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

So I have a parent who wants her 2 year old (yes, 2!!) to stop napping. The mom thinks this is the reason she is staying up late and not sleeping. I disagree but what can I do? The past 2 daycare days this mom has kept her child home until lunch because she hasn't slept well the night before so she is letting her sleep in. I have suggested a routine might help better but this is a young mom (20) and she just does what she wants.

So my question is....what kind of activities do you do with your non napping children? I currently have a 3.5 year old who doesn't nap and that is when I allow her to watch tv or we work on preschool stuff. I don't want the 2 year old watching that much tv though so I am looking for different ideas. I allow them quiet toys, books and puzzles but they get bored of this so I am looking for new fun ideas! :) Thanks!!

TBH with you all my kids must be respectful of quiet time for the first 60 mins. That means they must stay in their bed until then, no exceptions. If they fall asleep, they wake with everyone else...

I don't have non napping children ..... All children must lay down and rest ... If you don't sleep that's their business but they don't get up and they must be quiet. The parents have to understand that their child is not the only child in the daycare and all children must respect the others need for sleep. Maybe this parent needs a nanny.

A 2 year old naps in my house or they find another care giver. I'm sorry, but this is my business and my routine and I'm not changing it for each individual client, i'd have 5 different schedules if that was the case. Can you imagion? Working around 5 different sleep/eat schedules?

To answer your question... TV while I eat and relax. Then depending on the child I will set up a book corner (if I feel the child may need to dose off) play doh, colouring. Quiet time is all about bordom. It's all about not stimulating them.

So, as much as I understand why you're looking for new and fun ideas, it complete changes the point of quiet time. Do an hour of TV then switch them to the table for an hour of books, colouring and play doh. If they don't like it, they can lay down on the couch until everyone else is up. This is a great opportunity to teach respect towards the young ones. Computer is a good one for the older kids too. If you're in a position to keep an eye on them. My 3.5 year old loved some of the education youtube videos or playing around on the sesame street web site.

Thanks everyone. I considered asking her to find another dc as there are other issues as well but her child is mostly well behaved and it's slow around here right now so who knows when I would fill my spot and I can't take the decrease in my pay. The issues are nothing major they are just annoying but it's more to do with the mom so it's not the end of the world right now.

I think I will be making quiet time boring as some of you suggested. If she falls asleep I won't be waking her up. I feel that she is too young and needs her sleep. She had a major meltdown the first day with no nap when her mom picked her up at home time which is not like her. She was exhausted though!!

This is YOUR business and YOUR schedule. There is no way we can have 5 (or how ever many dck we have) daily different schedules. Perhaps this parents needs Grandma or a Nanny.
I would FLAT out tell her and any parent who questions my nap schedule that I work ALONE and work 10 hour days. Having 2 hours whether its quiet laying in the bed/playpen or sleeping in the afternoon is MANDATORY in my program. If they don't like it they can go elsewhere. As far as I know there is a mandatory rest period in the Day Nurseries Act.
However, if a child were to have difficulty napping or wake up before the 2 hours I would keep them in their bed. Nap time is naptime. Especially for a 2 year old.

I have one that will be 3 in a few weeks and mom wants the nap reduced to 90 minutes as they say the child is still staring at the ceiling at 9pm. So I agreed to that saying that I will move her nap spot to the playroom where I can see her and I will wake her after 90 mins but she is not permitted to get up but may look at a book. The first day was going good till she decided to tear my book into tiny shreds ..... Now she doesn't get to look at a book instead she just lays there awake chatting to herself until quiet time is over.

The only time I will allow no naps is during the month of August when the child is scheduled to go to school in sept.

Exactly what I tell my parents Sassygirl. Nap time is also my time to center myself which really does benefit their kids. :) School age kids on a PA day, sure, TV. Everyone else on their sleep mats. Odds are that your 2 year old is actually overtired and that's why they don't sleep. I believe that if a child falls asleep mid day, they need it.

A 2 year old needs a nap. Mom needs to use a consistent bedtime routine and probably to bed EARLIER, even if that sounds counter-intuitive, because it often works.

You need that naptime for a break, and the child needs it as well, at 2 years old.

Many caregivers have found that if Mom "thinks" child is not napping, miraculously the child still somehow starts to go to bed earlier at home. Just sayin'.

I love your comment "jammiesandtea" I absolutely insist that there is a minimum 1 hour rest time, whether the child sleeps or not. The tv is on and they may sit quietly on the couch with a stuffie, 9 times out of 10 they drop off. If the parent asks I cross my fingers and tell them the little white lie that the child was up. Miracle of miracles the nighttime problems stop, the problem is not the nap it is inconsistency from the parents!!

