[kdescalzi]

Hi mamas,

My girlfriend just had her second baby and her 2.5 ds has had some difficulty adjusting to this. It took about 1 month for him to get back to sleeping ok at night but he has been refusing to nap more often than not. When and if she can get him down, he will sleep for about 2 hours....he definately still needs the rest. He is impossibly fussy and overtired on the days he doesn't nap so she is dealing with a newborn and a very tired toddler. It is always so hard to tell when he is tired so she doesn't know if she is putting him down for his nap too late...which as at about 12/12:30 with a wake-up time of 6:30ish. She tries so hard to lay with him and give him a soothing wind down but with a newborn sometimes she has to leave him in there....he never cries but just comes out of his room to whine and fuss. At these times she usually has her baby nursing. Her son flips out if she tries to hang out with him while he gets drowsy with the newborn...he does not want the baby in his room...which we totally understand. WWYD?? She knows he needs his rest during the day but nothing she is doing is working?? Could he be giving up is naps?? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rzberrymom]

Maybe put them both in the car and go for a drive? Or put the baby in a wrap and go for a walk with the 2.5 year old in a stroller? Motion was usually the only thing that would put my DD to sleep for a nap once she got a little older.

 

[alisoncooks]

My now-3 yo had some sleep problems when her baby sister was born (1 yr ago). We had some disturbance of night time sleep which took a few months to get straight.

She has never been a "good" napper. Naps were always in my lap or in bed w/ me after nursing...until baby came

Now she just crashes on the couch (and when she does it's for an hour or 2). But these are getting less and less common (she hasn't now napped in almost 2 weeks...) When she first started missing that naptime, she was terribly grumpy/irritable and you can tell she needed it. She's adjusted as time has gone by...hardly cranky at all (some days, she is...)

Probably not very helpful, but I wanted to share my experience.

 

[MacKinnon]

My DD dropped naps at about 2.5 and went to early, early bed times for a while. She was in bed, ASLEEP by 6:30. I had DS when she was about 3 and we went through similar periods of baby issues and sleep problems. I use to give DD the choice, "Mama can stay with you and nurse DS or you can stay by yourself." She very quickly chose to stay by herself, but she would also choose "negative" attention over no attention. It's a difficult balance!

We ended up snuggling on the couch for "quiet rest time." DD would start in her room, alone, for as long as she could (usually about 15 mins) then she would come out and snuggle up behind my knees while I nursed DS, side lying or in my arms. I would doze lightly with DS while DD watched TV. She had some time to settle down, to feel loved and cuddly, and I got to rest a little, AND DS got to nap. It all worked out!