C.M.
Hi K.. I do daycare and have 2 kids of my own as well. The ages in my care are: 5 months, 7 months, 10 months, a bunch of two year olds, a three yr old, and a four year old (lot of part timers). I always have 2 infants and 1 toddler, as well as some 2 yr old and the 3 yr old. I don't know if I am just lucky or if what i have done has worked or not. here goes: with the babies, i have them go down for nap between 8:30 an 9am. Every kid who starts here does the same schedule. When a new chidl starts, it takes anywhere from a day to a week before I can get the kids into the same schedule, but I don't budge. I let them cry (be sure your parents are okay with this) and eventually (within a week) the babies are on the same schedule. It has worked for me for 3 years now. They may not be tired at first, but put them down anyway and they will fall into that routine. In the afternoon, all of my kids nap at the same time. I putthe babies down about a half hour before the big kids, so they ahve the chance to "cry" before the others go down. The babies go down at 1:30 and the older kids at 2pm. We read a story everyday before naps so the kids know what is coming next. I also have the babies and other kids sleep in seperate rooms (infants in one room, older kids in another) and the windows in each room are covered with a blanket to keep it dark. I use a fan in both sleeping rooms, too...to block out any noise. Like I said, it may take a week (even 2) but the kids will fall into your pattern and you might even get a break! :) Sometimes the kids wake up before the others, but I always let the babies cry about 10 minutes before I go get them, b/c 90% of the time they fall back to sleep. with the older kids, they have to lay in the pack-n-play until I come get them (usually they are all still sleeping and I end up waking them up!) I don't know if this will work for you or if it's something you'd even want to try-but it works for me. I get at least an hour to myself everyday-most days I get 2 hrs!
As for the older kids who don't nap, if they are school age I let them (play in the basement away from the nappers) and watch a video, play video games, or read book/do puzzles during nap time. I'm not sure what county you ar ein but you could let the school ager play outside during nap time, too. I never did with my school agers b/c they weren't very good listeners and I always worried they would get into trouble!
Just some thoughts...I hope you get it worked out! This job is hard exhausting enough...I can't imagine without a little break!