Refusing to stay in bed for nap/rest time

KristenBtobe

Maggie is refusing to stay in her bed at naptime. I've told her she doesn't have to sleep ( as 3x a week she doesn't anyway, just talks and plays) but she pitches a royal fit, gets out of bed and screams and pounds on the door. We don't know what to do. She will lay down if we let her go on our bed, but I'm sure that wont last. I need her to have quiet time, it's good for her and good for the rest of us. Any ideas on how to work through this situation?

Ttimes3

Ugh! To be honest, that is one of my biggest fears (as selfish as that might sound). Perhaps my good friend Dr. Karp will have a suggestion or two. I will let you know in T minus two days.

KYmama9286

I cant speak from personal experience yet but I know my sister had the same problem w/ her boys around the same age. At that point she realized that they pretty much werent going to be sleeping during nap time but still needed that downtime of resting and relaxing so they weren't wild and cranky for the rest of the day. That is when she started getting books on tape for them to listen to during rest time-- they were big fans of the Magic Tree house audio books. Maggie might still be a little young for this but it's worth a try. Her now 4 year old still has his rest time everyday with his audio books to relax with. HTH!

KristenBtobe

Hmm, that might be an idea. She listens to music usually ,but maybe a book on tape would hold her attention. Thanks!

Get reading, TTT. I need you to tell me what to do.

Ttimes3

KristenBtobe:

Get reading, TTT. I need you to tell me what to do.

I am going to shove all of my learnings down your (and everyone else's collective) throat.

warriormomerin

I've found that duct tape usually works.

Brougham7-15-06

I have no advice, but that is my biggest fear about putting Jacob into a toddler/regular bed.  I know he can get out of his crib, but for the most part he does not.  I feel like I should convert the bed, but I like knowing that he is in crib.

adamsbabble

Ava has gone through a phase like this a couple times and I think it lasted about a week each time.  It was a rough week, but I made her go back to her room each time she got up and explained that she needed her naptime and that it was good for her and afterwards we would have a snack and play again etc. etc. etc. so that she understood why she was going in her room (I didn't want her to mistake it for a punishment) and what to expect.  Maybe you could set a timer and explain that when the timer goes off, her quiet time is over.  Eventually Ava just got back into her normal routine when she either realized I wasn't giving in or just decided her nap strike was over. 

Stand firm!  A lot of people told me that this was the beginning of their DC giving up naps or quiet time, but I wonder if some of them just gave in too easily or if they just decided that no nap worked better for them (I admit, it would be nice on days I need to run errands or want to get out).  However, it really doesn't work better for us at this point-  Ava is often still tough to deal with and will fall asleep too early if she doesn't have her nap.

kel716

I feel for ya.... we dealt with it last summer.  I can now get him to lay in his bed, but he normally will not fall asleep.  However, I've resorted to putting an hour long DVD in his TV and he can have it on as long as he is in his bed.  When the DVD is over, he can get up.  That works for us...  Every few months he tests it and gets out of his bed early.  I go back up and turn the TV off and then I tell him that if he gets back in bed the TV can come back on.  He gets 2 chances to do this successfully, otherwise he goes without until the hour is up.  Usually he remembers after testing it once.  It works for us as much as I hate the fact I'm using a TV, but it's better than nothing. 

I'd try the book on tape or the timer method kessler suggested first.  Good luck. 

MelissaMc22

I'm late, so you may not get this.. but looks like you got some good suggestions.

Jack gave up naps at 3 years 1 month or so. I fought hard for those naps for a while.. but he was just done. I know that is okay because for the most part he does fine until bedtime, around 7:30.

Even days when I think he is soooo tired, I try to get him to lay down and he just won't. He ends up kicking the walls, jumping on the bed, etc So, I usually just let him have quiet time downstairs- movie, puzzle, quiet games while Sawyer naps.

I really don't know why I went off on the Jackson tangent... totally pointless and not helpful.. I'm dumb.

Either way, hope it gets better for you!

 

kyfirewife

Do you know why?  Is she able to communicate this to you at all?

DD was doing this, then we finally figured it out when she said "SUN!". At naptime the sun shines thru the crack of her shade directly onto her bed, right in her face if she's on the pillow.

DH hasn't put up the new shade yet, so now she takes her naps in our bed.

**

We've also given her times. I tell her she has to rest quietly for one hour. After one hour I will check on her. If she is still awake, I will tell her she can get up to play. If she is asleep, I will let her sleep. This has worked wonders. She's never stayed awake the whole hour (usually 15-30 min), and when she wakes up now, instead of just getting out of bed she calls out "Mommy! One hour?!? Get up now?!?"

Love. It.