Kids seem to go crazy last 1hr and a half of day - any ideas?

Hey guys!
Just looking for any suggestions that you guys might have.

I have a 2, 4, 5 year old, and my 15 month old son. The last couple days it seems that the kids go stir crazy when we hit the 4pm mark (It's actually more so the 4 & 5 year olds and the younger ones are happy doing their own thing). By this time we have already done crafts, circle time, stories, coloring, play doh, about an hour of tv time (while the others nap) and outside time at least twice. Do you guys have any suggestions to get us all through the last hour and half of our day?

Honestly, up until that time I'm like 'hey, I can handle this. I love this day home thing' (I've only been up and running for 3 weeks now - this week was the first week with all 3 kids) and then the bickering, whining, and mayhem sets in and all I can think of is 'is it home time yet?'

The most frustrating thing is the 4 year old as he cries ALL the time because he wants EVERY toy that any of the kids have and I always step in and remind him about sharing. Especially at this time. This is also when he starts to rough house and bounce from one couch to the other, throw toys and also drive the dog nuts. I feel that if I could just get a handle on him for this last little bit of the day then the others wouldn't feed off of him. - I should ad that during the day he is pretty good because he is occupied (minus the sharing/whining thing but I think with consistency it should hopefully get better) but at the end of the day he spends a lot of his time in timeout.

Thanks so much!

Can you shift your routine around so you go outside at that time of the day?

A 4 year old who cries over toys? That seems very wrong to me. My little ones are cured of crying over toys before they are 2, but this boy hasn't been in your care so the caregiver before you and the parents are the ones who dropped the ball. But I'd be talking to the parents now and getting them to help you put a stop to that. Does he have a nap? He should be refreshed at the end of the day from quiet or naptime, but it sounds like he is overtired maybe?

I would be making all the children have naptime and if they choose not to sleep then that's fine but they must stay on their cot or nap mat for the required time. At the end of the day I don't allow toys out. They are permitted books, puzzles, coloring, or playdoh. No rowdy or rambunctious toys. I do my outdoor time in the morning because it's cooler.

I do my outside times from 9:00-11:00 unless we're at a park and we eat lunch there and straight to bed when they get home. And we go outside again at 4:45ish until parents arrive, both times for me work where the sun doesn't hit my backyard so it's not so bad. Plus after being in our playroom (basement) we like to warm up! It's so cold down there.....and I've taped off the air vents! They now wear sock when we're down there! lol

I agree with Crayola, I would make them ALL go down at naptime. If they don't sleep then that's ok but with consitancy after a while, I'm sure even the older ones will sleep for 30 minutes. Sometimes we think that just because a child is very active he does not need to rest when actually he is actually actind up du to a lack of sleep.

As for the other problemes, was the 4 year old use to a daycare setting ? Maybe he also needs to get use to a daycare setting ?

yeah, the 4 year old was with another day home previously but they switched because my location is more convenient for the parents. We normally go outside in the morning, as well, as it gets just so hot in the afternoons and my yard is directly in the sun with no shade. Quite often we go on the deck as it's covered but the humidity can be quite the killer so we normally only last half an hour at a time. Normally I get the older ones to lay down on separate couches with blankets and quietly watch TV while the two younger ones nap in separate rooms, but they never fall asleep. His mom says that he doesn't nap during the day and if he does it's normally in the car when they are out and about. I think he's tired too. How do you guys get older kids to rest when they don't nap? My house is pretty small so the only place available is the living room.

All of my children sleep/rest in the same dark room no matter what their ages. I have two 1 year olds, a 2 year old and two 4 year olds. The 4 year old children fall asleep last and sleep the least amount of time but they need the rest after our busy days, no tv or books, it's too dark in the room. But they do fall asleep every single day.

The last hour and a half, we go outside. The pick up times range between 4:30 and 5:30 so we play outside after afternoon snack. It seems to do the trick

For me they all sleep in the same room but the older ones can get a book to read but they all fall asleep everyday too. If I need ... They should need it too ! :p

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Originally Posted by crafty

I agree with Crayola, I would make them ALL go down at naptime. If they don't sleep then that's ok but with consitancy after a while, I'm sure even the older ones will sleep for 30 minutes. Sometimes we think that just because a child is very active he does not need to rest when actually he is actually actind up du to a lack of sleep.

