Crying After Naps??

Updated on January 24, 2012
L._. asks from Lakeside, CA
3 answers

Can I get a little poll? How many of your children wake up crying during nap time? Do you have a rule of thumb for when you let them get up? I don't let my grandson or daycare kids get up when crying. I make them stay in their beds. I listen attentively and go get them the moment they settle down. I don't want them thinking that they can get up that way. Sometimes they go back to sleep. Sometimes they end up playing in their beds for a bit until I get them out. Seems like 1 hour or less and they must go back to sleep. But much more than an hour and we have a bad afternoon, but they won't go back to sleep. 2 hours or more and they wake up happy.

Of course, we do use white noise. We make sure they eat and drink and go down with clean pants. Lately, it seems like everyday we get kids waking everyone up and no one is getting good naps. There are 5 nappers including my grandson. We have 4 rooms for napping. So we only have 2 children in one room and the rest are by themselves. But they still hear each other.

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So What Happened?

Most of my kiddos are part-time. One day I may have a 1 year old and 3 children that are 3 almost 4. Another day I may have 3-4 children 2 and under 2. Maybe it's the fact that we don't have a regular mix of kids or a regular routine. They all have very different start and stop times. So we have to do what we can. Some of them have to be coaxed to stay up a little longer and some have to go down a little early. We do pull the furniture back and dance before or just after lunch. Maybe It's just the way they have been feeling. In the last 10 days we have had 2 ear infections, one case of bronchitis, and one little girl with the croup.

More Answers

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S.H.

answers from St. Louis on

wow, I wonder what's up?!

I have 4 kids with my daycare & they all sleep in my great room, infant included. I use mellow music, dim lights, & keep the room warm.

Are they getting chilly? Are they too hot?

Does the timing of naptime need to be adjusted to allow for growth? I guess knowing their ages would be helpful for us. My preKG child is napping 3-4 days each week now.....comes in exhausted on Monday & by Wed is caught up enough that she usually skips sleeping & just rests - which then cycles around & she sleeps both Th/Fri.

Are they getting enough physical activity to wear them out enough for naptime?

& I agree with you...I have always followed the policy that if a child wakes crying, then they're not ready to get up. I insist/allow them "quiet time" before being released from naptime. Works wonders everytime! Right now the infant has found her toes....& is quite happy with being in bed. :)

2 moms found this helpful

☆.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Back when my son did nap he would almost always wake up crying. Yea I let him get up. I had the luxury of only dealing with one. But also, he is very strong willed and could literally cry for hours, if I didn't go get him right away his screams would just get louder and louder and sometimes he would make himself puke.
As far as nap length it seemed like it was more about what time he slept then how long.

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Chicago on

My DD (17mos) ALWAYS wakes up crying 1/2 way through her afternoon nap. It's routine for us. We don't go in unless she gets really worked up. Typically, it's just that she's lost her paci. Once she finds it, she goes back down.

My 3.5 yr old will frequently wake up crying. But by that point (if we get him to nap, that is), he's ready to wake up. He just wakes up cranky.

1 mom found this helpful
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