Hi,
I have an almost 6 month old and 51/2 year old. My 6 month old's nap times are still a little irregular due to how long she naps for and when she wakes up. Anyway, most days her am nap is short and sometimes she'll take 2 short am naps, she tends to take a longer nap in the afternoon and a lot of times she'll be in the middle of her nap when it's time to pick up my older daughter from kindergarten. I feel so bad depriving her of much needed sleep. I know other people have to deal with this situation as well, so I'm just wondering what you all do.
Thanks!
Ok, I forgot to mention, that even though she naps in crib in am, she still needs motion nap in afternoon(i've been working on this, but no luck so far). She usually sleeps in swing. I have tried putting her in car seat and taking a walk with her in stroller/carseat or driving in car then bringing her home, but she always wakes up after 30 minutes. I have so much to do in the house to do in the house that I cannot be continually driving/walking her around while she sleeps. I can sometimes get someone else to either stay here with baby or pick her up, but not always. I guess I'm wondering if it will really mess her up if she doesn't get the proper amount of nap time. i was devoted to my first's naps because she was a poor sleeper. it's hard to let go of this mindset about naps.
Regarding the mtion sleep: I have tried to put her in crib for afternoon nap and she either sleeps only 30 min then cries and cries or she does not sleep at all and will cry/fuss for entire nap time(60min). I resorted back to swing just so she could get some zzzz's. I really want her in the crib!
Put her in the car and hope she falls back to sleep. My DD used to nap when it was time to get SD from school and she spent a lot of time napping in the car. An umbrella stroller was my friend when I had to go in and get SD. Most of the time, SD came out to the car herself.
If you are able to, consider using a swing to help her nap, or babywear so you can get some work done.
For the afternoon nap, put her down to sleep in her carseat. Too easy. ;-)
ETA: I used to put the boys in their carseat, and then put the carseat on top of the running clothes dryer. ;-)
I do not think you have an option unless you have someone else bring your child home.
You will just have to do what you can do and let her nap and then place her in the car seat to get your child.Then deal with what may come.
It is just different the more children you have, but you all will adapt.
My friend puts her baby to nap in the car seat when she knows she will have to pick her daughter up from school during the afternoon nap. This way she can easily move the sleeping baby from location home to the car and back.
Try this swinging carrier:
http://www.babymall.com.sg/travel-gear/baby-carriers-slin...
Or this to turn YOUR car seat into a SWING! This was my favorite personally:
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugGlider-Infant-Swing-Frame...
I feel you. I moved 25 minutes away from my older son's preschool, and it is really messing with my baby's naps. But I just have to work around it. I am so amazed at the number of moms and dads at the preschool who leave their babies with a babysitter. I feel like I can neither afford to do that nor do I want to. I have left my baby sleeping in the car in the garage with all the doors open (and obviously, the car off) to allow him to finish his nap, and I just listen for him from the kitchen. I talked to a sleep coach, because baby's nighttime sleep is so bad, and I asked her if it was all my fault because I have a crazy daytime schedule. She made me feel better, she said you just have to do the best you can and try to aim for one crib nap a day. Also, I got the Sleep Sheep to go, which is like a portable white noise machine, that sometimes helps him stay asleep when I have to get him out of the car for drop off or pick up. It clips to the carseat. I also put a blanket over the seat when he is asleep and I am taking him out. It works sometimes.
My kids are 4 years apart.
My younger one, my son, since birth and for the first 5 years, he was a REGULAR napper. On his own.
For the first year of his life, he'd nap 3 times a day.
My daughter was already in Preschool and then Elementary.
So, BEFORE I picked up my daughter, he'd have a nap. Then, AFTER I picked up my daughter from school, he'd nap again as soon as we got home.
My son would routinely nap, for 2 hours.
And he did this, all the way up to about Kindergarten. At which point, he'd nap, after school.
And his naps, were done around my daughter's school start and end times. And it was fine.
My son, regularly napped, at certain times. Which was also according to the school schedule my daughter had per drop off and pick up.
AND my son was not a portable napper. Meaning, he could NOT nap, in a car or in a stroller. He only napped, at home, in his crib.
And it was fine.
I put him down for naps, at regular "scheduled" times, which was per my daughter's school times for drop off and pick up.
Per your baby's afternoon nap, why does it have to be a "motion" nap????
Just put her in the crib.
At 6 months old, a baby typically makes noise/self soothes/and may rustle a bit or babble/make noises... but this does not mean, you have to pick up the baby and rock her/carry her/put her in swing. Just leave her be, in the crib, and let her go back to sleep.
My son was like that from 6 months old... BUT it was his "rhythm" at that age. ie: he'd nap, sorta rustle and make noises in his crib, but he was FINE.... it was not him WAKING waking. It was just, his sleep rhythm. And after doing that, he WOULD go back to sleep on his own. It was not him waking.. and being done with nap, it was just his sleep rhythm. At that age. Because their REM sleep stages are changing. They are 6 months old now. Not 1 month old.
