Does this sound (long)

dsmithplus2

wrong to you? Here's my situation...

I have a 6 month old. I stay at home with LO and watch 3 other kids as well. The 3 other kids ages are 1, 2, and 3. The 3 year old is only there on Monday's, Wednesday's, Friday's. Tuesday's and Thursday's she attends 3K at their church and her grandmother keeps her until the end of her mom's day. All 3 of these kids are clingy. Keep that in mind.

We have a room that is attached to the kitchen which is my H's office. We also have a PNP in there where I let my LO sleep for naps while 1 year old is with us. 1 year old gets to sleep in crib (my LO's) because he will not fall asleep in the PNP and I just found this easier. 

I am getting so frustrated because the kids will follow me into the kitchen anytime I leave the room they are in. It gets to a point where the 1 year old wakes up baby from dropping his juice cup or crying because he wants me to hold him (24/7 and I can't do that!). I am just so annoyed that my LO cannot take his naps because these kids are waking him constantly (I think this is why my LO is having horrible times sleeping at nap time and bedtime). When the other kids are sleeping, I make sure who ever is awake keeps it down so that they don't get disturbed, but when I tell the kids to be quiet while my LO sleeps, they don't listen. 

With that in mind, I am considering a baby gate for my kitchen where the living room is. That way if I am going into the kitchen I can hurry up the process without having to worry about keeping the kids quiet when they follow me in there.

Any thoughts on this? Please help me. 

Hope2Have

I am not usually mean, but they're 1,2& 3 years old, they aren't old enough to "respect" when your LO is sleeping, IMO. You're keeping them to make money I assume, so you'll have sacrifices that have to be made, that sounds like one of them, but yes a baby gate would probably be a good idea.

dsmithplus2

Hope2Have:

I am not usually mean, but they're 1,2& 3 years old, they aren't old enough to "respect" when your LO is sleeping, IMO. You're keeping them to make money I assume, so you'll have sacrifices that have to be made, that sounds like one of them, but yes a baby gate would probably be a good idea.

By all means, I know I probably come off as mean about the subject. But the 2 and 3 year old do understand what being quiet means. If I say be quiet, they usually whisper (only when in the kitchen, as I tell them), which is fine with me! I know there is no way for me to help the 1 year old understand, that's why I am considering a baby gate. I guess my main point was, is that wrong of me to get a baby gate to keep the 1 year old from coming in and making my LO wake up.

Also, I am by no means bias with whom I care more about sleeping. They are my family. I love them all and just get frustrated when ANY of them (for that matter) don't get their naps out because then I have to deal with them being cranky all day.

dshoop7

I have been watching kids for 11 years and I have a almost 5 yr old and a 6 month old myself. My daycare kids are all between the ages of 1 and 3. You are right the one year old will learn in time. As for the 2-3 year olds, they do know better in my situation. They are usually the ones saying " Shhhhh" when they know the babies are sleeping.  Anyway, by all means get the gate. If it is an office they do not need to be in there if it is not lunch/snack time. Consider it a safety issue so you do not feel bad about it. Oh, I totally understand it is easier to put other kid in your babies crib, but let you baby have it. The PNP is for daycare and they will get used to it. I am not trying to come off mean at all cuz I TOTALLY get where you are coming from. I just think you would feel better if your baby was sleeping better. Just explain to the mom that the babies need to stay out of kitchen for thier own safety. You will not be lying. Good luck and I hope it works.

 

dsmithplus2

Scout2005:

I think you are expecting way too much from children this young.They may understand the concept of quiet in the moment, but it's unlikely they are going to keep whispering for the entire time another child is napping. It's just not a reasonable expectation at this age.

The one year old wants to be held 24/7 because he's a one year old. Same with dropping his juice. He's ONE year old. He's a baby.

I'm not being snarky, but if it's really this stressful for you to watch these children in addition to your own, then maybe their mother needs to find a different childcare situation. From your post, they just sound like they are being kids. Really young ones, at that. 

