During the evenings, it’s easier to put a kid to bed since most of the time they are already tired with all the running, jumping, crawling, or playing around during the day. Usually, moms would just need to gently tap the child, read a book or sing a lullaby and the child would be asleep in no time. But how do you get a child to take a nap during the day (usually in the afternoons) knowing that the kid would still want to go around and play?

 image not mine

Personally, I don’t think we as moms can really force our kiddos to sleep, but we can set some parameters or conditions and establish a good napping habits for our little ones (and I do this for my daughter):

Set the right ambience
You don’t have to do all these but these can be helpful in putting a child to an afternoon nap…

• Keep the bedroom cool – During summers, put an electric fan in front of the child’s bed, or use air conditioner if you can afford the electricity bill. But during the rainy or cold seasons, a little cool breeze from the trusty electric fan or by merely opening the window to let the cool air in should do.

• Lighting – Dim light works like wonders. But since it’s in the afternoons, you’d probably don’t need any lights turned on.

• A Comfortable bed – A nice comfy bed without any eyesore of different clutters of toys would surely have your little one succumb to his / her lala land.

• Silence – Keep the place hushed. A little noise here and there won’t hurt but keep in mind that.

• Soft music – Contrary to silence, some kids prefer listening to soft music which they associate to their parent’s lullabies.

Routine
Spend few minutes doing a regular practice like taking a quick shower, then having him / her watch TV, or read him some books, then after a while, turn off all electronics or keep the books, that way, the kid knows it’s nap time.

Take The Nap WITH Him / Her
Some kids might think why is it that it should only be him / her who goes to sleep while everyone is wide awake? To prevent that from happening, take the nap with the child. This not only makes you feel closer to your little tykes, but you’d also feel refreshed after the short nap. Ready for another round of workload!

So there! Those are just some of my personal tips on how I make my little one take her siesta. I’m sure others would have other ways on how they do it. Share them by leaving a comment here