toddler nap suggestions?

mediaperuana

any suggestions for getting my toddler down for his nap while new baby is awake and wants attention? in an ideal world i would get the baby down for a little nap first, but that didn't happen today, and naptime was a disaster.

biokitty42

I was hoping to see some responses in here because I'm in the same boat.  I have no idea how I'm going to get DD1 down for her nap now that I have another baby.  DD1 is a bad sleeper and the naptime routine can get a little long.  I've just been laying down with her so far because I have help at home for a couple weeks, but I don't know what to do once I'm alone.  I just know that the baby will start crying just as I put her down and ruin the whole thing.  I hope someone with experience has some advice for us!

juniper75

I have been at this for 5 months and the best I can tell you is that we are still figuring it out and it changes all the time. Sometimes somebody cries a bit but it doesn't happen as often as I feared.

Mostly I have had to shorten the time it takes to put my toddler down for naps. I put LO down wherever she would be happiest given what she likes at the time. The swing got me through a lot in the beginning. Right now she likes to play with a few toys in her crib and watch her mobile. Babywearing helps too. A few times I have had her "help me" put her big sister to bed. I have had both kids in my lap (one on each knee) while I read a book and then I actually have had to lay baby on the floor to lift her sister in the crib. All these work well if both happen to be awake. A few times I had to push back naptimes up to a half hour because I was either nursing or had a sleeping baby in my arms.

You'll figure it out and feel like a superhero every day you manage to pull it off...lol

vettymama

We're almost 6 months in now. In the beginning DS2 would hang out in the rnp while I read stories and put DS1 down for his nap. DS2 would almost always fall asleep during that time. Now DS2 sits in DS1s room and listens to the stories too. If he's too fussy I just put him in his crib and if he cries it's ok. It's not a long period of time. At most 5 minutes but that very rarely hapoens now.

spinsoffresonance

In the beginning DD1 was a great napper, I would read her a story, sing her a song and set her down in the crib and she would go to sleep on her own. So I only needed 5 min to get DD1 down. I'd make sure DD2 was fed and dry, set her down in her bouncer in my bedroom, close the door and go attend to DD1. I figured DD2 would be okay even if she cried for 2min. That lasted less than 2 months. Now I need 30min-1hour to get DD1 to sleep so I wait until the baby is down for a nap first, which means sometimes DD1's nap gets pushed back an hour.

mediaperuana

nice to come back here and see these ideas! i've basically been flying by the seat of my pants. sometimes i can get the baby sleeping first and then things so fairly smoothly. sometimes . . . not so much. so far we've only had 1 day where he got no nap at all, so that's something. i guess.

lana22

mostly what other posters suggested. would either push toddler nap back until baby was asleep, or have him chill out in bouncy seat, swing, etc. while i put toddler down. 

tamarar5

Does your older one go down for nap awake? That is what works for us. I put the baby in the swing or someplace for a couple of minutes, then get the toddler settled. We change diaper, find blanket and paci, then get settled in his crib with hugs and kisses. I've been letting him choose his sleep music too, between iTunes and his sleep sheep — he likes that and it makes nap smoother. But he goes down for nap awake. Then I go get baby.

kcbv123

I have no real advice- we've tried lots of different things- some work, some didn't. They both nap best when tired, so I try to wear them out as much as possible in the morning. It's few and far between, but man those days when they both take a nap at the same time are glorious!