 

I said it was frustrating. I understand exactly why the 1 year old wants to be held... And why he drops his cups all the time. If I didn't enjoy doing it, I wouldn't do it. It's just now that my son is affected by the noise in the kitchen. The other kids used to be able to go in there all the time (being fairly loud) and my LO would sleep like a charm. I'm just wondering if it would be offensive to the parents if they walked in tomorrow to drop their kids off and there was a baby gate up, since I've never put it up... 

dsmithplus2

baby shoop:

I have been watching kids for 11 years and I have a almost 5 yr old and a 6 month old myself. My daycare kids are all between the ages of 1 and 3. You are right the one year old will learn in time. As for the 2-3 year olds, they do know better in my situation. They are usually the ones saying " Shhhhh" when they know the babies are sleeping.  Anyway, by all means get the gate. If it is an office they do not need to be in there if it is not lunch/snack time. Consider it a safety issue so you do not feel bad about it. Oh, I totally understand it is easier to put other kid in your babies crib, but let you baby have it. The PNP is for daycare and they will get used to it. I am not trying to come off mean at all cuz I TOTALLY get where you are coming from. I just think you would feel better if your baby was sleeping better. Just explain to the mom that the babies need to stay out of kitchen for thier own safety. You will not be lying. Good luck and I hope it works.

 

The PNP is for the 1 year old and he won't sleep in it. The first few days, I tried to let him sleep in there and he wouldn't. I don't know if it just wasn't very cushioned or what. I knew my LO would sleep in it because he sleeps amazing in it when I put him in there for naps on the weekend (out of habit) if I'm in the kitchen or the living room, since it's closer and I can get to him faster.

I think i'm going to put a thick blanket under the sheets of the PNP and see how the 1 year old does. If he doesn't do very well, I think I'll just move the PNP to my room and let my LO sleep in it.

Thank you for understanding  

dsmithplus2

dsmithplus2:

Scout2005:

I think you are expecting way too much from children this young.They may understand the concept of quiet in the moment, but it's unlikely they are going to keep whispering for the entire time another child is napping. It's just not a reasonable expectation at this age.

The one year old wants to be held 24/7 because he's a one year old. Same with dropping his juice. He's ONE year old. He's a baby.

I'm not being snarky, but if it's really this stressful for you to watch these children in addition to your own, then maybe their mother needs to find a different childcare situation. From your post, they just sound like they are being kids. Really young ones, at that. 

 

I said it was frustrating. I understand exactly why the 1 year old wants to be held... And why he drops his cups all the time. If I didn't enjoy doing it, I wouldn't do it. It's just now that my son is affected by the noise in the kitchen. The other kids used to be able to go in there all the time (being fairly loud) and my LO would sleep like a charm. I'm just wondering if it would be offensive to the parents if they walked in tomorrow to drop their kids off and there was a baby gate up, since I've never put it up... 

Also, I don't expect the kids to whisper in every room of the house while my child sleeps. I tell the 2 and 3 year old to "whisper only in the kitchen". I guess I didn't clarify that in the post.

Bluescarf

I don't think it would be wrong at all to get a babygate. FWIW, if you were watching my child I would want you to have a gate up to keep them out of the kitchen. The kitchen is not a safe place for them to be. I would just let parents know you were concerned about their safety and not even mention the whole nap situation.

erbear

They're kids. You can't lock them in a room and while they might understand that they need to be quiet when your LO is sleeping (my older DD certainly does), you cannot ask them to be quiet for hours at a time. Sorry. If you want your LO to sleep, stop watching other kids.

I don't think a baby gate is a big deal but be aware that when I tried to do this (so I could put my baby down for a nap), but 2 year old stood at the gate and SCREAMED bloody murder. It was way worse than letting her just come up.

Helix07

Why cant you put the pnp with your DS in one of the other bedrooms? Then you would not have to worry about the others waking him.