary. Thoughts on this?
I would do whatever the parents do at home with the two year olds. I really don't think many this age require a morning nap as well. I have two 2 year olds too, as well as a 13 and a 16 mo, and I don't do morning nap at all. If the younger two fall asleep in the stroller when we're out and about (which happens on occasion), then so be it, but I don't put them down per se.
Sometimes my 2yo's seem a bit fussy and tired in the am too, but the trick here is to get them out and busy asap after arrival so that they don't focus on it.
Instead of a morning nap routine there is no reason why you can't have a quiet time while the other child is sleeping. Use that excuse that you have to whisper and be quiet while little one is sleeping. Provide a space with lots of pillows, let each one have a blanket and some stuffed toys. Read a few stories to them, play some calming music, sing with them. Any that are really tired will soon rollover and close their eyes. The others will get the break they need. Most kids do not get enough sleep overnight to meet the guidelines depending on what time the kids are gotten up at home. Many do need another two hours to catch up. The trick is to do it early enough that they are still as you say tired when they come and it won't interfere with the afternoon. Any child that does fall asleep should be woken up after an hour. Follow the rest time with a drink and active play. Having a group rest so to speak will be a lot easier on you than trying to get them to lay on their own mats and stay there. Have them rest to listen to music and have a cup of tea and enjoy.
I've cut out morning nap completely for all my kids (on occasion my own 13 mth old will go down for one.) I feel the over 2 group don't need them as long as they are busy. The under 2 guys used to do it but it ruined their afternoon nap and it always seemed to conflict with morning plans. I don't even like them falling asleep while we are driving home in the morning (like 4 out of 5 did today) because it messes things up. As I type this I have two little guys who I can hear in the monitor laughing, whining and talking. They should have been fast asleep about an hour ago. But as mentioned this morning in another post, they are in there until 3pm. I need my break too!
If I find any of the kids are getting cranky in the morning, I will make sure they are not hunger first and then I'll put them in a quiet place and tell them to 'take a break, some time to themselves and cool down a bit." It seems to work the majority of the time.
Past the age of around 15 to 18 months, I really don't like to give a morning nap time. In fact, I tend to try to avoid it after 12 months and move to a longer afternoon nap if possible. That said, sometimes it still seems necessary. So I will keep a morning nap to about 45 min (less than an hour, for sure) and make sure the little person is asleep early enough to be awake by 10:30 or so, which means there is still an hour and a half before lunch, which is immediately followed by naptime.