How Old Were Your Kids When You Could Sleep While They Were Awake?

i could take a dozey nap by the time mine were 5 or 6. they were pretty easy kids, though. unfortunately 3 is awfully young no matter how well-behaved.
hope you get some sleep soon, mama!
khairete
S.

At the age of 3, if I desperately needed a nap and the toddler did not, a few things worked.....

Lock them in the room with you, with lots of toys on the floor and sleep on the floor. A 30 minute nap for me was better than nothing.

Or put on a favorite DVD, turned down low, and sleep on the couch while toddler watches.

Wow! I wasn't expecting such an overwhelming response of "3 is too young!" My girl just turned 3 in December and I have napped while she is preoccupied (playing board games, watching a movie, etc). I'm not talking all-out snoring asleep (especially with meds), but a 30min to 1hr nap on the couch or in bed... sure. It definitely isn't the best sleep, but it's enough.

My girl is very well behaved, never touches the front door, and is empathetic enough to understand when I tell her "mama's not feeling good, so I'm going to lay down." I give her a list of things she can do, remind her of what she can't do, and let her know that if she needs me, she can come get me.
Sometimes she's perfectly content to grab a few books and lay in bed with me. She will happily play games on my iPhone or the iPad (while in bed with me), too.

My mom was a single parent, in the military, and that's how I grew up. I was a very independent kid and could amuse/occupy myself (safely) for hours! I even have a snack drawer set up in the fridge, so she can (ask first) get a juice box, string cheese, or yogurt.

I say it's all your best judgement. If you don't have somebody who can take her for a few hours, or whatever, then you need to find some way to take care of yourself.

I read the couple most recent responses and think I probably shouldn't read any more. I napped while my son was awake when he was 3. I was pregnant and exhausted, and he had given up naps. I would put on a video and then curl up on the couch with earplugs and a sleeping mask right beside him. He would usually last about an hour before he would get antsy and want to wake me up, but he never left my side the entire time. I'm sure it wasn't the most restful sleep I could have had, but it was better than nothing.

ETA: Just read the post above mine. The earplugs were to tamp down the loudest parts of the video. You do know that earplugs don't render you completely deaf, right? I could hear my child talking to me through them. And since he was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME - literally touching me - I had a pretty good idea when he needed my attention. He couldn't get off the couch without waking me up. I would hardly call that giving him the run of the house.

I didn't nap with mine when they were 3. What I did do was put on a movie or cartoons, lay on the couch and doze a little. They laid with me or sat next to me. Sorry you are feeling bad !

Sorry you are feeling so ill. Um... no..I wasn't sleeping when mine were 3. Nor napping. I don't think I felt comfortable taking a daytime nap (without another adult caregiver at home) until, well... I still don't do that. My kids are 10 and 13. When they were little, they could not be left unsupervised for obvious reasons. Now that they are older, I worry that they will be outside playing and someone will get hurt. (in-line skates, ripsticks, skateboards, scooters, climbing trees, who KNOWS what.....)... It can happen even if they aren't breaking any rules. My 8 yr old daughter fell off of a regular old scooter and hit her face on the driveway---broke half of her permanent tooth (her front one) off. :(
At 3? Heck no. Sorry...
The best I ever managed at that age was putting on some Disney flicks, cuddlng up on the sofa under blankets and dozing when they were fully involved in the movie and I was right there to wake up when the moved off the sofa or each time they asked "Mommy, Why ________?" or "Mommy, what ________?" or "Mommy, _________?".... you know how 3 yr olds are... lol.
I hope you feel better soon.
btw it's ok to tell your 3 yr old that you feel sick and today is going to be a slow day of lounging around and playing quietly. They can be pretty empathetic sometimes!

When I was not feeling well here is what I did at the various ages;

my daughter was 2, thankfully she would still take naps and I napped when she did.

my daughter was 3, I would but the 'baby gate' up in the living room have toys in there for her, maybe put on the TV at a reasonable volume for her to hear yet would let me nap and I would nap on one of the couches. If she really needs something I told her to wake me, I would drift in and out of sleep, so not a super restful nap but enough to get me through till bedtime.

my daughter age 4 and I trusted her more, would put the 'baby gate' by the basement stairs (we do not have a second floor) and let her roam between her room and the living room while I napped on a couch, once again telling her if she needs something wake me.

my daughter age 5, I would nap in my bedroom, told her to get me if she needed something.

Rules all the time: lock the doors, cannot go outside, no answering the door, can watch a little TV, would set a snack out that she could eat, my door is always open and/or napping on the same floor of the house she is playing on.

I didnt start doing this until 6 years old. She is an only child, so not much she can get into. She was very respectful of what I wanted her to do while I was on the couch. Now at 8, i can go in my room and take a real nap for an hour while she watches a movie or something.

I wont nap when its just my 3 year old. Too risky. Hes crazy!
I will though on Saturday mornings sleep in until like 8am and my 7 year old watches cartoons with him and tells on everything he does. :)

Can you get her to take a nap with you??

Definately not at age 3 and especially if they are by themselves. MAYBE if they have a 7 or 8 yo sibling that is responsible enough to trust the 2 of them being awake together. My kids are 3 years apart in age. I wasn't a SAHM so they were in daycare but at around ages 7 and 4 I felt like I could "sleep in" and they would get up and watch tv until I was up. I never had a problem with them doing anything they shouldn't but I have heard horror stories of things that can and do happen. Oh, and have some buttered toast or something easy on your stomach. Too much coffee (or coke) has caffiene and that can give you an upset stomach unless you eat something with it or soon after. Good luck.

I would put on her favorite movie and close your eyes..but don't fall asleep...if that makes sense. Get the rest you need. She may fall asleep if you both lay down and watch it together.

Mine are 8, 6, and 4. I'll nap now (on the off chance that I have the time for it) with them awake. But even then, I don't fall asleep fully like I do at night.

Truly, even though my son is 8--I still don't nap when he'd be here alone!
Certainly didn't do it at 3.
You can make it on 4 hours. Maybe not for 6 weeks straight--but O. day> Sure. Keep filling that coffee cup & eat some protein.
Does she take a nap?
Worst case scenario: EARLY bedtime tonight for ALL three girls!
Good luck!

Let me tell you my story... and I'm embarrassed to write it.

I have an 8 and 5 year old. My 5 year old decided to take a 'walk' when I was trying to nap and he knew never to leave the house without an adult, knew not to cross the street without an adult and on this day he didn't care. He walked off. I never really dozed off and my older son asked for help with the tv. When I was done helping him I looked for my younger son and didn't find him. It wasn't even 10 minutes from the time I had laid down.

Long story short, I couldn't find my younger son. I had the whole neighborhood involved. The police found him. He walked A MILE away and I found out they found him after I called 911. He told the officer he was getting 'exercise'.

I had to ride with him in the back of the police car back to my house and the police officers had to search my house to make sure everything was good (which it was). It was a pretty big wake-up call for me. I was seriously hysterical.

If you are insistent on taking a nap while you have young ones, I'd at least set an alarm on stay mode so the alarm goes off if they try to open the door, but keep in mind they can still get in a lot of trouble at home.

I guess the age you feel it's ok depends on the child. I know, even at 5, I don't feel comfortable. At age 3, I totally would not feel comfortable.