How’d you get your kids to take a nap?

Question

Okay so I’m babysitting and my four year old will take a nap around the same time every day but the two year old I’m watching won’t. I tried quiet time yesterday which I think I’m going to keep doing, where I turn a movie on and they have to sit on the couch for 30 minutes, I also fed them lunch right before I did that because I thought maybe they’d take a nap then, they wouldn’t but my son did eventually fall asleep.
The two year old NEVER wants to nap with me but he naps with everyone else. 
I mean it’s not a huge deal if he doesn’t but I kinda was hoping he would just so I could have a little time to myself ya know?😂

Answer

A consistent routine is how I do it. My 21 month old and every day around 1130-12. Currently rocking her to sleep, watching my 5 month old on the monitor in his crib. Doing the same things every day consistently signals them that it’s time for rest. After lunch we go upstairs and brush teeth. I put lavender essential oil on myself. Turn on stars night light and white noise in both kiddos room. I give lo his bottle and rock my oldest. When she’s out I put her in her crib and then I go sneak the bottle out of my sons room. Bam - both babies sleeping 😴 which equals an hour or two of alone time for this tired mama 👋🏼.

Answer

My son is 7 months but naps well and that’s without any sleep training programmes etc; currently he naps anywhere from 30 mins - 2 hours and gets himself to sleep. All I do, and have done for as long as I can remember, is keep things consistent. For us that means we go up to his nursery, put his sleep sack on, turn on his white noise music, turn out the lights/close the blinds so it’s pitch black and I then give him a quick cuddle and put him into bed awake. That’s enough for him to realise it’s time for sleep and he’ll fall to sleep in a matter of minutes without any help. 
I do try to make sure we do a ‘quieter’ activity just before his nap for at least a few mins. This might be tummy time, singing songs or reading a book etc. I personally would avoid the tv as the lights and sounds can be quite stimulating and might actually make it harder for them to nap. 
I’m no expert but I really think the key things are: having a dedicated sleep space, a consistent nap time routine (which is a condensed version of the bedtime routine), a quiet activity beforehand, white noise and  a dark room.

Answer

Go to the room, turn off ALL the lights, sit in complete silence (even if they still try and play), wait till they get bored and eventually lay down. Works every time with my son

How’d you get your kids to take a nap?

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