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I'm sure this has been posted a thousand times, but how do you set it up so the little ones are sleeping with a morning nap while the older (age 2) are not? My daycare is two connected rooms and I can't figure out a way to do this so my little one can sleep and the older ones can play.
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I only have 2 "older" ones now, and they play on my covered porch during morning nap. They just gave up their own morning naps. On days where only one is here (once or twice a week), she just hangs with me. She "helps" me throw in laundry, make my bed, load the dishwasher, or sits at the counter and does puzzles. She's 19 months old.
With more kiddos or older ones I'd probably use that time for a "teacher led" activity, or some table-top type thing that's not normally available. -
Luckily my babies can sleep upstairs, but the big kids can still wake them up - as they did yesterday.
On a typical day, I let the big girls play quiet activities such as play doh, coloring, etc. Today however, they are having two quiet times where they have to lay down, don't talk and watch a movie. I ended up sending home two very cranky babies because of the messed up naps- due to the big girls forgetting how to play quietly. And of course, the parents are on board with it because it ended up affecting them lastnight. :
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I quickly and consistently set expectations about noise level while we are indoors even for the toddlers. When the noise level starts to go up I remind the children to use their indoor voices. I don't have separate rooms and have an open floor concept living room and dining room which are the only areas used indoors for daycare. My morning and evening nappers all nap in the same room as the older children and the pack n plays can be as little as 2 feet away from a playing child.
When a child starts to get loud I just go over and softly and quietly ask them to speak quietly "Bobby, the babies are sleeping. I need you to use your quiet voice" and that usually does the trick. For the toddlers (1 and 2 yo's) I can usually do the same but use easier words "Too loud. Quiet, quiet" while I softly caress their arm, leg or face.
My current group pretty much knows to be quieter when others are napping and they know that I allow a louder volume when no one is asleep but every time I get a new child join our group I go over "class management" and we spend time going over the rules and why we have them, how to treat the toys, have a quiet/loud theme etc. to give them a chance to learn the rules that are new to them. It's soooo much easier once your expectations are established and a new child comes in, you only have to focus on teaching that child while it serves as a reminder to the others and there's much less reminders.Comment
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I'm running into this also but my problem is the little ones need a nap when we are outside.
I feel bad having the older ones cooped up inside because the little one needs to nap. Also, they won't sleep outside (already tried it).
What do you guys do in this situation?Each day is a fresh start
Never look back on regrets
Live life to the fullest
We only get one shot at this!!
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I have a 9 mo old who takes a morning nap. I lay her down every day between 9 and 9:30. Sometimes she goes right to sleep and other times she will cry, but only for about 5 min at most then she is out. She takes a half hour to about an hour nap. As soon as she wakes up, we go outside. I have found that this works out well. And she even usually takes another nap when it's nap time!Comment
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Can you somehow block off a room?
I have my playroom then the dining room then my family room. You can see the dining room and family room from my playroom doorway. I have a gate at the playroom and a pnp in my family room and when the baby is sleeping, we just play in the family room. But I have been lucky and my baby dcg will sleep even when the other kids are playing in the same room, but that's starting to change.Comment
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I do a structured activity with the olders while my baby naps in the same room. Sometimes I do calendar time, or a story, and sometimes I do a quiet fine motor activity. They love sorting pom poms with tweezers. It takes forever and keeps them quiet because it requires a lot of concentration. We go outside as soon as the baby wakes up. I usually wake her up after an hour so she will nap again in the afternoon with the olders.Comment
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I have the under-twos sleep in my living room, which opens up to the dining room, kitchen, and play room - all of which are child care areas. I put soothing music on in the living room, at a fairly loud level to help drown out the olders. And like MV I set noise expectations for when the littles are sleeping - it helps to tell the olders that we can't go outside until the littles have had their nap.
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