Help!

[cormama]

I'm hoping someone can help me with my situation. My DD is 2 1/2 and I still lay down with her in her bed for her to go to sleep. She nurses then it takes her 5-10 minutes to get to sleep for her naps. Well I just started to watch a 7 month old 3 days a week and she takes 2 naps and neither of them are when my DD takes her nap. I've been struggling to figure out a solution. I can't lay down with her when the baby is awake because she makes too much noise or is unhappy in one place for too long (like on the floor in my DD's room or in the Exersaucer). My DD will NOT go to sleep without me in the room with her so if she wakes up in the middle of her nap and the baby is awake then my DD is crabby for an hour because she's still tired. How can I get her to lay down without me?? I have 3 more days until I watch the baby again, so I need to work on it now.

I don't want to force it, but I have no choice

[LadyCatherine185]

that sounds like a tough situation! Any way you can tweak your DD's nap time so that they are napping at the same time?

[KweenKrunch]

Sounds like your little one isn't ready for you to take on a babysitting job

[cormama]

Well if I wait to get her down until the baby's second nap then it's after 2 then she won't go to bed until 10:00. I need to get her down around 1.
She LOVES the baby, but this is the only obsticle we need to get around.

[stik]

With my first dd, I was primarily a SAHM, working on my Masters Degree. We were all about being child-led and putting things off until the perfect moment for her.

When my second dd was born, I was primarily a WOHM, teaching full-time and holding down the job that provides my family's health insurance. There was no way I could take the same approach that I did with my first. We created routines that were simple and predictable, and we used them to help her know what to expect and to help us keep from going insane.

I think the easiest approach is probably to get them both to nap at the same time. At 2 1/2, children can deal with a lovingly-implemented routine. Can you put the baby down first, and then nurse with your dd in another room? You could work on moving your dd's nap time towards the baby's nap time on the days in between. Play hard in the morning, and put her down a little bit earlier each day.

Good luck, mama!