If your DC has "Quiet Time" instead of a Nap...

omurray

how did you do the transition to quiet time, and what are the rules/boundaries you have for it?  Does DC have to stay in their bed or just in their room?  Do they have to be quiet?  Lights on or off?  What activities are they allowed during quiet time?

femmegem

DS plays in his room during quiet time. We haven't had any issues with noise yet that have forced me to make any more rules than that.

brightning

I approach "rest time" just like a nap. I read books to her in her bed, cover her with a blanket and close her door. Nine times out of ten, she just reads books or plays quietly in her bed for an hour or so and then asks to get up. Every once in a while, she'll take a nap.

katie277s

I make him lay in bed with his music on.  He is allowed a few quiet toys to play with.  Sometimes he falls asleep (which is what I want) and other times he just lays there and plays. 

hcassell

We call it quiet time, but he always falls asleep.  He still needs a long nap everyday, he just requires a lot of sleep.  He thinks he doesn't though, so we call it quiet time.  He has several books in his bed that he looks at.  He also doesn't get out of his bed, ever (when he wakes up he always waits for us to come get him).  The lights are off, but his door is open and the hall light is on or the window outside of his room is open, so it's not completely dark. It's basically the same routine we do at bedtime. 

Ciarrai

Officially my girls have "quiet time".  DD#2 usually sleeps.  DD#1 rarely does.  DD#2 is still in a crib, but we'll be moving her in a month or so (right after Thanksgiving) so it'll be harder then.  They share a room so the rule is that DD#1 can play quietly as long as she doesn't wake DD#2 up.  She is allowed to pick out some books and has her stuffed animals in there, but we don't keep any other toys in their room.  All other toys that might have spread to her room are taken out before nap/bedtime.  Mostly she plays pretend with her animals and reads books. 

LestaMarie

DD is four, so she gets quiet time.  She actually does quiet time in my room, since she and DS share a room and DS still naps (he would be way too excited about her being in the room to actually go to sleep if I let her do quiet time in there).  Anyway.  She is supposed to stay in my bed, which she claims she does, but I find evidence that she gets up and down every now and then.    She has to be reasonably quiet - she can hum, sing to herself, but no screaming or yelling or anything like that.  I let her bring her favorite baby dolls, toys, whatever in there - just a couple.  And lately I've been letting her watch a couple of PBS programs.  She's supposed to turn it off after two shows, but I've relaxed that policy a little and don't really care if she watches it the whole time, as long as she's quiet.  Lights usually stay off, but I told her she can have the lamp on today since it's overcast and my room is really dark.  Quiet time usually lasts about an hour and a half.  She rarely falls asleep anymore.

hikerbeth

She made the decision herself.  I continued to put her down at her usual naptime, but she didn't fall asleep (she was still in a crib).  However, she was just hanging out, reading, not crying, etc. so I left her there.

Once she got in a big girl bed, "quiet time" just transitioned with her.  She didn't start getting out of bed on her own until about 3 weeks ago, though (she's 3.5).  She just is a "rule follower" and thought she needed our permission to get out of bed.

Once I put a clock in her room, she knew that quiet time was over at 3 pm (one hour), but before the clock was there, I'd let her go up to 2 hours as long as she was content.

Lights off.

She can have as many books and small toys on her bed as she wants. . . and she can get out of bed to get more books off her shelf if she wants.

I think she sits in her rocking chair occasionally instead of on her bed and she only comes out of the room if she has to go to the bathroom.

eta:  She's not always very quiet.  She sometimes sings to herself and talks to herself, but that's o.k. with me.