What do you do with your toddler while you are putting the baby down for a nap?

JBudke

I am struggling with this when I am home alone with both kids. I'd like to put baby in her room upstairs so she doesn't get woken up by a noisy toddler (ideally rock her in her room first so she is asleep). My toddler is an expert at opening baby gates so confining him downstairs while I put the baby down isn't working out so well.

LC122

Honestly, I usually let her do whatever she usually does. The baby is pretty good at getting to sleep with whatever normal household noise happens.
What I have done on occasion, and what may apply to your case, is to go in my toddler's room and dim the lights and sit in the rocker. The toddler usually plays relatively quietly, "reading" her books or playing with blocks. When the baby is asleep, I take her across the hall to her bassinet.
I practice whispering with my toddler and find that if I whisper to her, she will often whisper back.
I can't help but wonder if boys are just different, so this may not work as easily.

My short answer is containment to one room and quiet activities.

bookworm982

My house is pretty toddler proofed, so I just shut myself in the room with my baby and put him to sleep. My toddler keeps playing or bangs on the door depending on her mood. I'm fortunate that DS only needs to nurse for five minutes tops. Also, I've worked on putting the baby down awake since he was a month old. If he isn't hungry, he's great at it. I have to admit that feat is half his easy going personality and half doing things differently this time around since DD would only nap in my arms until 7.5 months. 

If you are comfortable containing your toddler to one room, could you put a knob cover on the inside of the door so that he cannot escape? 

jllmb79

DD#1 plays in my room with her toys when I put DD#2 down for her first nap.  I normally get her Calico critters down for her to play with.  She is happy to play alone since it means we get 1 on 1 time when the baby is sleeping.

They both take an afternoon nap and I put DD#1 down first while DD#2 plays on the floor in DD#1's room.

jesselayne8

DD quietly looks at books while I put DS down. I usually nurse him in her room with the lights off. It only takes me 10-15 min to put him down.

MissJenna2011

I put my toddler down for a nap first and then my almost 3 month old baby 2nd. So then they're both sleeping and I can actually shower! But before the days of longer more consistent napping, I would just rock the baby to sleep in the living room while my toddler played around us, she got used to the noise, then I'd put her down in her swing, or Pnp or crib depending on what was more convenient at the time and continue to play with sis.

lana22

sometimes he plays in the upstairs playroom w/ the door closed, sometimes in his room, and sometimes on my bed. my 2 yo can't open the gate downstairs so occasionally i leave him downstairs, but he generally likes to be upstairs where we are. just make sure wherever you leave him is toddler-proofed!