What do you do with #1 when putting #2 down

sarahns80

My DS takes a while to go down for naps and I try to time the afternoon nap while DD is napping but the morning nap I have to find something to occupy my toddler while I put the baby down. It can take like 20 min to rock him or nurse him to sleep. Half the time my DD will get sick of playing with whatever I have her to play with or the show i put on for her and come in there and wake him up. It's so frustrating! I might have to do CIO with baby to get him to where I can just put him in his crib and he goes to sleep but I really dont want to. What do you do? 

kcisthebombdotcom

I was really lucky that my #1 was independent and didnt mind if I tended to the baby for a few minutes. We also had a large playroom that was completely babyproofed so I knew he'd be safe if I had to leave him unattended to go in the other room. It was never a problem.

celiabwatson

TV

In all honesty though my little one is a fantastic sleeper and I'm able to rock her in the sling while standing in the tv room with my son (so technically he could be playing independently as well, but if he's not playing independently then I turn the tv on). Once she's asleep I just have to slip away for a second to put her down.

She also doesn't nap much Well, she takes long naps but sometimes only one/day, and sometimes barely that. So it's not like I'm sticking my son in front of the tv 3 separate times each day. She also often goes down while he's having a snack (again, in the sling while talking with him).

I also have to to bedtime by myself every night. In that case it's definitely TV or the iPhone, but he's already tired at that point anyway. So he's happy to relax on the couch for a bit. Then he and I have dinner and read some books before he goes to bed. 

kagl08

I worked really, really hard on my DS going down awake. So I wait until his sleepy cues then I bring him up to his room. He goes right down (usually) and my DD barely notices I'm gone, or she's still climbing the stairs. I close the door to his room if I think she will come up and she usually just knocks for me. 

We also did the EASY program so that he wouldn't be dependent on the bottle/breast to fall asleep. Is this possible to break the habit with your LO so you don't have to nurse to sleep?

And I agree with the TV or my iPhone... keeps my DD entertained enough to get my DS to sleep. I wish I had a playroom that I could gait her in just for the time it takes me to get him down. Would make life so much easier. 

sparklenshine_89

I nurse DS2 in the living room and usually will distract my DS1 with a snack, toy, tv, phone, etc. But sometimes he gets bored and wants to play so I will tell him to go grab the ball and then I will throw/kick it and he will fetch (sounds horrible when I say it like that-but it works!). Then I put DS2 down for his nap and then give DS1 some milk to drink before he goes down for his nap. And sometimes I put DS1 down first and then just focus on DS2- they have the same nap time. Maybe you could distract her with crayons and a coloring book.

caymanbride

Starting around 2.5, I would put a movie on for DS # 1 while I put DS2 down to bed in the evenings. He would stay put on the couch watching his movie for the 15-20 min or so that it took.

delg23

Yo Gabba Gabba in a baby proofed room or snacks in the high chair.

jmlushbough

delg23:

Yo Gabba Gabba in a baby proofed room or snacks in the high chair.

This is my trick, too. Sometimes it's the iPad in the crib. It's all fair game when it comes to naps. 

kristalovesjared

My older DD really doesn't like doing anything independently. The baby was always able to just sleep on me and through DD making noise, but now (almost 5 months old) she can't do it. We bounce her to sleep and it was taking up to an hour!!! Last week I started doing a modified version of CIO and it has helped a lot! I bounce her for 5 minutes and then put her in her crib and then go in every 3 minutes to give her the binky, pat her tummy, etc. until she falls asleep. We've already seen great progress in 5 days and now that she sleeps in her crib my toddler gets more attention and is happier too!