Ideas for Non Napper?

[daycarediva]

It looks like my newly 3yo dcg is giving up naps. She sleeps 8-8 at home, and was good for an hour-hour and a half here. We nap from 1-2:30, so that worked out fine.

The last few months, she was waking up early and NOT AT ALL quiet about it. Sooo... I started giving her books and stuffed animals or busy bags after story time to keep her awake for a little bit, she was falling asleep about half hour after the other kids.

That worked for the last few months. Now she is not falling asleep at all. It has been all this week and all last week, too. If I allow her off her mat, she wakes everyone else up. I no longer have a separate area for my nappers, so I am at a loss as to what to do. I have her in an adjacent room, but it's open floor plan, so it's not noise diminishing at all.

Regs say no tv/electronics.

I ADORE this dcg, she is a gem all day long and her parents are one of my best clients, so terming is not an option. I never thought I would keep a non-napper. ::

Ideas? Advice?

[melilley]

What if you put something around her cot so that she can't see all over?
I have a 3 yo who only sleeps 1-1.5 hours and it takes him forever to fall asleep. I have him in the dc room (all other kids who are 12 mo.+ are in my ds's room and the baby sleeps in my family room where I am) and it's pretty open (there is a wall, but a huge doorway). I put him by the two walls and put a couch in front of him so that he can't see all over the room. It seems to help. He still doesn't really sleep, but he lays there, for the most part.

[melilley]

Oh, I also play classical music.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

What if you put something around her cot so that she can't see all over?
I have a 3 yo who only sleeps 1-1.5 hours and it takes him forever to fall asleep. I have him in the dc room (all other kids who are 12 mo.+ are in my ds's room and the baby sleeps in my family room where I am) and it's pretty open (there is a wall, but a huge doorway). I put him by the two walls and put a couch in front of him so that he can't see all over the room. It seems to help. He still doesn't really sleep, but he lays there, for the most part.

I did the same for my non-napper when he was 3. He is now 4 and it is hit or miss.

[daycarediva]

I have her in an alcove off of my dining room alone, she is in a corner with a divider (I use those tri fold bulletin boards). I play music, too.

All of the other kids are in the playroom, out of eyesight, and there is NOTHING for her to do. She will pick at her blanket, play with her hair/clothes, hum/sing quietly to herself (which I discourage). UGH. Mom is frustrated with no weekend naps too. Older brother apparently napped until K.

[KSDC]

If mom is wanting the naps for the weekend too, maybe she can tweak the 8-8 night sleeping? It is possible that 12 hours is all she needs. If mom can do 7-8 or 8-7 it might bring naps back?

As for your nap time, here is what I do. All munchkins must lie still and quiet for 30 minutes. If they are noisy and disruptive, that 30 minutes starts over.

If they do lie there calmly for 30 minutes without falling asleep, I let them get up and play quietly. BUT, this is a privilege. If she becomes disruptive, then she looses the big girl privilege of playing during nap time and has to lie back down on her mat.

[melilley]

I guess I can't really say anything, my mom said that I quit napping when I was almost 3. Believe me, she was a single mother and wanted me to nap, but I just wouldn't.

[Josiegirl]

I guess I can't really say anything, my mom said that I quit napping when I was almost 3. Believe me, she was a single mother and wanted me to nap, but I just wouldn't.

We'll blame it on some kind of karma then.

I have 2 preschoolers who don't nap much anymore. One can be quiet as a mouse but the other one??? OMG if someone isn't paying attention to her 99% of the time, she just becomes more demanding of it. She does better if I have her far away from me and separated right beside a good sleeper. I have all 5 sleepers lined up in my playroom, with a divider between each one. I was keeping her closer to me, hoping I could keep her quieter that way. Big Mistake!
It's so frustrating and aggravating when the little ones have got to nap and you have 1 dck that has no clue how to be quiet.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

If mom is wanting the naps for the weekend too, maybe she can tweak the 8-8 night sleeping? It is possible that 12 hours is all she needs. If mom can do 7-8 or 8-7 it might bring naps back?

My daughter started fighting naps last year. They're very important to me! She was also having a hard time getting to sleep at bedtime (her bedtime was 7:30). We messed around with her bedtime and found that 8:15 was the new magic number: no nap fight, right to sleep at bedtime. Well worth it to get nap back!