Quiet Time Suggestions

[liamsdaddy]

My little boy (2.5 yrs) has been dropping the occasional daytime nap for a while. Usually he drops every other nap. We have noticed that on days he does nap, he doesn?t settle in the evening very well. So we are thinking that it?s probably time to drop the daytime nap completely.

Hi daytime nap unfortunately was also my wife?s rest/quiet time. She has damage to the tendons in her feet and finds that she does need to sit down and rest during the day.

Does anyone have any suggestions for good quiet time activities that will keep a 2.5 yr old occupied but needs less input/supervision from a parent? (You are not going to get a mental break if you are spending the hour+ reading books to them).

Up to now, quiet time/snoozy time is taken in his room where he has some safe toys to play with. But I?m thinking that would not be ideal as you would need to keep checking on him to make sure he hasn?t decided to nap.

He isn?t 100% nappy trained yet either and we only put him into a nappy for sleep/naps. I would expect him not to like being put into a nappy for quiet playtime when he isn?t napping.

Unfortunately we don?t have any relatives nearby, so we can?t just hand him off to a grandparent for an hour or so. I don?t think that I could bring him to work just yet either

[AKMD]

I would say what you're doing is fine. If he does fall asleep while playing, he really does need the rest. If 'quiet time' is an hour and he falls asleep, just wake him at the end of the hour.

[Octaviapink]

Well, he won't need a nappy if he's not going to sleep. Presumably as long as your wife has a chance to put her feet up then anything else she does with him is fine? A mental break is nice but unfortunately something of a rare luxury with a 2.5 year old! Books or drawing/ playing with Play-Doh are probably her best bets.

[FelixCited]

I pop my son in his room (it has a stair gate on the door) for quiet time and he just plays with his toys or 'reads' a book. Sometimes I put on a story tape.
I can then have a little rest and relax for an hour. If you worry put on the baby monitor and you can hear what they get up to!
DS is 2.5 also.

[Tgger]

The T.V!!!!

Maybe not an hour, but half an hour or 45 minutes is fine. Or can he play by himself? My daughter will do this quite nicely sometimes- but you kind of have to catch her at it rather than demand she does it.

I feel for your wife. I really missed the nap when my son stopped, whereas as DD is number 2 got used to not having it with older one not doing it for a while. Sometimes you can just take them out somewhere and watch while they play.

Kids do get used to whatever the routine is after a while though, so I would advise your wife to lie on the sofa and if not keen on the T.V. suggestion tell your son she'll play a bit but he has to bring things to her. Or.... this works with my DD- play with her on the floor quite intensely (with her directing it) for 20 minutes to half an hour, then BINGO, you get the next 30 minutes to an hour off while she is happy playing by herself.

[Shaz2011]

I finding reading books drawing or watching a DVD can keep them occupied that way your wife can put her feet up without worrying

[liamsdaddy]

Many thanks for the suggestions.

He probably still needs to be in nappies for quiet time as he still has one more tooth to come and his poo is squishy runny mess (TMI I know). He seems to prefer using his nappy to and even the promise of a toy car doesn't seem to be tempting him!

(He can and has used the potty for poo, so it's a problem of desire not ability)

Once that tooth is through and we are into no nap then hopefully we can go nappy free.