Help me with naps!

[annbuhdan]

Anna is a great napper right now, but I'm about to mess with a good thing. She goes down about noon every day, and I sing her to sleep while holding her. It takes 5 minutes and she sleeps for 2 hours. The problem is she won't let my H put her down unless I am not home. With new baby coming soon, I'm worried I'll have my hands full nursing and trying to get her to sleep for naps. 

So today I put her down in her bed to fall asleep herself, and 45 minutes later she's jumping in her crib calling "mommy, up please, where are you?" I am assuming I just let her do this until she would normally wake up and then try again tomorrow? How did you do it?

[ice61313]

Could you try slowly eliminating your singing? Next time instead of singing her fully to sleep, try doing it until she is just drowsy and then put her down. She may still stay awake for a day or two (which would suuuuuck) but I would think she'd eventually give in.

[gratefulgirl]

Are you still singing to her? I've sung the same song to DD2 for every nap and nighttime since birth and the song itself makes her sleepy. Maybe you can put her in the crib and pat her back while you sing? Does YH sing to her when he puts her down?

Whenever I change my kids' nap routines I always explain it to them as best I can. As far as skipped naps, I leave them until they would usually get up or are inconsolable. I also move bedtime up an hour to make up for lost sleep. That way it's just a rough afternoon and not a rough several days.

[peachesncream]

If it takes 5 minutes sometimes you just have to set the newborn down while you tend to the 2 YO. I wouldn't mess with a good thing and would continue doing what you have been doing once baby arrives! That is what we did and it has worked great for both girls. Do whatever it takes to survive!

[aaemommy]

Could you snuggle with her and sing it to her? I usually sit on the edge of the bed while he sits either beside me or on my lap. That way you can hold the baby while you're doing it. This works really well for us. I tried setting the baby down to do it, but A gets really concerned when Cam cries so he wouldn't relax to go to sleep.

[islandlover]

I would try to slowly eliminate the singing part until you can go in and lay her straight down. Either that, or like another said, I might would just try to make sure the baby is ok and take a few minutes to get the toddler down since it doesn't take too long.

[annbuhdan]

gratefulgirl Today I was explaining to her how she can go to sleep by herself like a big girl at nap time, so she spent the rest of the morning saying "no nap, no nap" lol!

Today was ok, she went to sleep after 45 min and slept for 1.5 hours. She mostly played/jumped in her crib and never got too upset. I am thinking I'll see how the week goes. I won't be afraid to just go back to how things were if I need to though. I love hearing all the ways your families make it work with two (or more) LOs.

[ice61313]

Also, I used to sway Nora to sleep but ended that because of #2. She will sometimes stay awake for 20+ minutes. I leave her there if she's content. I do start telling her about 15 minutes before naptime that "it's about naptime" so it isn't sudden and she also gathers stuffed animals to throw in the crib with her.

[annapunkalunka]

I've switched up our routine for naps, too, in prep for #2. We bring her in, give a kiss, say "have a good nap" and leave. I'm cool with having a more involved bedtime to recap the day and tell stories, but I felt she didn't need that for nap. She usually still protests, but will sleep eventually. We've never (knock on wood) had the issue of her refusing to nap all together.

[sosayweall]

Jun 20, 2016 15:14:45 GMT -5 peachesncream said:

If it takes 5 minutes sometimes you just have to set the newborn down while you tend to the 2 YO. I wouldn't mess with a good thing and would continue doing what you have been doing once baby arrives! That is what we did and it has worked great for both girls. Do whatever it takes to survive!

Honestly this is what I do. I just put the baby in her bouncer or the swing and go put the toddler down using our normal routine.