Would You Do This?

[Country Kids]

Naptime is mostly horrible anymore. I either have 2-3 kids sleeping or non at all. Two have been asleep the whole time, one just feel asleep (20 min till naptime is over) and two are up and just exhausting me.

I have been thinking of telling the parents this:

If children are not asleep by 1;30, they will be allowed to be up and playing outside. I will sit on the deck so that I may watch them and keep my eyes on the children sleeping. The children that are resting need to be able to rest without the disruption of the non-sleeping children. Should a parent not want this for their child, they will need to come and pick up their child at the start of nap. Thank You!

Do harsh?

[Loveyoustinkyface]

Sounds good to me!

[daycare]

I do think they need a rest period, but its up to you. You might be opening a can of worms where no one naps.. Who wants to nap when you can play outside right?

AND thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn... You have cranky kids on your hands that are super exhausted until pick up.

if you can handle it and don't mind, I say go for it..

Me for one need some kind of a break or ill pop......................

[Country Kids]

I'm getting NO break now as it is. Another one just fell asleep and naptime will be over in 10 min. The last one is trying to fall asleep because its finally quiet and there is no one to bug.

So either way I will have nice crabby kids because they didn't nap but a few minutes.

I'm tired of wrestling them, making them be quiet, lay still, lay down, be quiet, quit kicking, etc.

[providerandmomof4]

Can you separate the non-nappers in another area? I have two that absolutely force themselves to stay up cause they know that if they stay up long enough, I'll let them do quiet time activities. Today I separated the 2 dcb in separate rooms. One couldn't fight it with noone to bug and fell asleep. The other got up and played quietly, even though I know he was exhaused Sometimes it irritates me because it's like he's getting rewarded for having such will power. I feel like letting him lay there the entire 2 hrs and say....see, you should've just slept cause there isn't anything else to do!!

[clep]

Sorry, I don't agree with this. It is up to the provider to set boundaries in place and create positive rewards and encouragement for desired behavior.

Have you tried providing that encouragement? In my day home I ignore the children not doing well. I mean completely ignore them. I don't go to cover them up or provide kisses and gentle strokes on the head. When the first child does a good job they get a ton of praise and encouragement. They get a stamp on their had when the fall asleep and the other children see that. It takes a couple of days for the other children who are being little buggers to see their behavior is not providing them the desired result. They start to behave to receive the same encouragement. When the are successful even for a few seconds initially they get the praise too and the time between screams get's less and less.

They see the great sleepers comparing their stamps when they wake and showing their parents what a great job they did upon pick up. We make a BIG deal out of it.

All my children lay down and go to sleep immediately without noise, movement or open eyes.