Sleep rhythms vary at that age. And just because they seem... to "wake" intermittently, it does not mean, they are awake awake or need, to be picked up and rocked/carried, etc. I went according to my son's noises and cues. And he'd just sorta 'wake' after falling asleep during his nap, but then, go back to sleep. On his own. If I let him be. But IF he saw me.... he'd then, WAKE wake. And then it was me, disrupting his, nap.
I have a baby around that age and a pick-up (different ones) for 3 other children all throughout the day. So guess what? :) The baby naps at irregular times and whenever, wherever. Never in the crib, just at night for that.
At home, swing.
Out driving, carseat.
I don't worry too much about waking her during the day. I want her to sleep at night.
She always goes back to sleep wherever w/o much trouble if she's really tired.
(Now, when I had a 2 YO who napped and had to wake him, that was tough).
Our son always fell asleep in the car.
Heck if the car ride was more than 10 min he'd be sound asleep by the time we got home just coming home from school.
If you can't shift her afternoon nap a bit, then you can:
1) get someone to watch her when you go pick up from kindergarten or
2) get someone to pick up from kindergarten while you stay home with napping baby or
3) do as you are doing now and just wake her up.
Do you have another parent from class that you could call on to pick up your older child in a situation when baby is sleeping? Maybe you could find someone in a similar situation and kind of trade off. I have a neighbor that does that.
How far are you from the school? Start the walk while the baby is awake. Get your exercise at the same time.
A 6 month old is pretty easy. They go back to sleep in a few hours and make their missed naptime up. I wouldn't worry.
If it really bothers you then perhaps you can pay another mom who has a child in the same class to give your kindergartner a ride home.
I adjusted the nap schedule. I took out the morning nap, and shifted the afternoon naps earlier.
My daughter was 2 1/2 when her brother started kindergarten. She still sometimes took naps. We'd get up at 6:30 to catch the bus at 7:30. She'd have breakfast, play and whatnot until 10 or 11, then take her nap. She'd get up at noon or 1, eat lunch and brother was home at 2:45 or so.
Can you older child just ride the bus home? If so, problem solved.
Can you adjust the time a bit...maybe cut out one of the am naps so the baby will fall asleep right after lunch for an early pm nap and be awake or close to it when you have to pick up older child? Short of riding the bus, this makes the most sense to me.
Can someone (like a neighbor or parent of your child's classmate) bring your older child home...not like they are making a special trip but if they are going anyway....
Can someone sit with your baby while you get your older child?
How much before you leave does your baby start the afternoon nap? If it's towards the beginning then put the baby in the car and let the nap start in the car (you said she needs motion anyway). If it is towards the end of the nap, load her in the car and she may continue to sleep a bit.
Can't she take a s hook,bus? If not, ba y has to be woken up. You do what you have to do. Are there other people I. Your neighborhood with K child? Take turns driving.
My oldest took the bus home so it was not an issue. Can your kindergartener take the bus home?
I have a five month and seven year first grader. My oldest wakes up on her own, about 8, then I get baby up shortly after. We head to school, get back at 9:10 and I play with her till 10:30ish and she takes a 20-30 minute mini nap. Then, I play more with her and she goes down for big 2.5-3 hour nap at 12:30. Then, sometimes she will still be asleep by 3:30, so I get her up to pick up oldest and she usually falls asleep in the car. Sometimes not, though. It took me a while to establish this routine, and it works for us. Some days she will only sleep 2 hours from 8-3, and then she's grumpy, which is understandable. Blessings!
try to get a longer nap in the morning and then the afternoon nap get her up when its time to go. I have never heard of a motion nap. I do get the sleeping in the swing thing but that is not solid sleep. if you put her down for a nap at about noon she should be up again in time to pick up your daughter. it will happen eventually. As far as the crying when you put her in the crib that will stop. it might be easier to do as others said and put her into her car seat but at almost 6 months old she is a little big to sleep a good nap for an extended amount of time. I would just adjust your time in the mornings. and an fyi at my house a 20 min nap was not really a nap lol.
Either let her sleep in the car seat or wake her up - it's always difficult figuring this stage out. My kids rode the bus home, so I would leave a sleeping baby alone and walk the 4 houses up to the bus stop to grab the oldest.
In response to the woman who says she wouldn't want to leave her kid with a babysitter - that is a necessity sometimes. And I think a person watching a sleeping baby is much safer than leaving them in a car in the garage.
Your daughter definitely needs to get her sleep in every day, but you need to tweak her schedule to plan naps around pick up time. We pushed my daughter's nap time back last year to pick up my son from preschool and even later this year because first grade gets out an hour later. My daughter is older, but it's still the same idea.
Nor sure what the timing is for you, but a sample schedule could be short nap around 9:00 a.m. followed by a long nap at 11:30. She is still young enough that she could have a third nap in the late afternoon and not have her nighttime sleep affected too much.
I used to run errands in the morning and mine took her morning nap in the infant carrier. You could do the same. Run your errands in the afternoon so that she sleeps in the carseat and time it so that your trip ends with picking up your oldest from school.
