Naptime is sacred at my house. Kids really do need down time, as much as they don't want to admit it. And it's a non-negotiable for MY sanity!
I also don't like to argue about it- - "But I'm not tired!"- - or have kids yelling down every 5 minutes saying, "Is naptime over yet?" and "Can we get up now?"
SO. . .I burned a CD with soft classical music (compiled from classical CDs I own) that is just over 1 hour long. The girls don't have to sleep, but they do have to sit quietly and read books until the music is over. If, after a warning, they are still goofing around and not being quiet, I turn the music back a few songs and reiterate that it is QUIET time.
I've been using the naptime CD for over 3 years now (I have more than one so we can switch things up a little bit) and it works really well for us.
Do you have any tips for naptime?
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Monday, October 20, 2008
Mom Tip for Naptime
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3 comments:
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing! Do you put all 4 down for a nap at the same time? If so how does it work for the younger ones? Usually I can get Ella & Brennan down at the same time, but wondering and trying to anticipate what nap time will look like with the 3rd edition.
Some days I am able to get all 4 down for part of the same naptime, but F only sleeps for about 1/2 hour at a time, so this happens rarely. But the older three all go up for nap at the same time since they share a room. Some days they don't sleep and come down after the music stops, some days they all wake up at the same time and come down (or one wakes the others up), but most days they wake up one or two at a time and come down quietly.
As for planning things with a little one, if YOU want a nap, I don't have a hard-and-fast nap time, so I just hold off the older kids' nap until the youngest is ready to go down, then we all nap at the same time. (Though honestly I rarely nap--only if I have a migraine--I just have a hard time napping because that's my only time to get things done!)
I like your CD idea. With Micah, I give him a set time on his clock when he can come out of his bed, then another time that he can leave his room. Usually, the kids go down at 1:00 and he has to stay in bed until 2:00 (he gets some books to look at). Then he can play quietly in his room until 2:30. Then he can come out. This works great for us, except for those days when naptime doesn't start at 1, then I have to readjust his times. Ellie is still in the crib, so that keeps her contained. Lately she has been boycotting sleeping, so she just talks the whole time.
I, too, cherish that quiet time for myself. It's often amazing how quickly that 1.5hrs can fly by when I have my list of things to get done!
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