6 Ways to Get Your Toddler To Take a Nap
HELLOOOO!!! Once again! I am back (finally).
This time, we are tackling the topic of getting your toddler down for a nap. This is something quite close to home for me recently, as my very stubborn (but adorable) toddler has lately been fighting naps like nobody's business, and it is driving me BONKERS!
So, I have been looking around the great world wide web for inspiration on ways to get her to chill out, stop screaming, and take her nap :) Here you go...
#6: Play Hard!
Yep, that's right, I am a firm believer that good play leads to good sleep. Now, I am not saying you have to completely wear them out before every nap (although I don't know that that would necessarily be a bad thing?) but making sure that they have plenty of time to burn off all that good energy that toddlers have so much of! Even better if you get to play with them. :)
#5: Have a Dance Party
This one might sound a little nuts, but we really enjoy having dance parties in our living room. Either just me and our little one, or sometimes my husband gets to join in too. We have a record player that we loooove to listen to records on...so I will often put a record on-- usually classical music-- and my toddler and I dance our socks off until we are too pooped to dance anymore. The caveat to this pre nap time endeavor is that you want to allow plenty of time for your little one to calm back down after all of this high energy dancing. Which, leads us into our number 8...
#4: Read books together before nap time
We also do this one frequently. My toddler absolutely adores books of all kinds. So we will sit on the living room floor (sometimes after one of our fantastic dance parties) and read books for about twenty minutes or so...or until her attention span can't handle any more. Then we head upstairs for nap time. It really makes a great segway into nap.
#3: Put the screens away
I might get some unpleasant responses from this one, but it is so true. Don't let your children have screen time before trying to get them to go to sleep. Even if it seeems to soothe them, or at least avoid a temper tantrum, all it really accomplishes is jazzing them up, making it even more difficult for them to settle into the already dreaded nap time.
#2: Snack before nap time...or at least a drink
We always have snack time about twenty or thirty minutes before our afternoon nap time. I have found that for us, it makes such a huge difference. To make sure that my little one is not hungry or thirsty helps to tick off one more item on the checklist of "reasons my toddler might be crying". It makes her happier to head to nap time on a full tummy. My recommendation? Make sure the snack isn't sugary as that will also jazz up the toddler...trust me...I learned this the hard way. I never realized that animal crackers had added sugar in them. I don't know why. Guess I just never thought about it.
#1: Establish a routine
This has been the most important thing that has contributed to a successful nap! I can't tell you how much I recommend getting into a routine. It doesn't have to be a strict schedule that you stick to, although it could be. But at least a routine where certain things happen in a specific order each day (or most days). Here is an example of what our nap time routine looks like (Let me know if you want a peek at what our full day routine is)
1. Breakfast.
2. Play time.
3. Snack.
4. Play time/follow me around while I work on cleaning the house
5. Coloring time while I prepare lunch, and then lunch
6. Read books or go for a walk outside if the weather is nice enough
7. Snack
8. Play time
9. Nap routine
- Go upstairs
- Change diaper
-Put on sleep sack
-Rock in the rocking chair and 2 lullabys
- Lay in her crib, hug and kiss and say sweet dreams.
Bam! That is the list of things that have been working for us! Let me know in the comments what works for you, what doesn't work, or what your thoughts are!
This time, we are tackling the topic of getting your toddler down for a nap. This is something quite close to home for me recently, as my very stubborn (but adorable) toddler has lately been fighting naps like nobody's business, and it is driving me BONKERS!
So, I have been looking around the great world wide web for inspiration on ways to get her to chill out, stop screaming, and take her nap :) Here you go...
#6: Play Hard!
Yep, that's right, I am a firm believer that good play leads to good sleep. Now, I am not saying you have to completely wear them out before every nap (although I don't know that that would necessarily be a bad thing?) but making sure that they have plenty of time to burn off all that good energy that toddlers have so much of! Even better if you get to play with them. :)
#5: Have a Dance Party
This one might sound a little nuts, but we really enjoy having dance parties in our living room. Either just me and our little one, or sometimes my husband gets to join in too. We have a record player that we loooove to listen to records on...so I will often put a record on-- usually classical music-- and my toddler and I dance our socks off until we are too pooped to dance anymore. The caveat to this pre nap time endeavor is that you want to allow plenty of time for your little one to calm back down after all of this high energy dancing. Which, leads us into our number 8...
#4: Read books together before nap time
We also do this one frequently. My toddler absolutely adores books of all kinds. So we will sit on the living room floor (sometimes after one of our fantastic dance parties) and read books for about twenty minutes or so...or until her attention span can't handle any more. Then we head upstairs for nap time. It really makes a great segway into nap.
#3: Put the screens away
I might get some unpleasant responses from this one, but it is so true. Don't let your children have screen time before trying to get them to go to sleep. Even if it seeems to soothe them, or at least avoid a temper tantrum, all it really accomplishes is jazzing them up, making it even more difficult for them to settle into the already dreaded nap time.
#2: Snack before nap time...or at least a drink
We always have snack time about twenty or thirty minutes before our afternoon nap time. I have found that for us, it makes such a huge difference. To make sure that my little one is not hungry or thirsty helps to tick off one more item on the checklist of "reasons my toddler might be crying". It makes her happier to head to nap time on a full tummy. My recommendation? Make sure the snack isn't sugary as that will also jazz up the toddler...trust me...I learned this the hard way. I never realized that animal crackers had added sugar in them. I don't know why. Guess I just never thought about it.
#1: Establish a routine
This has been the most important thing that has contributed to a successful nap! I can't tell you how much I recommend getting into a routine. It doesn't have to be a strict schedule that you stick to, although it could be. But at least a routine where certain things happen in a specific order each day (or most days). Here is an example of what our nap time routine looks like (Let me know if you want a peek at what our full day routine is)
1. Breakfast.
2. Play time.
3. Snack.
4. Play time/follow me around while I work on cleaning the house
5. Coloring time while I prepare lunch, and then lunch
6. Read books or go for a walk outside if the weather is nice enough
7. Snack
8. Play time
9. Nap routine
- Go upstairs
- Change diaper
-Put on sleep sack
-Rock in the rocking chair and 2 lullabys
- Lay in her crib, hug and kiss and say sweet dreams.
Bam! That is the list of things that have been working for us! Let me know in the comments what works for you, what doesn't work, or what your thoughts are!
Comments
Post a Comment