Getting infant to nap with toddler on the loose! Need input.

julieb00lie

DD goes to DC during the week, so on the weekends I want to catch up with her. But I spend so much of the day nursing and soothing DS. If naps aren't going well, which happens often, I am in DS' room a lot while DH and DD are hanging out. I would love to hang out with them while I nurse and soothe, but with all the noise it's impossible. For those who have been in this situation, did you just abandon the baby's naps and just deal with the fussiness all day while you spend time with the family? Did your older child get upset when you were closed in the baby's room all day? Did you have problems getting your baby to nap with the noisy toddler in the house? My baby is so young, he depends on me for soothing, but at the same time I don't want to cause issues with my toddler and i want to spend time with her and DH. Thoughts? (BTW- DH is not good at soothing and getting DS to sleep. Handing him off has not been successful.)

randa0880

Well, dd2 naps in the living room, where her sister plays. Sometimes the noise wakes her, but often not. Have you tried a white noise machine? I would not let the baby not get sleep. It is just me and the kids alone all day and most of the evening and they both get good sleep and they both get quality time with me. If I find the baby is having a hard time getting or staying asleep I put her in the swing and turn on a white noise machine. Since the baby's naps are still sporadic and I don't feel like running up and down steps all day, she is going to sleep in the living room for now. When she sleeps longer and her naps are more predictable, she will sleep upstairs.

Daisy22

I did everything with DS1 around except when it was bedtime then I nursed DS2 in the nursery. He slept in the PNP downstairs during the day. Sometimes ds1 would wake him but he learned to sleep through a lot of noises. I also used the sling a lot at home so I could do things with DS1 with both hands. At 8 wks is when I started putting DS2 in the nursery for naps. I still nursed him in hte living room through.

L&BK54471

DD #2 naps in the swing during the day with  white noise going.  Sometimes she stirs a little if DD #1 makes a lot of noise but the bigger problem for us is DD #1 likes to pull the blankets of DD #2 or stop the swing.  I will spend time with DD #1 in a different room if she is bothering her sister too much.  I nurse her in the living room.  She sleeps in our room in an arm's reach co-sleeper at night.