destroying the room during naptime

[djrartemis]

I have two kids. My son is 4.5 years old and my daughter will be two at the end of June.

My daughter, Lillibeth hates taking naps. Either before she goes to sleep or after she wakes up (her door is closed, so I can't see when exactly she does it), her room is a mess. She takes all of her clothes out of the dresser and diapers out of the changing table and has them on her floor. Sometimes she puts her dolls in the drawers and sometimes she'll put some of the clothes back in there or in her laundrey hamper. Most of the time...everything is in a heap on the floor.

We've recently moved her from a crib to her bed without any real problems. The only problem is now her room is a disaster area. She has a lot of toys in her room too which she can play with at any time, but she really likes playing with her clothes.

I've tried having her pick up the clothes after I go get her from her nap. She'll cry and it will take hours for her to put everything back. I don't have to have it organzied or anything...I'd settle for her just putting the clothes in the dresser. I've tried helping her, but she expects me to do it all or will just say, "All done!" and leave the room. I've tried being the dictator and pointing to where things go and insisting she do it all. She's not getting the point.

My son, Gabe went through a similiar phase when he was her age by taking the diapers out of his changing table, but after putting away his stuff by himself a couple of times, he learned that what he played with he'd have to put away. Why is Lillibeth not getting the message???? She's been doing this for over a month now. She's very destructive as well. She'll rip books (board books!!), and she's already broken 2 drawers from her changing table..and all this is during her nap time when I can't see what she's doing in her room.

I'm thinking of taking the changing table out of her room anyway, mainly because she's already destroyed it enough. I want to keep a dresser in there for her clothes though. I'm tempted to take all of her books away, but I want her to learn to look at them nicely. Has anybody else had a two year old with this problem? I don't even know if I can put child locks on the drawers to keep the clothes in.

My son was never as destructive as Lillibeth. Whenever he would wake up from a nap, he would quietly read a book or play with a few cars nicely. I know I shouldn't compare kids, but really I thought boys were supposed to be more destructive than girls.

Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong or can do instead? Hurricane Lillibeth is driving me and my husband nuts.

[myboysmom]

My second one has definitely been more opinionated and aggressive than my first as well. I don't think it's anything you're doing "wrong" persay, it's probably just part of her personality.

Instead of moving her room, could you move her? Do you think she would adjust to taking a nap elsewhere in the house? Maybe you could set up a special area in the corner of a room just for her to lie down in during nap only. This way you can keep an eye, or an ear, on her. Otherwise, I'd say you're doing the right thing making her put things away after her storm. I would do this with my youngest when he thought it would be fun to tear stuff out for no reason. He would do a few things and then forget it. Well, if he refused to do it, I would walk him over to a toy, put it in his hand and walk him to where it belonged. He HATED it! So, he decided pretty soon that it would be better to argue a little and pick up a little instead of Mommy "helping". :) Good Luck, the stubborn ones are definitely harder, but I think they are totally worth having around for the entertainment! :)

[MommaC]

Yeah--I think a different nap zone might help. Somewhere that she can't get into as much stuff. If that's not possible, baby-proof the dresser. Get those drawer lock things so she can't open the drawers. A pain for you, but not the gigantic pain that the daily mess is. She's definitely old enough to understand that naptime destructiveness is NOT okay. I'd have a consequence to help discourage that behavior. Good luck to you!

[Moschel]

Any way to put her toys and books into those plastic storage bins that can easily be moved out of her room for naps or snapped shut? Also, there are some child proof devices so that little hands cannot open drawers. Since it could be possibly dangerous some of the stuff she's getting into (broken drawers and possibly climbing), it is really important to stay one step ahead of her. My kids used to climb out of their cribs and mess up the room. I put a tent designed for cribs over the top; they loved it. Can you put her in a little tent for her bed and keep her secure inside. She may like the feeling as well.
Good luck!

[twiceblessed]

The only suggestions that I have to offer have already been given by some of our very insightful moms. New nap zone, drawer "locks", and containers with lids for the toys. The books may possibly have to be put in a high area so that she can't get them down by herself. Good luck.

Moschel, I've never seen those tent things like you mentioned for cribs. Where did you find one?

[djrartemis]

I figured I'd update...

Lillibeth has been doing better on not destroying her room. Changing the napzone was not an option. I'm a firm believer that a child should sleep in her room where her bed/crib is at. My son, Gabe would have asked why he has to nap/sleep in his room and Lillibeth doesn't. Plus, our house isn't that big so there really wasn't anywhere else to put her except the living room which is an even bigger distraction with pet birds, windows, a tv, and more stuff for her to get into.

It finally clicked with her that if Lillibeth makes a mess in her room, she is the one to clean it up. There were many days where she stayed in her room all day (except for mealtimes when she was allowed out to eat, wash her hands, and then back to her room) to put the clothes and books away. She will still play with her toys in her room, but she has learned that the clothes are a "no" and so are the diapers. She's quick to clean both up on the rare occasion she empties the drawers. We've turned her changing table around, so she can't open the doors or drawers, but I still have a place to change her (I have a bad back so it's easier for me to change her there than on the floor). We've also bought some child-proof latches but haven't installed them yet. We might not install them, since she doesn't bother the clothes as much. As for the books, I took the advice and just put them up high in her closet where she can't get them. She understands why they are there too. She'll say "book broke" whenever I put the book away she is looking at back in her closet. I tell her that she could have the books if she wouldn't tear them up. I figure maybe in 6 months or so she won't (hopefully!) be as destructive over the books.

Thanks for all the advice!