Ten Tips for Transitioning From Nap Time to Rest Time
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A couple of months ago Seth decided he didn’t want to take naps anymore. It was becoming a battle to get him to sleep every afternoon. I had known that this was going to happen sometime, but I was honestly dreading the day that it did.
Like most mommas of littles, I cherish nap-time. It was a moment of calm in the middle of sometimes crazy days. It was a time for me to nap myself and catch up on sleep lost by getting up with the toddler in the middle of the night. It was a time for me to listen to the stillness of the house and drink four sips of coffee before one of the boys woke up.
Nap-time at our house was needed. How was I going to survive without it? Thankfully, I did have some ideas lined up ahead of time. Here are some things that I have found helpful on this transition from nap time to rest time. I hope these help you and your toddler or preschooler to make this next step as smooth as possible.
1. Have special rest time toys.
I like to rotate the toys we use for rest time. The toys that are in Momma and Daddy’s room are not allowed to be played with outside of rest time. Now, sometimes the boys do sneak in there and try to rescue some of the rest time toys, that is usually a sign to rotate the toys out and put the toys that they had been playing with in the rest-time corner. These quiet time bins would be great to keep you all organized, especially if you have littles who like a little more variety.
I’m super excited to be sharing the rest of these tips for transitioning from nap time to rest time on The Expecting Mama’s Network. I would love it if you could go read the rest of it and tell me if I missed anything. 🙂
Is your toddler or preschooler still napping? If not, do you have daily rest-time?
That’s for the great idea! Going to have to try rest time in this household!
Rest-time makes our day go SO much better!
Great tips!!
Loved the full post–especially using a timer. My 4 year old rests when my 10 month old naps and she’s always a little antsy, so I think a timer would really help her!
I know they have apps that turn different colors, so if your four year old is allowed to play with an ipod or phone she may like that.
These are great tips! Growing up, we always had a family rest time on Sunday afternoons – I still do to this day!
Sunday afternoon naps are the best! 🙂 We always had then growing up as well.
Great tips !!! Will keep them in mind and use when time comes !!
Wonderful ideas! Thank you for sharing.
This is a lifesaver!! Thank you!
I agree about the food and potty (or at least nappy change if younger)! I like your tips about the toys and books. I am finding reading is also a calming thing.
That’s a difficult transition to navigate because you know they still need rest! Going to read the rest of the post! 🙂