3 month old and toddler - naps

[Lijay1]

How does/did anyone get their younger baby to nap before they can go in a room alone when you had a toddler making so much noise?
We do some naps on the go so the 3 month old sleeps well in his pram but any naps I do at home are hopeless. The baby used to just sleep through the noise but now he's getting more social he wakes up and is then cranky.
I've been using TV to keep my 2 yo quiet but I'm really feeling guilty about this now and told myself it was only temporary... But I'm still using it 12 weeks on and I don't want my 2 yo to get too used to it. Did anyone decide to allow naps alone for a baby under 6 months? Or felt that was too much risk for a nap? Btw I'm not thinking about doing that yet but just thinking maybe in a month or two.

Go somewhere in the morning e.g. toddler class, running errands, playground etc. and baby can have their first nap on the way there in the pram and their second on the way back. After lunch I’d aim for them to nap together. Then baby can have their last nap whilst toddler watches some TV.

Also, I know baby will be overstimulated by noise when falling asleep but are they bothered once deeply asleep? So if you can’t be bothered to get out sometimes then could you put baby down in the pram in the living room, put the TV on low for the toddler and once baby’s asleep then wheel them to the opposite end if the room, turn the TV off and let the older one play. So that’ll just be 10 mins of TV whilst baby is settling not an hour covering the entire duration of the nap.

As for baby in a separate room, totally your choice, but the SIDS risk does reduce a lot at 4 months old, so if you’re not going to wait the full 6 months I would at least try to make it to 4 months.

For me, any guilt around TV pales in comparison to the potential risk of SIDS, minimal though it is. To be honest, naps with my two (exactly two years apart) were a nightmare. I had to go for walk/drive at nap time or accept that the baby was going to suffer and the afternoon be hell. It got easier at around a year old when I could leave the toddler playing downstairs while I got the baby to sleep, but before then it was just a case of making the best if a had situation.

This is really hard if your second missed the memo about getting used to the noise of the eldest in utero and blithely sleeping through it. Will baby sleep in a sling or carrier? I found that helped because although they still stirred, it was much easier to resettle them in the sling.

Are there any quiet games or toys your 2 year old likes that could become (mostly) reserved for nap times? Sticker books, magic drawing, brio, duplo, den with cuddly toys and a torch?

Background music or an audio book might also help, smooth out the noise for baby.

White noise, in baby carrier and hood. Pacing around kitchen/living room while toddler watches tv and does stickers. Its exhausting.

Thank you for the replies! I guess it's a case of suck it up and let baby be cranky by the afternoon. We go out every morning so he has a decent first nap at least. He got the memo about sleeping through noise for the first 11 weeks of his life but has now decided he needs to know what's going on. Getting fomo probably.
Good to know that at around the year mark I should be able to get toddler to play downstairs for a while and put baby to sleep. I also have an almost exactly 2 year gap.

Re the sling advice, he will sleep happily in a sling unless I kneel/sit down he then wakes immediately. Not ideal when my 2 year old wants me to play cars/tractors/trains on the floor with him.

I will try putting some music on though, that's a shout. I'll also try the pram in the front room. Thank you

What do you mean a risk? Our baby went into their own room at 7weeks for all sleep and naps as they were too noisy in their sleep for us!

What country are you posting from? In England the NHS guidance is to sleep in the same room as baby for all sleep for 6 months. To reduce the risk of SIDS. Apparently hearing their parents breathing helps regulate theirs.

Honestly, yes, I put her in another room for a lot of naps when we wish year a 2yo. Not upstairs but a different room downstairs so I could keep an eye, but with some peace for her.

She didn't get the memo about ignoring noise. Believe me, we tried! By 3w old, she couldn't fall asleep/feed, if I had the TV on. We went to see relatives at that age and I haf to go out if the room to settle her because she needed quiet.

As a toddler she was so noise sensitive that even with white noise on, she'd often wake if someone even dared open a kitchen cupboard downstairs (her room was above).

Now aged 5, due to a long spell in hospital etc finally did get her used to noise, she's better. But if they is ANY noise in the house or unexpected changes in lighting etc from 5:15am, then she'll wake for the day. We try but not go to the loo after this time or she'll wake. If we keep things steady then she'll sleep for at least an extra hour.