Being a sahm, I need some time to myself. I think some of you can sympathize w/me . Anyway my dd is 4 and hasn't taken a daily nap for almost a yr. I've tried quiet time, but it seems like a punishment to her, and if she goes for it, well she's up every 5 min. What do I do? I need my quiet time before dh gets home, so any suggestions would help.

what about resting on the couch watching a movie or something special. My sister has special toys for my nephew that he is only allowed to play with when his younger brother is napping like mini cars..... special just for him toys quit things on the floor... things like that HTH

We still have "resting" time during the day - except 95% of the time it consists of my 4 yo laying on my bed (she naps in my room - my 2 yo is in theirs) watching a movie or Noggin. There will be days when she sleeps (rare) and those that she asks to come down every 10 min. I am just consistant in telling her rest time is not over yet ~ I will come and get her when it is.

I don't know of another way ~ sorry. That's just what works for us. Hope you find a solution for your home. I TOTALLY understand needing that time.

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I feel your pain! I need that downtime too...

When we hit a very bad spot (up twenty times to "potty" and that sort of thing..), I started to play music for him in his room. I set his alarm on sleep so it plays for an hour. He either goes to sleep by that time, or is allowed to get up then. This has really helped, and I haven't had any struggles since then (about a month or so) Yesterday he didn't nap, but looked at books and dinked around until the music turned off which was fine.
I'll also admit to paying him...
He is 3 and he knows Daddy goes to work to make money for our family At the end of each day, if he has taken a good nap or rest and earned NO time-outs, he gets a penny. He knows he can get a horse ride at the grocery store for that so it seems like $100 to him! I don't know if that would work for a 4 year old though!
Good Luck!

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"Children are the most important Natural Resource"

My 3 year old doesn't take naps anymore but she plays nice in her room. Is there a special corner in your house where you could lay down a bean bag and give her books, puzzles, crayons, etc to play with. Those are nice quiet activities then you could have your time.

My ds is 4 as well. I too need that break in the day. But honestly so does he, if he doesn't have it he is so grumpy and winey later. We have a daily rouitine. At 12:45 I read him and my 16 mos. old dd a book on the couch then at 1 we go up for naps. I put the baby down and my 4 yr old brushes he teeth, I then take hime to his room, tuck him in and turn on a lullaby type cd. (it kind of drowns out noises that I might make downstairs) The only thing he has in his room is books. So sometimes he hops out of bed and looks at those sometimes he sleeps. If he doesn't sleep after an hour I bring him down.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

My 4yo daughter plays games on the computer and I think it is the only time she stops talking. I let her use NickJr, Noggin & PBS Kids.

I tried asking her to lay down and she was up asking a question or had an excuse to get up every 5 minutes also.

She loves nickjr.com but has trouble controlling the mouse. How does your dd do on the computer w/ operating things?

Lots of practice is what helped the most. You can also slow the mouse down in the control panel - if you didn't already do that. Before she was able to control the mouse, I would sit with her and we also used CDs instead of the internet. She started with Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Pooh Bear and Boobah -I found them at the Dollar Store.

OMG if you had a club I'd be your #1 member. Just to have a half hour to stretch out and actually rest during the day would be heavenly. I still struggle with it, ds have up his naps at 3 and he's 5 now. The only thing I can think of is when they go to kindergarten I'll have to lay down before he comes home

Quiet times never worked for us, nor plopping them down in front of a movie. My ds does not watch movies! I do sneak away to the computer for a half hour or so. But that's the best I get. If I try to lay down (if I'm not feeling well) he'll just bug me until I get up.

I so SO know what you are going through, wish I had some good suggestions. I'm not feeling well right Now and I'd love to be able to stretch out for 30 mins. uninterrupted.