How to Incorporate Quiet Time Into Your Toddler’s Routine

How to Incorporate Quiet Time Into Your Toddlers Routine

The nap is sacred amongst stay at home moms. It gives us time to decompress. To have a little ‘me time,’ and to recharge for the afternoon. When your toddler starts dropping his nap, it can be downright frightful. 

But instead of worrying over how to navigate this big change, let me help you to embrace it. Today I’m sharing how to incorporate quiet time into your toddler’s routine. 

What is Quiet Time?

Quiet time is exactly what it sounds like: a period of time during the day, usually after lunch, where your toddler can have some down time. It comes in place of napping, and is great for those with kids in multiple age ranges. Your toddler or preschooler can do quiet time while your baby naps, and everyone gets a chance to be by themselves, and rest their bodies and minds. 

It also gives parents a chance to rest partway through the day. You can check out my post on why I don’t clean during nap time for some insight. 

Why Do Toddlers Need Quiet Time?

Imagine going from a solid 2 hour daily nap to having no down time and being expected to be in a chipper mood about it. Your toddler is going through so many changes already, and this is a big one. 

Between learning new things, possibly starting preschool, and potty training, dropping naps is a major life change for a tiny human. Quiet time gives your kiddo a chance to decompress and (hopefully) avoid meltdowns. 

When is a Toddler Ready to Transition to Quiet Time?

Wanting to Play Constantly

My son didn’t want to do anything that wasn’t a game. From eating dinner to brushing his teeth, everything was about playing. Which is great. Until you’re trying to get your kiddo down for a nap. 

He wanted to stay awake to play instead of sleeping, even though I could clearly tell he was tired and needed a nap. By the way, your toddler will absolutely still NEED to nap when they drop theirs. It is an exquisite form of torture for type A moms!

Fighting Sleep

The biggest sign your child may be ready to incorporate quiet time is that they just aren’t sleeping. My son fought his naps so hard. I had to repeatedly go in and try to settle him for weeks until I kind of thought to myself ‘why am I fighting this so hard?

At first, I made a deal with him (toddlers love making deals – it makes them feel like they’re winning) that he didn’t have to go to sleep, but he did have to stay in his big boy bed. This usually got him to settle long enough that he’d eventually (20 minutes before it was time to get up) fall asleep. 

Give Them Incentives

Once he established that he could stay in bed when I asked him to, and was simultaneously sleeping less and less, I offered him the chance to play with some toys quietly towards the end of the nap window. He quickly learned that if he listened to instructions and didn’t get rambunctious, he would be rewarded with more play time. Since his only mission was to play as much as humanly possible, he agreed pretty quickly with my terms. 

How Long Should Quiet Time Be?

Ideally, quiet time would last as long as nap time. I was really frustrated for a while that my son’s two hour naps were shortening. It meant that I was also losing my daily time to settle down. But the thing is, your toddler may not be able to play independently for two whole hours. 

At three and a half, my son can realistically have quiet time for about an hour and a half. Some days are less, some days are more. But we had to work at this routine for several weeks before he understood what was required of him. 

I mentioned above that you may have to do a partial nap and quiet time at first until your kiddo fully drops their nap. This was actually really helpful, because it gave my son a chance to get used to being in a low-light room for an extended period of time. 

That, combined with the incentive of more play time, will make incorporating quiet time that much easier. Then you can work on extending the length of your child’s quiet time. 

Ideas for Incorporating Quiet Time

Every child is different, and different tactics will work for different kiddos. Below are some options for incorporating quiet time to work for yours!

Make Rules

I had my son repeat the rules back to me everyday at the beginning of quiet for two solid months. You can make whatever rules work for you. These are ours:

• No Running
• No Jumping
• No Yelling or Loud Voices
• No Leaving His Room Except to Go Potty (more on that below!)
• No Toys With Noise or Buttons

Make the Room Calming

The entire point here is to create a calming environment for your child. We use the Hatch sound machine and turn off the overhead light. I close his curtains to make it a little darker as well. 

Our rule about no toys with noise or buttons is because I want him to use this time to settle his body and mind so that the rest of the day flows relatively smoothly. If he’s got some flashing, beeping, singing monstrosity distracting him, his brain never gets a chance to settle down. 

Child-Proof the Entire Room or Floor

Make sure all outlets are plugged or covered. Make sure child proof door knob covers are in place if needed. Bolt any tall or heavy furniture to the walls. 

We went so far as to put these knob covers on all of the doors upstairs that we didn’t want him to have access to. It only took one time for my son to come bursting into my husband’s office during a meeting for me to discover that he could and would leave his room unattended. 

Have Quiet Toys Readily Available

By making it a calming space, your child is more likely to settle their body down. Try toys like

• Books
• Stuffed Animals
• Puzzles
• Building Blocks or Legos

You can also check out my post on Independent Play Activities for more ideas. I like to keep these things readily available on a shelf he can reach so that he has more autonomy during quiet time. 

Does Quiet Time Need to Happen Everyday?

The short answer is no. If you have a trip to the zoo planned, don’t stress about getting back to your house to do quiet time. This is a transitional period for your toddler, and with that comes the ability for him to stay awake for longer periods. 

Side note: I have learned that my son will still sleep in his car seat sometimes, so that is a nice little surprise from time to time. 

For the first two weeks or so, I tried to stay home during that window of time, just so that he could get used to the routine. After that, if we happened to be out and about during his supposed quiet time, I gave myself the grace to let him be a little tired or wound up. Oftentimes, he would simply snooze for the 20 minute ride back home later in the day and that would even things out. 

Have you started to incorporate quiet time in your household? If so, what went well? What could have gone better? Let me know in the comments below!