New In-Home Daycare - Nap Advice Needed

[alliswell]

Hello everyone!

I’m 6 weeks into my new in-home daycare and things are going fairly well! The only exception is napping of a part-time 20 month old. I tried napping her with the group of 3s but she just gets off her cot repeatedly and cries. I’ve rocked her several times and she falls asleep, but wakes up crying at the 45 minute mark. I also tried a pack n play in a separate room with a monitor but she promptly crawled out, so that isn’t safe. Her mom states she “sometimes” naps at home. I know I need some consistency here, so I’d love some advice on something to stick to. Im sure this has been discussed somewhere, so if someone has a link to another forum discussion I can read that too.

Thank you!

[Michael]

Welcome to the new forum! There are hundreds of posts on our older forum to look through. I suggest you do a tag search there. Here are some that may help you.

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94104

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...+early+wake+up

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82934

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...ep+-+solutions

You can tag search here: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php

[Cat Herder]

Part time kids are tough to deal with at nap. The only solution is to do the work.

Every time she gets up, calmly put her right back down. No patting. No rubbing. No talking. No eye contact. Never let her see your frustration. Seem bored, you can do this all day long.

The first time she gets up you can say "Back on your mat. It is naptime" but after that, no more discussion. Otherwise you will be discussing it non-stop.

Teach her you mean what you say. The first time. You are the professional, you are not a new mommy. Rules are for everyone.

Avoid letting a kid know where you keep your goat, per say. Oh they will go for that every time they don't get their way. Be calm, methodical.

[Cat Herder]

Good luck!! You got this.

[Snowmom]

Part timers take 2-3 times as long to adjust to routine. It's possible they'll fall in line but as said above, it requires methodical measures to reiterate the expectations. I'd expect the child to have an area set up for nap right next to me (lights out on the nap mat on the floor next to my chair). Every time she needs redirection, I'd do it- usually just a finger pointing down is all I need to do for a 2 year old (along with my serious face).