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So happy you posted this Godsgirl and great advice crafty/crayola...I too struggle with my older ones. I'm exhausted with the fact that my attempts at quiet time with them have been so unsuccessful. Today, I took this advice and assigned them all separate rooms to lay down and have quiet time in (as opposed to throwing a movie on and reminding the 3 of them to "please settle down and be quiet" about 30 times!). There has not been a peep for an hour. Oh Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou!!!!!!!!

I also take the kids outside for the last hour of the day after snacktime unless the temperature is extreme. If it is hot, we do some water play to cool off and I am lucky as I do have some shade at that time of the day. A sprinkler works great for hot days and they can burn off all the energy! I also agree that rest is important. My own 4 year old son rests at naptime in his room...sometimes he sleeps and sometimes not, but it is dark and the expectation is that he will sleep (I just turn a blind eye if he is quietly looking at books instead as that means he isn't that tired). TV is very stimulating and can cause some behaviour problems and ADHD type behaviour in children, so I would cut out the TV at quiet time and stick to quiet rest...books are fine if he can't sleep. I have one little girl who is 2 and has a hard time falling asleep sometimes, so I give her some books and she is allowed to look at them quietly until she is ready to sleep....it works well. Books are sleep inducing while TV is sleep inhibiting ;) Good luck!

Yup ~ everyone here has a REST as well regardless of your age myself included .... IMO if they are not able to make it to the end of the day with 'dignity' than they still NEED a rest and or sleep so that their little brains have some down time and they can recoup their resiliency skills for the afternoon to cope with any little 'upsets' over toys without melting down and having a tearful fit ~ that is a sign of a OVERTIRED mind!

I also plan my routine to be outside at the end of the day for pick up ~ IME just easier for them to leave the program from outside and less 'drama' and so forth. However when the weather does not cooperate and we have to be inside for pick up we are at the kitchen table engaged with quiet activities ~ I either save 'circle time' for that time of the day if I know the weather is sucking or if we've done circle time than I set out the play doh or other sensory or art to explore. If you do not want to do that you get 'quiet' options of books on the carpet area ... end of the day is definitely 'wind down' time and preferably things that are easy to 'leave' when their parent arrives!

Just an AMAZING update!!!!!

Today I tried your guys' suggestions and I am the happiest lady in the whole wide world!!
Right now I am taking a few moments for myself as ALL 3 kids are sleeping and my 5 year old is quietly playing on the deck!! The 2 & 4 year old went to sleep at 1:15, and my 15 month old went to bed at 1:40 (Still working on moving his naps back as you guys recommended on a different post - so far so good. Has moved from a 10:30 nap to a 10:00 nap and a 2:30 nap to a 1:30 nap which I'm quite surprised how easy it was to do) so he sleeps at the same time as everyone else. I just got the 4 year old to lay down on the couch with a blanket and moved the 5 year old, my son, and myself to the kitchen/dining room and after a bit of tears he passed right out.

I am actually quite excited to see how his demeanor is at 4.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!

Good for your Godsgirl ! Keep us posted !!

My kids are all still sleeping as I write. It's the only break we get so enjoy it and the kids will too, I am sure of it !!

Yup ~ I love me my quiet time .... everyone has it here!

I will be honest even when my stepson was 'young' enough to be here during summer hours he too had to go lay down in his room for quiet time OR arrange not to be here at that time of day by going to a friends house. He did this until he was 12 and old enough to start babysitting his half brother at his other house for summers.

IMO it was not fair to the other daycare children to hear someone else up and doing things during that time frame and it was just easier for him to 'be in his room quiet' until they were asleep and then he got up and would play on the computer in the office quietly ... honestly at the start of nap time hear EVERYONE is resting including myself ~ this is when I read my book or catch up on here or what not so no one is 'moving around' for them to hear and they know they are not 'missing' anything that others are doing and go right off to sleep once they are asleep than I can move around and do the dishes up and so forth and get snack ready and so forth.

I bet your afternoon with well rested crew including yourself will be AWESOME!

Oh, that's wonderful news godsgirl! Keep it going every day and the children will adjust and know that is the way every day runs and hopefully won't give you any trouble.

that's when I start making a game of clean up. I dis-assemble the play mats and make them into islands, then I swiffer vac around them and pretend I'm the shark. They had better jump to the next islands as i take each one away to clean that spot. Eventually there are no islands and they are on the couch so I can vinegar spray and mop and dry. I say things like "now you are walking through the jungle" and motion swimming arms and they do the swimming arms, "look out!" etc. They are excited, happy, squealing when the parents come and the house is clean so I can get on with my night and not have a mess to deal with when my day should be done.