How do you do nap time if some kids want to be rowdy and others need to sleep?

Question

I do home day care, but this could also apply to people with mixed age kids. I have twin girls aged 18 months who I think need to nap in the morning and also later in the afternoon. My 10 month old boy isn't having this morning nap so I am trying to get them to sleep while he is screaming in the pack n play in the other room. Anyone have advice on how to juggle mixed ages who aren't on the same page? I'm also adding a 2 year old boy to the mix in a month as well.

Answer 1

I can tell you what the daycare my children goes to does:

Babies up to 12 months are in the same room. They have 2 teachers, and usually one is playing with the kids that are awake, and one is putting down or feeding someone. The awake kids are engaged in play so they don't cry, or being picked up.

Since you are only one person, you need to teach the 10 month old to play with toys on his own if he can. Do you have maybe a bigger play yard he can sit in?

For kids over 12 months, they all get their naps synchronized. Everyone goes down for a nap after lunch, and sleeps maximum 2 hours. If they wake up earlier they have to be quiet (quiet time).

I think that moving forward, you should try and synchronize the naps. Especially once you get a 2 year old. You don't really want to leave the 2 year old alone (especially not alone with babies) while you put the others down to sleep, in my opinion. A 2 year old will probably not be happy if he was confined to a play yard.