https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 04 Apr 2026 07:42:42 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799083 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 10:17:48 +0000 Foodnerd81 2799083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: we do quiet time during the 2 year olds nap time, which is around 1:30. She can skip it for special occasions but if we are home I enforce it. </p> <p>@bhbee: as she was dropping her nap I would put the toys in bed with her. She would sometimes play the whole time, sometimes fall asleep with a toy in her hand. Even now she very rarely will actually nap. I often expect to find her passed out in the floor with her toys but she climbs up into bed when she’s that tired. But those nights bedtime is usually rough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799025 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 02:28:02 +0000 theRoo 2799025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We found a sand timer / hourglass helpful for reinforcing the idea :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799016 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:58:00 +0000 MamaCate 2799016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: @PinkElephant: my 6 yo is in kinder and managed without quiet time during the week but we still do it on weekends/holidays. We also start bedtime routine before 7 with the goal of her being asleep before 8 partly because the school schedule is earlier. It has worked well for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799015 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:25:10 +0000 PinkElephant 2799015@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: agreed. You’re smart to establish it over the summer; maybe if the kiddos like the me time enough, they’ll self enforce it, even in small chunks of time, during the school year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799011 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:02:18 +0000 bhbee 2799011@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: yeah, there’s basically no way for us to do it on school days. We can stay and play on the playground until close to 4 so we often do that and then many days eat at 5 since they basically eat brunch at school. We start bedtime before 7 because she has fairly high sleep needs and really needs 11 hours. </p> <p>I feel like kinder is just hard on a lot of kids. I kind of wish it wasn’t full time but i know that would be hard on working parents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799008 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:56:51 +0000 PinkElephant 2799008@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: cool timer! I have seen some glitter hourglass timers my girls would be mesmerized by, but I’m afraid they’d break them. So for your plan, your kinder kid won’t have quiet time, at least during the school year? My kinder girl is the one who needs it most, especially during the school year - that’s why I’m struggling with timing. B/c it’s hard to get her at 2:50 and still fit it in after that! I can’t send he straight to her room when she gets home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799007 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:55:51 +0000 bhbee 2799007@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaCate: yeah i couldn’t push bedtime up today but it’s definitely the right call. Good practice for my older one to have her own quiet time then. :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799005 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:52:26 +0000 bhbee 2799005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: i ordered an animal kitchen timer from amazon for about $6. Goes up to 60 minutes - i figure the visual of seeing it move might be more helpful than just waiting for a green light? Haven’t tried it though. </p> <p>I’m going to aim for around 1pm i think. We need to pickup from kinder at 2:50 so we might as well stay in that routine. Though I’m thinking in the summer it will be more flexible if we want to make other plans. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799004 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:50:21 +0000 MamaCate 2799004@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: we definitely had these unpredictable times of napping/not napping with DD. He may not need it every day but more days than not out of the week. We used to give it an hour and then bail, but I remember days where she would fall asleep just before the hour mark. </p> <p>I just tried to push bedtime up on the days that didn’t get a nap and it was workable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2799003 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:44:50 +0000 PinkElephant 2799003@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following with interest! I think my 5.5 year old and 3.5 year old could really pretty se this while their 15 month old sister naps (or while I spend time with her). </p> <p>Any other easy “timer” ideas besides the OK to wake clock?</p> <p>If you have two non-nappers, do they bug each other?</p> <p>What time do you do quiet time? Is it more of a just-post-lunch thing, or later in the afternoon? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798995 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:58:37 +0000 bhbee 2798995@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaCate: that is my goal to get them both doing it! My 6yo says she will do it, we’ll see if that comes without a struggle :silly: </p> <p>My other big issue is whether he’s really ready to drop. Today he refused a nap after nearly falling asleep in the car coming home from the store and we all paid for it later. But he did stay in his room about an hour at naptime while i sat in the hallway and coached as needed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798994 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:49:26 +0000 MamaCate 2798994@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: I just wanted to say quiet time is the best and you should try to bring it back for your older one if you can! My kids are 6 (has t napped since 2) and 2.5. The 6 y.o. still does quiet time during nap for the other one and it is key for my sanity!</p> <p>She is allowed to take toys in there from the playroom but we also keep the toys in her room that are too “special” (aka princesses) or fragile for them to play together, so it is usually playing with stuff she doesn’t do other times of day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798882 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 14:32:22 +0000 Foodnerd81 2798882@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also said you don’t have to sleep but you have to play quietly. My girl is not a rule follower, at all, but it’s worked ok. I started out giving her special quiet toys specifically during quiet time, like a little Melissa and Doug doll house. And we have the ok to wake clock. I also started the clock a little shorter than I really wanted her to stay in so she could have success right away then lengthened it to a full hour. She sometimes gets a prize or a sticker if she stays in the whole time. </p> <p>She’s 4.5 and still does an hour of quiet time while sister naps. She’ll come out to go potty and sometimes goes and gets different toys from our playroom (down the hall from her bedroom) but as long as she is quiet and leaves me alone I’m ok with it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798787 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 10:32:40 +0000 birdofafeather 2798787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: we do the same. “You don’t have to sleep but you have to stay in your room until the light turns green.” If I can tell she’s gonna be super sassy about it and have a hard time staying, I’ll set her up with books and a coloring or sticker set up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798773 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 09:56:34 +0000 Adira 2798773@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What seemed to work for us, for just putting him down for his nap but telling him it was also okay if he played quietly in his room. He'd lay down, but then when we left, just get up and play. While he was transitioning to no-nap, he'd sometimes play for a little bit and then lay down and nap, and other times just play until we told him nap time was over. We've been starting the same thing with my younger now too. He can play in his room quietly during nap time if he's not tired - often he'll still just fall asleep right on the floor wherever he's playing! But sometimes he'll skip the nap. As long as they are quiet in their rooms, I'm happy! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798771 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 09:56:01 +0000 Silva 2798771@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>oh- i just wanted to add, i remember that sometimes at first my daughter would scream and cry and protest. it really didn't last long, i just kept saying, "its quiet time now. its important for us all to rest our bodies." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798770 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 09:55:06 +0000 Silva 2798770@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>for awhile my daughter would stay in bed and look at books, and occasionally fall asleep- but, she's a rule follower in general.<br /> on days where she had a hard time we locked her door from the outside and turned on a monitor so she could ask for things if she needed help/to go to the bathroom/etc.</p> <p>you could also try some special toys that only come out at quiet time. sometimes my daughter listens to audio stories during her quiet time, but I try not to do this every day because I think its most restful/restorative for her to just play by herself.</p> <p>I think you just have to make it something you do, everyday. Its bumpy at first but once they understand its just part of the daily routine it cna get easier. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-establishing-quiet-hour-instead-of-nap#post-2798757 Mon, 22 Jan 2018 09:14:43 +0000 bhbee 2798757@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think we’re going to try dropping my 3yo’s nap - he’s getting so hard to get down at both nap and bedtime and I’d rather he go to sleep well at night! </p> <p>But, I’m pregnant with #3 and SAH and really will need that time this summer. I totally failed at getting his sister to do quiet hour when he was a baby and she dropped her nap. I know if I don’t get this working they’ll both watch too much tv this summer. Any tips on making it work?? One day last week he wouldn’t nap, which was ok except i couldn’t get him to stay in his room. He’s wild and not a rule follower in general. </p> <p>We do have the ok to wake clock which he mostly ignores for waking, could try that for nap. Or get a real timer? What worked for you? </p>