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.

From experience with my own daughter in daycare.... she has gone through phases where she will not sleep... at 27 months, she is hit or miss, more like every other day... however, keep in mind that babies and toddlers go through sleep regressions.
Sleep Regressions occur at 4, 8-10, 18 and 24 months.
Sleep regressions can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks to pass... The key to getting through a sleep regression is consistency... follow the same routine every day, at home and at daycare... always put them down and keep then in routine, when the regression passes the child will still be on schedule... If you change the routine because they are not sleeping, when the regression passes, the child will be off schedule...

Inthe case of the original poster though, I think the surce of the problem is the routine/consitecy at home...

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Originally Posted by Blackcat3168

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.

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I totally agree with this. My 21/2 year old daughter has been having a really hard time with naps for the last six months. So I've had to choose between giving her a nap and her not falling asleep until 9 pm, or letting her stay up and not getting a break...most of the time I choose the nap.:)

Woodsy, excellent advice! I agree with you, in this child's situation it's the inconsistency at home.

I have asked all my parents to be here before 930 so we can start our day. Today she wasn't here and I texted asking when they would be. I got no answer. We continued on with our day and at 1045 the mom finally got back to me and said that her phone hasn't been going off (she uses it as an alarm) so I am assuming they have been sleeping in the past few days. She said she would be here by lunch. She knows we eat at 1145. She got here at 1215 as we were getting ready for nap and I told her that I would like her daughter be here at 930 whether she has slept the night before or not so that she can play all morning and be tired for nap time and then hopefully go to bed better for her. Mom has said she has been keeping her home to sleep because she didn't sleep at night and didn't want to bring her here cranky.

I put her daughter in her playpen for nap even though she likely wasn't tired. She cried for half an hour to 45 minutes and is now sleeping. I will just keep her to our routine here and hopefully mom gets her back on track at home.

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Originally Posted by 5 Little Monkeys

Woodsy, excellent advice! I agree with you, in this child's situation it's the inconsistency at home.

I have asked all my parents to be here before 930 so we can start our day. Today she wasn't here and I texted asking when they would be. I got no answer. We continued on with our day and at 1045 the mom finally got back to me and said that her phone hasn't been going off (she uses it as an alarm) so I am assuming they have been sleeping in the past few days. She said she would be here by lunch. She knows we eat at 1145. She got here at 1215 as we were getting ready for nap and I told her that I would like her daughter be here at 930 whether she has slept the night before or not so that she can play all morning and be tired for nap time and then hopefully go to bed better for her. Mom has said she has been keeping her home to sleep because she didn't sleep at night and didn't want to bring her here cranky.

I put her daughter in her playpen for nap even though she likely wasn't tired. She cried for half an hour to 45 minutes and is now sleeping. I will just keep her to our routine here and hopefully mom gets her back on track at home.

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Mom is making things worse by letting dcg sleep in. She should the up at a regular time so she can get back on schedule. My kids take forever to fall asleep at night too when they sleep in.

I agree. However I think mom is sleeping in too. She constantly tells me how she hates mornings. Mom doesn't work to my knowledge and goes to school sometimes but usually does the work from home. I don't think they really have a set routine. It's quite frustrating because it disrupts the other children as well when they just show up whenever. Her pick up are also not consistent and I never know how long she is here for.

I don't allow drop offs or pick up between 12-3. I also have in my policy book that if a child is going to be late for a meal please serve it at home. So if your lunch time is 11:45 and she arrived at 12:15 lunch would not be available. I would post a note on the door stating that "effective immediately all children must arrive by 9:30 am in order to receive care for the day. Any one arriving after 9:30 will not be admitted into care that day however full fees will still be required. This is to ensure all children remain on schedule and receive full benefit from the program. Thank you in advance for your cooperation"

That's a good idea Crayola. However, I have one child who goes home every other day at 1pm and on Tues/Thurs a girl gets picked up at 1230 for preschool. I want them to go home LOL. They are a set schedule though and I always know when they are getting picked up early. It is just this one mom who is driving me crazy with her inconsistent drop off and pick ups. I spoke to her today about how it's disrupting our day so she needs to be here by 930. I guess we will see what time she gets here tomorrow. I didn't give her child lunch today and I'm not sure if mom fed her at home as she didn't say. I don't like to do that though as it is the child who suffers and it's not the childs fault that mom can't get her crap together.

If she continues to do these late drop offs I may steal your idea and send home that memo as well as attach it to my door and lock my door at 930 every morning!!! hahaha.