Paul is giving up his afternoon nap, much to my dismay. I'm trying to get him to still have a quiet time, though. It's becoming a big battle. Any suggestions on quiet time activities or solutions? We need all the help we can get!
I am so sorry! We hit that stage a few months ago. Its a big adjustment! Luckily, Ella will take a great quiet time for me. A few things worked for us 1) I explained that it was quiet time for Ella AND Mommy 2) bribery! Either a special snack that she gets to eat in her room, a movie after quiet time, or a trip to the library if she is good works for us and most importantly.. 3) We put one of those door knob covers on INSIDE of her room, so that she can't open the door... don't judge too harshly!! It does work. We usually leave the door open a crack at night (after she has fallen asleep) so that she can get out if she has a problem, or the house is on fire... good luck! We also tried stickers. She would get a sticker after she had a good quiet time, usually an hour, and put it on a chart. After 5 stickers or so, she gets a special prize. You can see that I was not ready to give up my quiet time!!
At first we went to having a nap every OTHER day. That seemed to work for a while. Then it was every COUPLE of days. He just didn't seem to need naps as often anymore. But it was driving me crazy having to entertain him for that many hours a day. Kara got on my nerves during that time too, because of the summertime and school being out. My mom reminded me that when we were kids we had QUIET time every day, even when we were older. It's good for everyone. :) I informed the kids that we were going to start doing this every day, because I needed quiet time TOO, and it would help them have a nice mommy. :) They thought it stunk at first, but now they actually seem to ENJOY it! THe rules are that they can do anything they want to in their room (they have separate rooms), by themselves, as long as it is quiet. Actually with Dallin I'm a little more strict and have only offered to let him read books or take a car to lay down with in bed. I tell him that he can sleep if he wants to but he doesn't have to. Sometimes he still does. Usually not, and he has a hard time staying in his room the whole time lately. They have to stay until they hear the timer ring that an hour is over. Sometimes I neglect quiet time when I don't want to interrupt something they are playing, or if we have errands to run, or whatever. And sometimes I INSIST (even for Kara, which she hates) that they actually SLEEP, and I guess I'm mean enough that they fall aseep mad at me. Those are the whiny emotional days that I KNOW they REALLY need a nap, especially if they are sick or something. Anyway, that was LONG! Don't know if it will help at all. I remember that when Dallin was born, I let Kara have a quiet time WITH me. She laid with me and read me stories while I took a nap! It was great, we both loved it. Good luck! It's hard when your little guy starts growing up. :) But fun too. They say the darnedest things sometimes huh!
We also have naptime every other day or every couple days, it works for us so far (with Jonas). Bryant had a special toy that was only used during quiet time for awhile and that worked really well. It was his My First Leap pad. He could do the things on his own and he had alittle desk he would work at. He would actually look forward to it, for awhile at least. Now, we don't have quiet time, there's no such thing as quiet in Utah!
3 comments:
I am so sorry! We hit that stage a few months ago. Its a big adjustment! Luckily, Ella will take a great quiet time for me. A few things worked for us 1) I explained that it was quiet time for Ella AND Mommy 2) bribery! Either a special snack that she gets to eat in her room, a movie after quiet time, or a trip to the library if she is good works for us and most importantly.. 3) We put one of those door knob covers on INSIDE of her room, so that she can't open the door... don't judge too harshly!! It does work. We usually leave the door open a crack at night (after she has fallen asleep) so that she can get out if she has a problem, or the house is on fire... good luck! We also tried stickers. She would get a sticker after she had a good quiet time, usually an hour, and put it on a chart. After 5 stickers or so, she gets a special prize. You can see that I was not ready to give up my quiet time!!
At first we went to having a nap every OTHER day. That seemed to work for a while. Then it was every COUPLE of days. He just didn't seem to need naps as often anymore. But it was driving me crazy having to entertain him for that many hours a day. Kara got on my nerves during that time too, because of the summertime and school being out. My mom reminded me that when we were kids we had QUIET time every day, even when we were older. It's good for everyone. :) I informed the kids that we were going to start doing this every day, because I needed quiet time TOO, and it would help them have a nice mommy. :) They thought it stunk at first, but now they actually seem to ENJOY it! THe rules are that they can do anything they want to in their room (they have separate rooms), by themselves, as long as it is quiet. Actually with Dallin I'm a little more strict and have only offered to let him read books or take a car to lay down with in bed. I tell him that he can sleep if he wants to but he doesn't have to. Sometimes he still does. Usually not, and he has a hard time staying in his room the whole time lately. They have to stay until they hear the timer ring that an hour is over. Sometimes I neglect quiet time when I don't want to interrupt something they are playing, or if we have errands to run, or whatever. And sometimes I INSIST (even for Kara, which she hates) that they actually SLEEP, and I guess I'm mean enough that they fall aseep mad at me. Those are the whiny emotional days that I KNOW they REALLY need a nap, especially if they are sick or something.
Anyway, that was LONG! Don't know if it will help at all. I remember that when Dallin was born, I let Kara have a quiet time WITH me. She laid with me and read me stories while I took a nap! It was great, we both loved it.
Good luck! It's hard when your little guy starts growing up. :) But fun too. They say the darnedest things sometimes huh!
We also have naptime every other day or every couple days, it works for us so far (with Jonas). Bryant had a special toy that was only used during quiet time for awhile and that worked really well. It was his My First Leap pad. He could do the things on his own and he had alittle desk he would work at. He would actually look forward to it, for awhile at least. Now, we don't have quiet time, there's no such thing as quiet in Utah!
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