2 under two - naps

[Biebs88]

I have a 2yo boy and 2 month old girl. Toddler refuses to nap but wee one needs her naps but gets woken up by toddler constantly. It's okay in the mornings as were usually out and about and she'll sleep on the go but moments when it's the three of us in the house she get so frustrated cause she can't sleep. Atm she naps on me or in her bouncer in the living room.
In her cot would ideally be the best place to be but that's upstairs. How do I make time to get my dd down when there's also a very active 2yo running around?

Desperate for some advice!

Carriers are great for having an ability to do things for your toddler while also keeping the baby happy.
Involve your toddler in the baby’s nap routine by making him a helper.
Limit how long you work on a nap with your baby. If she’s not asleep in 20-30 minutes, get her up and try again 30 minutes later. Your toddler needs your attention, too.
In a few months time, work on overlapping at least one nap between your baby and toddler’s schedule. For example, your baby may sleep at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m., so target your toddler’s nap to be 1 p.m. If your children already nap in a shared room and it works that’s fine, but if not then think about unused rooms for napping. My friend had her youngest nap in the bathroom with the loudest fan so her sleep wouldn’t be disturbed.
For those times when your toddler doesn’t need a nap, the trick is to be very clear on your expectations with him so he knows what to expect. Also, make clear consequences if he breaches those expectations. If you keep him busy he won’t go messing with the baby.
You might need to teach your toddler to play by himself. Put him wherever you’ve decided play time should be, give him an egg timer, and assure him you’ll return when the timer is up. When the timer is up, thank him for playing by himself like a big boy and reward him by either joining in with his play or reading a story. Expect some resistance at first because no one likes change. It might be a good idea to get a few new toys so that there is something special to begin this process. You could save some toys that he is only able to play with during alone play time. This will help keep it fresh and exciting.

@Biebs88 following this! Currently have a very energetic 2yo DS and a DD due in a few weeks so anything on here will be helpful for me too!

You sound like a superstar x

I had no choice but to put ds2 upstairs from 8 weeks. He couldn’t sleep downstairs with ds1 and was getting hysterically overtired and I was snapping at ds1 for being a normal toddler and making a normal amount of noise.

Obviously not recommended but I had a video monitor, no toys or blankets in his cot and went in to check on him every 10 mins or so. That was the only way ds2 got any sleep. I was lucky that ds2 was happy to be put down awake and would go to sleep himself. If not would the baby be able to be rocked to sleep in a sling then transferred to cot?

We were out pretty much every day all day till DC2 was 1! Then she suddenly developed the ability to sleep in her cot in the day.

Sometimes it worked to go for a brief walk and she would then stay asleep in the buggy if I wheeled it in.