Napping with Two Kids

My girls are very similar aged to your kids. My baby takes a moderate nap in the am and then takes her most substantial nap while my toddler naps. For us, that works fantastic because they are normally awake at the same time for a little while in the am and the afternoon. That allows us to get out more (which is good for me), but still allows them to both get the sleep they need. My baby takes another nap just before dinnertime which allows me a little more 1:1 with my toddler.

Sounds like how my boys were at that age. Around 3-4 months baby's longer afternoon got shorter and shorter. At 6 months it turned to 2 solid naps.
If he's happy enough then it's not bad for him, lots of babies do the catnap thing.
One thing I did have to do with my younger one (from the beginning) was use white noise, it helped him sleep and kept me from nagging my older son to be quiet all the time. :-)
It's harder with the 2nd one, they sleep so much so it's hard to plan everyone's life around that.
For me, I made sure he had his first nap while we were at home and he wouldn't get interrupted and that we had that solid afternoon block. Inbetween was whenever he could get some sleep in.

Really there is no way. I am a daycare provider and I have all my little toddlers that nap at noon and my 7 month old will be awake. How can I get things done, I ask her as she smiles a huge grin. Children will have a variety of mixed sleeping habit and unfortunately it is the hardest to change. My 7 month old will take little cat naps all day and one good nap for about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours. I know this does not help but, maybe reorganize your duties around your babies sleeping.

My girls are 14.5 months apart and the second one never did take naps like big sister did. She was down to one nap by 11 months. I tried for an entire week letting her cry for an entire hour when she should have been napping and then gave up. I think with an older sibling, they are simply too distracted. I, personally, have found that I like that they both take a really good nap in the afternoon!

Briefly:

Every child is different in sleep needs and patterns. I had a night owl and and early bird. Drove me crazy. Your youngest is doing what is right for him.

From how I read this it sounds like your 2 yr old and 3m old sleep at the same time for the big nap? I guess I fail to see the problem with both kids napping at the same time! Sounds great to me. The infant naps start to even out around the 6m mark, anyway they did in our case. As long as they are getting enough sleep it doesn't matter much what times it's happening.

Every person is different. Let your baby follow his/her own sleep pattern. How can you complain when you have a tiny baby who lets you sleep all night.

I had a similar situation when my nany was born. He didn't sleep through the night until 6 months though. 4 weeks is crazy!!!! That might be making the difference. Anyway, I started putting the baby down for a nap at the same time in the afternoon as my 2 year old when he was about 3 months old. The three of us would read 2 books together, sing a song and say our good nights. (The same routine every day) The baby watched me put my 2 year old in his crib and say good night. I then brought the baby in his room, said good night and put him down. This has been our little schedule for 6 months now! They both nap from 2pm until 4:30 pm! It gives me much needed time to rest of get things done. This did not work over night though. I had to keep going in the baby's room and picking him up, soothing him and putting him back down. It took about a week or two to get them on the same schedule.
If the baby had his drothers, he would nap at 12:30 or so rather than 2pm, but he has adjusted well. He also still takes a morning nap. Again, I pretty much told him when he could nap. He has to wait until after I drop my, now 3 year old, at preschool. By making him wait until 9:30 each morning, he now sleeps for anywhere from hour to an hour and a half. He's gotten used to this schedule and it has made my life so much easier!
Good luck!

Hi S.!
I have 3 kids...5, 3 and almost 2. Let me tell ya, when I had my second I was lucky to get any napping. I just believe that you will drive yourself batty trying all ways to get your second to nap. I fianlly learned that I couldn't adjust my kid's schedules for sleeping, I just had to go with the flow bc sometimes it turned out ugly! LOL!
It's very frustrating but just take a deep breath and go with it. You don't need to have stess added onto it all. Good luck!
HUGS!
K. :0)

It sounds like your 3 month old is sleeping like a champ. What's the problem? All children have different sleep patterns. If your baby seems to be happy and thriving on a couple of catnaps and then one long nap, I really don;t see a problem at all, just because it's different from what your first did. It sounds like the baby gets plenty of deep sleep if he sleeps all through the night plus a 3 hour nap. Really, don;t worry. And I wouldn;t try to schedule your baby too much. Let him nap when he's tired, not when you want him to. Napping starts to regulate itself more naturally anyway around 6 months or after. Be thankful for what you have. You'll figure out how to "get things done" - you just have to shift your thinking as to what is possible to get done with two now. It's more challenging than with one, and yes, your house will be a little messier, and you will probably find that you;re doing more chores at night after they go to bed than you did before, but that's just how it is.

I have to say I only wish I were in your situation- my second is still not sleeping through the night at 19 months and my first has not napped at all in a year. So be happy, believe me, be happy.