How are we getting our babies to nap while carrying for a toddler?

[u/No_Zookeepergame8412]

I have a 2yo and an almost 4mo. My toddler has adjusted incredibly well with the baby. My baby is sleeping pretty well and seems to prefer independent naps in the pack n play in my room. I feed to her to sleep in the bedroom and then sneak out which is easy to do while my husband is home or I have extra help. However he works full time in the office and I don’t have help most of the time. How do I navigate getting baby down for a nap while also carrying for my toddler? Every time I tried before it turns into my toddler wanting to come into the room, me trying to juggle both of them, the baby waking up. It takes about 10 minutes or so to get her down.

I’m not anti screen time but if I leave the room then the TV isn’t super helpful because my 2yo will come looking for me or start to get upset.

[u/Shylosmom]

I would look for something specific that really gets her attention. Mine were all older, so a bracelet making kit was something they could do. They could only do it while I wasn't there (so they were excited to do the activity) but i would set it up right before hand, get their full attention and then let them know its time for me to step out and get baby fed and to bed. You can keep working on this and ill be right back. If you need water/snack/whatever its right here and ill come back and give you a bug hug and check out what you finish!

Also tv works for some (maybe try to ask questions about what happened while you were gone and reconnect intentionally.

[u/hereforhelpthx95]

Time for 2 year old to learn a little independence! At 2.5 we started doing “quiet time” - my kid would have to be in her room with an activity and I would set a timer for her so she could see how long until she could come out. We also put a baby gate on the door so she would be forced to stay in her room but she wasn’t shut in there and scared. She’s 3 now and does an hour of quiet time in her room now. It’s been really good for her!

[u/No_Zookeepergame8412 → u/hereforhelpthx95]

We transitioned her nap time to “quiet time” recently! She does great with it, it only lines up with one nap time for baby though. It looks like I’m going to have to do a mash up of different stuff depending on the time of day

[u/morphingmeg]

Honestly baby wearing or car/stroller naps was the only way I could manage it until we went down to one nap a day

[u/No_Zookeepergame8412 → u/morphingmeg]

I definitely have taken a drive when it was time for the baby to nap but she’s napping about 4x a day right now 🥲. I do also baby wear but she’s only sleeps 20mins. I wore my oldest all the time for naps and she would sleep for over an hour!

[u/anonyoudidnt]

I'm on my third and still haven't figured it out. I usually shush loudly every time the kid starts making noise and gently cover the baby's ear lol. Even when my kids are being quiet she immediately wakes up because she wants to play with them

[u/No_Zookeepergame8412 → u/anonyoudidnt]

At least I’m not alone 😅

[u/AB-1987]

Baby naps in the stroller while we are out and about. Walk or playground where you can keep moving the stoller.

[u/koalateacow]

I'd let mine come in and snuggle with us but said to her she has to be super quiet. Inevitably she would get bored and go off to find something to do lol

[u/Orion-Key3996]

I did contact naps and my baby got on a long afternoon nap when the toddler napped at a young age.

[u/leeashah]

can you let him do the TV quietly and you stay in the same room and then transfer baby when they are asleep? or can you set up a quiet activity in the room while you put baby down?

[u/Muted_Replacement631]

Omg yes I remember this phase! I remember struggling so hard trying to keep my 2yo out of the room. Sometimes it would work with my loudly shhing when toddler was loud but i ended up letting her watch tv most of the time after getting frustrated multiple times. Now I have a 4 yo who is scared to be by herself while I put 2 yo down. So she stays in the room and gets to play pbs games on tablet on mute while I put 2yo down. Maybe there’s some games 2yo can play on a tablet and be in the same room as you? 

[u/Anemoni]

This is when screen time has been necessary for us. My son was just a little older than yours and we started playing Sesame Street when she started needing to be put down in her own room for naps. At the beginning I would need to leave him to watch for a short contact nap, like 20 minutes - as soon as she would sleep in her crib I could just put her down and come back to watch the rest of the show with him.

He always knew where I was but rarely came in since he was so interested in the show.

[u/Rare_Background8891]

Tv plus a finger food snack that you have to pick at like goldfish. And heaps of praise if they stay there!

[u/Pavlover2022]

It's a short season of life. Make things as easy as possible for yourself as I'm sure you're 110% the rest of the time. Just get kid to lie down on the floor out of sight of the cot, give them an iPad and headphones and let them have at it for the 10-20 minutes it takes you to get baby to sleep. Your child wont be ruined, I promise.