Nap/Rest Time Length

[Blackcat31]

I do 2.5 hours and they sleep like lambs.

A 45 minute walk every day and floor based play + a sunday dinner lunch + cave dark room is what works for me. They are out within a few minutes and we have to wake them up when nap is over.

Two hours wouldn't be enough for mine. They need 2.5.

99 days out of a 100 all eight kids sleep the whole nap. Occasionally one is not feeling well or off schedule but it's only a couple of times a year. (Newborns not included of course... YMMV with them)

I think I need to seriously start re-thinking my nap/rest time here.

I would love if they all slept soundly for 2 hours. I do a 90 minute nap/rest time but am lucky if we get a full 60 minutes of silence.

[Country Kids]

I am really surprised that there are so many providers who require 2 or more hours of rest/nap time. I know kids would sleep that long if they were little but I guess I don't see a need for my preschoolers to have such a long rest period. I suppose it all has to do with how much activity you have going on and whether a child is actually getting a decent amount of sleep at home.

I have a 3 yr old in care now who goes to bed "when he feels like it" (moms exct words) and most the time, he doesn't feel like it until atleast 11 PM or so. He would sleep here for more than 2 hours if I let him.

Interesting information though.

I was thinking the same exact thing!!! Very surprised at the 2+ hour replys that have been received. I do have one (about the only one that sleeps lately) that will sleep 3+ hours sometimes and the parents are fine with it. Child goes to bed still at 8:30 and sleeps through the night!

[SunflowerMama]

Mine are 1.5 - 5 and all nap like logs for at least 2 hrs...1p - 3p. I have 2 that sometimes sleep as late as 4p. Like Nan and some others we are super active during the day and have dinner size lunches so by the time the sleep music starts and the windows are darkened most are out.

[hoopinglady]

Mine always sleep for 2 or more hours. Even when I have school agers visiting they normally sleep pretty much the entire time. If they wake early they can come into the workshop and play quietly but I try to wait until at least 330. They normally lay down a little after 1.

Ten years ago when I had a different daycare home it was the same deal,everyone slept a good long nap.

I had a nap room then but not now.

We PLAY all morning. I put on soft music or stories and they sleep throughout the playroom on mats. I clean them up from lunch and send them to their mats while the music/story is already playing. While I'm tidying a bit I allow them to get their last few wiggles out. If they are particularly restless, I'll read a long book without pictures and that tends to help them relax.

There are a few who I will allow to have a book or magna doodle because I know they need more of a winding down.

No one has ever complained about child not sleeping at night and my kids take the same nap and are in bed by 930. My kids now are 2-5

[nannyde]

I think I need to seriously start re-thinking my nap/rest time here.

I would love if they all slept soundly for 2 hours. I do a 90 minute nap/rest time but am lucky if we get a full 60 minutes of silence.

It's HEAVEN

Not only do I completely enjoy the break but the kids are sweet as pie after a snooze like that.

It's not free though. It's not special. It's just plain ole WORK to make it happen.

The outdoor walk is EXPENSIVE.

The food is EXPENSIVE. (intensive labor and $$ for food)

Floor based play takes intensive supervision and WORK to make it happen generation after generation.

Paying for the SPACE to have kids separated by age and in the best equipment.

It's work, money, and time that nets the big break every day.

[e.j.]

Most of my kids sleep a full 2 hours and some would sleep longer if I let them. I have to wake most of them when I do in order to have them awake (not groggy), snacked and ready for pick-up time when it comes.

If an older child has a hard time falling asleep or won't sleep at night if they've had a day time nap, I have them quietly lay on a mat until the younger ones fall asleep. Once they're asleep, they can look at books, listen quietly to music, watch tv quietly, etc. For the most part, though, the older kids fall asleep before the younger ones do!

[Blackcat31]

It's HEAVEN

Not only do I completely enjoy the break but the kids are sweet as pie after a snooze like that.

It's not free though. It's not special. It's just plain ole WORK to make it happen.

The outdoor walk is EXPENSIVE.

The food is EXPENSIVE. (intensive labor and $$ for food)

Floor based play takes intensive supervision and WORK to make it happen generation after generation.

Paying for the SPACE to have kids separated by age and in the best equipment.

It's work, money, and time that nets the big break every day.

So this was our day so far:

• Arrival
• breakfast (Steel cut oatmeal with fresh peaches, soft boiled egg and milk.)
• free play
• outside time (we went for a walk and collected leaves and acorns) everyone except my 10 month old walked. We walked for almost an hour.
• outside play back at the daycare for 3-5 yr olds and littles had free play inside (using the ball pit/jumper) while I prepared lunch
• lunch (chicken fettichini alfredo, spinach salad, broccoli, mandarin ornages and milk)
• teeth brushing
• story time
• nap/rest time

It is now 1 hour into nap time and I have

• 1~ still awake and alternating between playing and fussing in the PNP (age 10 months)
• 2 ~age 18 mos, starting to stir already
• 1 ~ age 2, awake (rarely sleeps more than 30 mins but will lie quietly)
• 5 ~ ages 2-5, sleeping (but will be up as soon as the stirring ones are fully awake since they are kinda loud).

I just can't seem to get a handle on this group. They are all full time and here every day for anywhere from 7-10 hours each.

All these kids are full timers and in all honestly sleep worse than the group I had last year who were older?!? (I lost 5 to Kindy so I have a new young group)

I USED to get a loooong wonderfully peaceful nap/rest time but not this year so far. :confused: