if you have 2 more or and older one doesn't nap...?

polar0805

My oldest boy just turned 3 and I think he is slowly dropping his nap...he'll have a week where he naps every day and then one where he doesn't nap at all.  I actually think he still needs his nap because as of today he is on day 3 of no napping and he is a total crank!   But my 19 month old does nap and will nap for 2-3 hours.  If I don't think Ben (my 3 year old) will nap, I usually have him watch 60 minutes of TV and then he has quiet time in his room.  this isn't really working out because he wakes his brother up by going into his room or just making noise in his own room...I don't mind him staying up and playing downstairs but I kind of want him to understand that he either has to nap or play quietly.  Anyway, my whole question is...what do you do with your older one while your younger one naps? 

flypink

When the 9 month old naps at 10 am, the girls (2yo and 1yo) have snack time and watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Then they do an activity - coloring, stickers, stamps, playdo. I also put the fan on and it drowns out some of the noise.

They all sleep from 1-3pm and if one of them wakes up and give them my full attention. We sit in the play room and do puzzles or read books. It keeps them pretty quiet.

GL! 

HarrietNJMommy

Welcome to my world. :-(

My oldest (DD#1) stopped napping at AGE 2!!!!

My middle one (DD#2) stopped napping at 20 MONTHS!!!!

Yup, you read that right.

The girls are allowed 1 hour of TV while their brother naps. Then we do activities - usually puzzles, board games, playdoh, art, etc. that aren't allowed when DS is awake (small pieces, etc.)

I won't lie - it is HARD to have kids that don't nap, BUT, my kids are BEGGING to go to bed at 6:30pm. All kids are in bed and (mostly) asleep by 7pm every night. Giving me and DH the entire night to ourselves. That's the plus with no naps.

Oh, and I TRIED quiet time with both girls when they stopped napping, but they would scream and wake the child that actually WAS napping. So, quiet time stopped.

I have no real advice for you. GL!

jen5-03

I tell her it's naptime and that she has to stay in bed and be quiet. Of course I can almost always hear her talking/singing/playing in bed but usually it's not too loud. When she does get loud I shush her and sometimes go in and read to her or even end naptime in favor of TV. So far she's pretty good about staying quiet while the baby is sleeping.

safy

I make my older one (4.5 yrs old) have quiet time even if she chooses not to nap. She stays in her room and write, draw, play w/her Leapster or whatever. Sometimes she naps, sometimes she doesn't, but quiet time is required.

cp760

I've had to deal with this many times. When my second son was born it was SO hard to get him to nap because my oldest was 2 1/2 at just could not be quiet or leave us alone when I was trying to get his little brother down for a nap. Then when my 3rd son arrived, I had two boys who could not be quiet and stay out of the baby's room. Every few minutes they'd come in "When are you coming out?" and wake the baby back up. I used to get so frustrated. Basically I just had to deal with the struggle until they were old enough to watch tv with a snack for a little bit.... yet it's still a struggle to this day because if I try to put my 2 yr old down, my 5 year old still comes in every few minutes. I don't have a good answer, just wanted to let you know you're not alone.

almostjennifer

My solution?  The 3 yr old does afternoon preschool 3 days per week, and on the other two we go down to the basement to play or watch TV while the baby naps upstairs.