How to Incorporate Quiet Time

Nap-time is a thing of the past and you’re now wondering…how do I incorporate quiet time?

Quiet time is time where your toddler is spending some alone time in their room. This time should ideally be uninterrupted, safe, and ideally, quiet. That being said, you have a busy toddler who requires lots of attention, so starting small and setting realistic expectations is important.

Before you start any sort of quiet time regime, I want you to purchase one of these visual timers linked here.

A visual timer is important, because children under the age of 5/6 have a really hard time understanding the concept of time. Telling them “5 more minutes until X” doesn’t actually mean anything to them. They don’t understand the length of a minute, or what 5, 10, or 30 minutes even means.

I made the mistake of putting Drake (my son) in his room for quiet time and said, “Okay, you go play and mom will come back when quiet time is done.” This lead to a 10 minute crying session because he was SO confused.

Another time I put him in his room for quiet time and he was really, really quiet… He had unplugged the baby monitor, so I didn’t have any way of seeing what he was up to, and I didn’t want to disrupt quiet time by going in there. By the time I went in there, his whole room was torn apart and he was sleeping under a blanket in his closet - completed covered. Bedtime ended up being way later, and I was irritated with myself that I had all of his things within arms-reach in his room.

Learning from those 2 specific experiences led to me purchase and use a visual timer, and I will never go back!

Transitioning a toddler from one thing to the next can be really tricky. A visual timer allows you to set a time, and then tell them “when the blue runs out, we are getting into the car.” Not only does this help you get things organized, but it also helps them visually understand what you mean when you set the timer.

After getting this timer, I want you to start practicing with it. Set timers for bedtime, for bath-time, before you leave for an activity, or when you have to leave an activity.

Then practice setting a timer for 10 minutes of quiet time in their room. Let them know that you will put their timer on a shelf in their room and when the colour runs out and it rings, it’s time to come get mom.

This could potentially be a slow process, but the more you practice the better it’ll become.

Start with 10 minutes, and slowly move up in 5 minute increments over a 2 week time-span; finally reaching 1 hour.

If your child comes out of their room during quiet time, I want you to walk them back into their room, remind them of their timer and reinforce your quiet time rules.

This method has successfully worked for many of my toddler clients and I often use our visual timer for my toddler throughout the day. It’s a great way for him to learn, and for him to not feel rushed out of something he was enjoying.

Good luck!

Bailey