She doesn't get it

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I don't really have any suggestions

I nap all mine in the same room and all I do is place them in playpen/cot, cover them up, say goodnight, turn on white noise machine and leave. They are sleeping by the time I get upstairs and turn the monitor on!! However...the youngest (19 month-ish) will sometimes wake up 30-60 minutes before the rest of them. She too is a singer and a chatter!! I speak over the monitor and tell her to lie down. She usually listens but I can still hear her chatting sometimes lol. She will usually fall back asleep. If she doesn't and it's getting too disruptive for the others, I go get her.

It's only occasional with her but in the past if I've had a noisy napper, I put them in a playpen in my dc kitchen. I have to keep the playpen in my adjoining laundry room which is kinda in the way but I'd rather do this than have their naps disrupted.

This is more like I do. If child fully awake, then I just get them up. As long as they had a nap, no big deal. I know some people here say they like their 2.5-3 hour break but surely that not an outright expectation? Little children not expected to be quite for so long to give provider a break? It quite the break ! Holy, can't think of one other carer or self-employed role where 3 hour break daily expected whilst still being paid.

Sometime we get decent break and sometimes not. It way things go looking- after people who dependent on us. Old people, young people, not always reasonable to expect break is uninterrupted, going to happen every day, a given right.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I used to allow kids not to nap (it was just one kid actually) but than realized I need a break. I now have in my contract that all kids must lie down for 30-60 minutes as this is my only break. I of course love my 2-2.5 hour break but I'm like you Suzie, I don't keep a loud child in the playpen if they've had a good nap already.

Everyone's different though

[torontokids]

The reason I keep kids down for their nap during the whole nap time is that I quickly learned that waking up 15 mins early became 30 mins early then an hour to the point where I had no break and I had cranky kids. Now that I leave them they all sleep much better and mostly sleep the entire nap period. My own girls always just understood that they have nap time and they are quiet until mommy gets them. Never had an issue with it and my girls are good sleepers.

You can say who else gets a 2 hr break during their day but remember that we work longer hours than the norm (my day is 10 hrs with the kids) so a 2 hour nap makes my day a "normal shift" not counting the after hours responsibilities I also have for the business.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I've luckily had good sleepers for the most part so I've only had a couple kids over the last few years that I've needed to go get. My last handful was VERY loud when he woke (if he even slept!) so getting him up early wasn't uncommon. I tried for months to get him to sleep but he just wouldn't

(Until the last few days when I realized he would sleep with a small heater on in the room!!! Lol)

[MsBell]

my nap time is two hours. I spend the first half hour to 45 minutes of that cleaning up after lunch, getting snack ready for the afternoon, filling out daily reports etc, I am lucky to get an hour break, but I do expect to get a break. Perhaps it is because my kids are so busy in the evening now, but if I don't get some down time to sip my tea and put my legs up, no one is happy!I don't expect a 3 hr break, but I certainly do expect an hour break over 10+ hour work day!
Under 3, they must lie down for nap, around 3 1/2 they can stay up, but it is sitting quietly looking at a book, or we watch a movie, but we are sitting quietly. Most of my parents say the kids don't nap well on the weekends, but they all do here. I think it is because I expect it from them, they don't have an option.

[torontokids]

my nap time is two hours. I spend the first half hour to 45 minutes of that cleaning up after lunch, getting snack ready for the afternoon, filling out daily reports etc, I am lucky to get an hour break, but I do expect to get a break. Perhaps it is because my kids are so busy in the evening now, but if I don't get some down time to sip my tea and put my legs up, no one is happy!I don't expect a 3 hr break, but I certainly do expect an hour break over 10+ hour work day!
Under 3, they must lie down for nap, around 3 1/2 they can stay up, but it is sitting quietly looking at a book, or we watch a movie, but we are sitting quietly. Most of my parents say the kids don't nap well on the weekends, but they all do here. I think it is because I expect it from them, they don't have an option.

Exactly. I have had many kids that don't nap for their parents but do for me because 1) we are busy and 2) they don't have a choice

[kindertime]

Nap time was one of the more difficult things I had to learn when I first started. "How do you get 6 kids to sleep at the same time?" I had worked as a nanny for many years before and that is a totally different thing. But I have the answer now; routine. The same thing, same words, same order every day. I have often wondered if this is something that is lacking at home and why they don't nap/sleep there. We have lunch, then tidying the playroom to be ready for the circle/calendar with stories. Then everyone takes off their shoes, we do toilet/diaper, then teeth brushing then to bed. I put on the CD with waves and I read. I like kid's chapter books like Little House on the Prairie, right now I'm into the Wizard of Oz. And I read until they are asleep. Since I started this routine, I can count a couple of times when it all "went off the rails" but for the most part, it works beautifully.

torontokids- is your playroom dark when they're sleeping? Do you have any white noise or anything? When they are sleeping, are you in the playroom? Would it be possible to put dcg in a highchair or booster at the table with books and toys (or a playpen) while the others are sleeping. I don't mean as a penalty but since the rest are in the playroom, she obviously can't play there. If she's already awake, and likely won't go back to sleep, can she be somewhere else?