if DH is gone while you do bedtime...

AwBeth

how do you do it?  DD2 needs peace and quiet for the last nursing session and bedtime.  DD1 is not exactly peaceful or quiet, but DH doesn't get home in time for bedtime.  I've been trying to wait until he gets home, but that is just not good for DD2.  Tonight I tried playing video for DD1 while I put DD2 down, and it mostly worked.  Anyway, just looking for more tips from other moms.  Thoughts?

Raffes484

We have a playroom, so I have DD go into her playroom and watch a movie/Sprout and play while I'm in the living room (the kitchen is in between the two rooms so I can still hear DD) while I rock DS to sleep.

sweetpea2003

When I was nursing, DD would play at my feet or in her room while I nursed DS before bed.  Now that we do bottles, my DD "helps" me feed him by sitting in the chair with us and holding the bottle .

You just do it.  It can be a juggling act but it can be done.  If a short video helps - go for it.  For me, a box of toys and a few books usually distracted DD long enough to allow me to nurse DS.

CaitlinJ22

We have netflix so I put on a short 24 min show of yogabba or diego for him and I go in and put her to bed. Bedtime is faster now that we weaned, so its just 2 books, paci and doll and then I rock her for a minute and sing and then she goes down. DS is old enough to understand now that he has to be quiet, but when he was just under 2 or a little older, he would walk into DDs room and so I would sign "sleep" and he would sign it back and say "Eva night night" and whisper. Now he doesnt come in but would do it every night for a while and so he would just check that I was there and that was all. DD never saw him. 

When DD was tiny, I would nurse while he watched a show and then go in my room where she slept, lay her down and walk out, she was an easy newborn.  

4realyo

I put LO#1 to bed first. we do bathtime and then read a book and then she goes to bed. I hold LO#2 if he is being fussy while we do her bath or sit him in the swing/bouncey nearby. I hold him while we read books. Then I do LO#2 bath and then nurse him and put him to bed. I am working on nighttime routine with Lo#2 (he is 3.5 weeks old) so its more important he get the quiet time while I nurse him and also if I put him to bed first then he would be up to nurse again like an hour after I got in bed, which would be too much. This works for us for now.

lilone_06

I used to let the girls sit with me watching tv (something boring like nat geo so they are not too stimulated) while I gave DS his bottle. That worked pretty well at the time but we've switched up their bedtime routine, so now I will normally feed DS his bottle while I sit in their room, them in their beds, reading them stories. This works well as long as everyone cooperates, but if they rile each other up, or if DS is babbling and not going right to sleep, things deteriorate quickly. I've also considered putting on a recorded show for them, like a 25 minute one, just long enough for me to give him his bottle in his room and rock, but I've not done this yet. Sorry, hope this helped somewhat!

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha

DD2's feeding schedule is still erratic at best, so I just go with the flow, but it usually ends up with me nursing her while reading DD1 a bedtime story (or three!). When it's time for DD1 to actually go to bed, I usually run to our room to put DD2 in her moses basket, then come back to tuck DD1 in.

Like it's been said, it's a juggling act, but somehow everyone ends up sleeping in their bed, so it is doable.