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Nap time help for 3 year old
I am a SAHM, so it is just me in the house during the day with no one near enough to help out. I am still nursing my 3 year old to sleep at nap time, and it was fine with me until baby number 2 arrived. Now nap time has become a nightmare if the baby is awake. DS is trying to play with the baby while he should be falling asleep. He yells if I attempt to get up and leave, has been doing some hitting ang kicking as well. At night it is okay because my husband is home to hold the baby if needed. Does anyone have any advice, resources, or anything else that can help me figure out how to get DS to start falling asleep without needing me right by his side.
Thanks,
Ivy
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Re: Nap time help for 3 year old
That's a tough one. Are you able to put your LO in the swing or PNP while you get your DS goes to sleep? I know it's tough, I watched another 2yo and a 5mo last summer & nap time was really rough until we got a routine figured out.
Good luck :-)
1/1 Spotting, 1/3 beta 36,000, 1/5 u/s empty sac measuring 7w (9w5d), 1/6 d&c
You will always be loved & missed our sweet angel.
I implemented "quiet time" and got the girls on the same nap schedule as early as possible. So DD1 would go in her room to play quietly (usually not so quietly) while I got DD2 to sleep. Once DD2 was sleeping I went into DD1's room to put her to sleep. After a while I realized that she didn't need me to put her to sleep. So after DD2 went to sleep I went in DD1's room and tucked her in bed. I started by giving rubs but eventually faded that.
With that said, there are days when DD1 doesn't sleep. She just plays in her room during quiet time. After an hour or so I will go get her if she doesn't sleep.
I mainly did that for selfish reasons. I need a few minutes to myself during the day so I worked hard to get them on the same napping schedule. I'm generally one to let the babies make the schedule and I did but I modified it to make it work for everyone.
Thankfully DS2 is a better sleeper but we made sure to establish a routine that we can all live with. My DH works a lot and goes to school at night so I had to make things manageable for me as well as the kids.
If u don't want to do that u can try to get both kids to fall asleep in the car and transfer them. I plan activities in the morning and time it so they fall asleep on the way home. It's also nice to coordinate naptime. GL!
For awhile, I would nurse DS2 to sleep while DS1 was falling asleep for nap (I'd read to him while DS2 nursed/dozed). I think it may have gotten switched up, and I would put DS2 down while DS1 read and/or fell asleep on his own in his room. At any rate, I would start with having the baby with you but stressing that it's quiet time for everyone (I missed how old your baby is!). Or doing the opposite, and leaving him with books/quiet toys while you put the baby down.
DS1 stopped napping at 3.5, mostly because he started afternoon pre-K, but also because he wasn't able to sleep for more than an hour without it affecting bedtime. hth
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)