how long do you stand your ground on a bad nap day?

Today was a bad nap day. We usually have good naps, but today there was a lot going on, including the fact that they saw DH packing this morning to leave for ANOTHER trip for work so I know their anxiety level was high (we has away last week and now again this week - it's killing ALL of us!).

So I put them to bed, and first DD had a potty issue, asking to go twice, going both times, and then not asking to go until she pooped in her pants and called me that third time for new pants. So that took about 45 minutes. She go into bed, and the DS started yelling at the top of the lungs that he had to go. And he really did so that wasn't terrible. I put him back to bed. Then they figured out that they can hear each other and even see each other under the doors if they yell across the hall. So they spent the rest of the time yelling back and forth under their doors and neither of them fell asleep. So not only am I on my own for bedtime, I'm going to have two wound up, overtired kids. I'd try to put them down early, but I'm really afraid this yelling back and forth is just going to happen tonight.

How long do you leave your kids in their rooms for naps if it's clear that they are just playing? Do you wait it out for a while to see if they tire themselves out? Or just hope they at least get some down time? I know today was a bad day because of DH leaving so I cut them a little slack, but I kept them up there for a while so they wouldn't try this on me all week. Any tips? What do you do?

 

Depends. If they're not upset I'll leave them for 2 hours, lol. If they're upset I usually give up after 45 minutes. And yeah I put them in bed earlier.

 

I do the same as Fran. Today my two barely napped. I think DS may have caught a cat nap but I know DD did not sleep but she stayed in her room for 2 hours and played until I heard her going, "Mama! Mama! MAMA!" My DS will usually knock on his door when he's ready to come down from his room (I keep the latch lock on outside of his door because he is a wanderer).

 

Ours sleep in the same room. I usually give up after 45-60 minutes if it's not going well. If one is not napping, but quiet (usually DD) then I have her stay in her room for an hour to an hour and a half. We also put ours to bed early if they don't nap. Sometimes I do an early prep and get them in their pajamas after they eat. Then we don't have a lot left to do if they start getting cranky.

 

Mine still really need naps, so I get pretty mean when they decide to play instead.
I give two warnings to calm down and then I start taking lovies, blankets, and for DD her paci if I need to.

It works. Once I take something they know I mean business and they stop horsing around.

(And just so I don't come across as Mommy Dearest, both of mine have tons of lovies in their beds. I start out with taking one. Rarely has it progressed passed that. And my reasoning is that bunny/bear/doll/whatever is really tired and wants to take a nap. They can't do that with playing going on around them so they want to nap in mommy and daddy's room.)