Establishing a "rest" time

[Karenn]

So, I'm coming to terms with the fact that at just 20 months, Colin seems to be giving up naps. (You can see my original *whine* about this in the Bitching Post.) One of the suggestions was to keep a "rest time". One of my girlfriends used to do this and I always thought it was a good idea. Her children would go into their room and exist somewhat quietly for a set period of time. Sometimes they would fall asleep, sometimes not.

So does anyone know how to set something like this up? (It's a little hard to explain the concept to a not quite two year old. ;) )How long do "rest times" usually last? What sort of activities are appropriate for "rest time"? I've gone with the load his crib full of books option for today since it worked all right yesterday, but I'd love to hear from anyone else who has tried this!

TIA,

[brubeck]

Hmmmmm, I never heard it called rest time, but Amy has had such times for more than a year. We have a playroom that is child-safe and gated off. When I was pg with Andrew I would gate her in there, turn on the monitor and let her play with her toys. While she usually napped after awhile, she often didn't and would just play the whole time. In the meantime I'd get my tired self to bed for a nap with the monitor on.

Now that she's older and a bit more mature I can get some quiet time from her by setting her up with a computer game or a movie. I admit that she watches a movie every day while Andrew naps so I can get some 'me' time. It's very helpful!

[Karenn]

Helen,
When you would put Amy in the playroom, how long was she able to entertain herself?

I'm not at all above using Sesame Street for a break. :) Unfortunatly, it's currently my method for getting a shower rather than a nap. I think I'm going to have to do some rearranging of my schedule!

[brubeck]

Well she was able to stay in there for up to 2 (awake) hours. However I should point out that she had a bunch of toys in there that she didn't play with at any other time, and I left her with snacks and a drink. Also, I didn't start it at that long. I began with 30 minutes at a time and as she was comfy with that I stretched it longer. Also, she usually fell asleep within the first 45 minutes. This was my standard way to get her to nap: just let her play until she tires herself out! If she fell asleep I would always go get her immediately when she woke up.

Admittedly sometimes I felt guilty about leaving her in there for long stretches, but I made up for it by playing with her, reading to her and spending lots of time with her in the mornings. And when I was pg that was enough to tire me out! Combine that with an after-lunch food coma and by 2 pm I was ready to fall over. The playroom was a life-saver!

I always shower at night when DH can watch the kids. It saves my Sesame Street time for work! I usually bring my books/papers with me and do my work on the couch next to the kids.

[egoldber]

I think you could do it just like nap time and have it be at the same time and place every day. Sarah occasionally does not take a nap during her naptime, but she still has to stay in her room for 90 minutes. Her room is safe and full of toys. I put her in bed, but she is free to get up and play if she wants. She will usually do that happily for about 90 minutes.

HTH,

[christic]

First, wanted to give you some hope that this may not be permanent. Alice just turned 2 and for the past several weeks had been very erratic about her naps--skipping naps altogether some days and not seeming to miss them! I posted here and it seems to be a fairly common almost-2 problem. She's almost completely back on track now although she does spend more time talking/reading/playing in her crib than she used to before she actually sleeps.

In our case it seemed to be a problem winding down, so doing more of a nap time routine helped us (which was only some quiet time and a story in her darkened room since she needed nothing before). I also always let her take at least one book with her in the crib, although I found other toys just got her more distracted. Some lullabyes on her cd player helped for a while, but now when I ask her if she wants them she always says no.

I hope this stage passes for you too!

Chris

[Karenn]

Thanks! It's encouraging to know that all may not be lost. :) I found your post after I posted last night. It's funny, when I first saw your post, I thought to myself, "That doesn't apply to me, Colin's not even close to two!" I guess I'm in denial!

I think I will try a nap routine. We don't have one either and I think it might help. I also suspect Colin would respond to other toys like Alice- they'd just keep him awake. The books in his crib have worked every time I've tried it, so I might stick with that. (After all, I can't fall asleep without a book in my hands, what makes me think my son should be any different? :))

[mamahill]

When I was growing up, we called it "Quiet time." I can't remember how old I was when we started it, but basically we could do whatever we wanted - quietly - in our room, usually from 1-3pm. It wasn't until I was in elementary school that I learned "quiet time" wasn't universal - nobody else knew what I was referring to! Recently I asked my mom about it and she said it was how she either got a nap in the afternoon, or had some time to herself. She said we never questioned it, and often looked forward to it - sometimes it would stretch 3-4 hours. But that was more like when I was 6 and my sister was 3. I fully intend on instating a quiet time:).

[christic]

Arrgh! Against my better judgment and my own advice I let Alice take her Little People family and their bed from the house with her for her nap--thinking they're sleeping, she's sleeping, no problem. Just sat down at the computer and heard clunk (sound of Little Person rolling out of crib and hitting floor) and then crying Alice. It was her I'd-rather-be-sleeping cry and seems to have passed, BUT wanted to revise my post to say absolutely NO toys in the crib that can roll through the slats and wake a sleeping baby!

And about books in bed--one night I put my ear up to her door to see if she was asleep yet and all I heard were pages turning, in complete darkness.

And I think we'll definitely have quiet time at our house too once the whole nap thing really goes away for good. Good luck!