No more naps......quiet time activity ideas please!!

A two year old absolutely needs to nap. My 3.5 year old still naps every second day, and he was one of those kids who had all but stopped napping at 2 as well. It's probably phase, so you should keep the nap routine the same.

I'd tell mom that you don't require them to sleep (not like you could force them to anyway), but you give them the opportunity. A child who falls asleep during the day needs sleep.

Having said that,I give my older non-nappers or inconsistent nappers those tag readers from leapfrog. It's a little pen-type thing that reads the book when you touch it on a page. I find them stimulating enough that they hold their attention better than just books, but they aren't like a screen toy that is going to keep them up if they need sleep. They aren't super cheap (because you need the pen, plus any books you want), but superstore had them on sake for 1/2 price recently.

I'm with everyone else. A 2 year old still needs to nap. I'd put her down for quiet time for a minimum of 1 hour. If she falls asleep (which she will) then she naps for the duration. I used to cater to parents who wanted to cut naps because their kids weren't going down well at night. No more! It's disruptive for the others and, pardon me, I would really appreciate a little break in my 12 hour day. The fact that she can't put her child down at night is not your issue. If she doesn't want to work with you on this, then I'd be inclined to move on to someone else.

Your business, your schedule, your rules, your sanity :)

I agree with the others. I would not keep a 2 year old up at naptime. The only thing I have to add is that maybe you could look at the timing of your naptime. What time do they start and end naptime? If you normally put them down at 1pm, you could bump it up to 12:30 and see if that makes a difference so that the child is awake for a longer stretch before bedtime. And the mom needs to look at what time she is putting the child to bed. Is she trying to put her to bed so early that she hasn't had time with her mom and/or isn't tired? ANd of course routine at bedtime is really key. If she is getting on a bad cycle of going to bed late and sleeping in, it will be touch to correct.

I agree with sunnydays about timing. I for one would not want my child to sleep past 3 at daycare because I know from experience that it DOES make it harder for a child to go down at night. Naptime at my house is from 12:30-2:30, not a minute later because we have busy afternoons and have to be at the bus stop. I don't think I would let any child just drop the nap until the age of at least 3 and would still require 1 hour of quiet time on a mat. 2 is definitely too young.

Oh and I should add that my son still had to have 30-45 mins quiet/ nap time in junior and senior kindergarten.

I agree with you all!! :)

Mom dropped her off today just before 1230. I asked about the routine at home and mom said she tried to put her down for nap this weekend but she wouldn't sleep . I asked what time she goes to bed and mom said she is in bed at 8pm but doesn't fall asleep until much much later, sometimes midnight. I suggested that mom stick with her routine (altho, I don't think she has one) and I said that maybe she needs to push back bedtime a bit. I told her that IMO a 2 year old needs to nap. I also suggested naps every other day which is what mickyc suggested (we know each other outside of this forum) Mom seemed to be fine with me putting her down for naps but on days when mom brings her this late it's because she has let her sleep at home all morning so there is no way she is going to nap here now.

The only time I have naptime to myself is when my 3.5 year old is at preschool (tues/thurs) so I don't really get a break m/w/f's anyways. Naptime starts at around 1230 here so I can't really do it any earlier. I think I will continue to nap her when she is here for a full day but I will just wake her up 30 or so minutes earlier than the others. She does nap here and she doesn't do the screaming/tantrums like mom says she does at home so I'm not sure what the issue at home is.

My fiance works evenings so I am lucky that he is here all day and the parents are all okay with him as my back up and the kids love him. I am going to take my 2 non-nappers on a field trip (grocery/toy shop for daycare lol) today while he stays home with my 2 nappers. :) I will look at the prices of those tag books...I should have picked them up when Target had some on sale!

I am going to be an odd man out here....I don't think ALL 2 year olds need naps. My own child stopped napping at 18 months. NOTHING I did could get him to nap.

However, with that said, whether the child needs a nap or not ALL the kids I have enrolled are required to participate in a 90 minute REST period. During that period, I play audio books (volume down low so they have to lay still to hear it) and ALL kids MUST lay down. I don't offer toys or books or movies.

I also make it very clear upon enrollment that if the child refuses or has trouble adjusting to the rest period requirement, then I may not be the right program for them.

Oh gotta love the bad napping children! I am having issues with an 11 month old napping. She is only napping for an hour (one day last week was 30 minutes!). What do you ladies suggest in a situation like that. She screams really loud when she wakes up. I bring her to the play room with me but she wont sit and watch tv. It never fails and she wakes the 14 month old up. Her mom said she naps 2x still at home but I am lucky if I get half of one! She is hard to keep quiet too.

We found the tag reader on sale at walmart for $20 so we picked that up and we also picked up a Dora laptop ($30, not sure if it was on sale). They will be kept as special toys for a few months for the non-nappers.

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Originally Posted by mickyc

Oh gotta love the bad napping children! I am having issues with an 11 month old napping. She is only napping for an hour (one day last week was 30 minutes!). What do you ladies suggest in a situation like that. She screams really loud when she wakes up. I bring her to the play room with me but she wont sit and watch tv. It never fails and she wakes the 14 month old up. Her mom said she naps 2x still at home but I am lucky if I get half of one! She is hard to keep quiet too.

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I would put thus child in a room by herself if she is already not in one as far away from everybody else as possible and have a fan running outside the door and ask for one of moms pillowcases off of her bed (unwashed) this way baby can smell mom. I would not bring her out until quiet time is over however long and loud she wants to scream because she is learning that if she screams you will bring her out and at 11 months old she likely doesn't have the attention span to watch tv (thankfully). The fans will drown out the noise for the other kids and after a short time of screaming through nap she will start sleeping longer.

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Originally Posted by Crayola kiddies

I would put thus child in a room by herself if she is already not in one as far away from everybody else as possible and have a fan running outside the door and ask for one of moms pillowcases off of her bed (unwashed) this way baby can smell mom. I would not bring her out until quiet time is over however long and loud she wants to scream because she is learning that if she screams you will bring her out and at 11 months old she likely doesn't have the attention span to watch tv (thankfully). The fans will drown out the noise for the other kids and after a short time of screaming through nap she will start sleeping longer.

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Thanks for the suggestion! I actually have the 14 month old in the "quiet by herself room". I had problems with her sleeping longer than an hour too from the start but she seems good now. I was just scared to try her in the room with the other kids yet. I will have them both on Wednesday so I might try the swap then and see how that works. Thanks.