How can I make more time for my eldest after school?

[Lauren8642]

I’m struggling with finding time for my first now I’ve got a second baby.
My eldest is 5 and I have a 6 nearly 7 month old. My daughter goes to school 8:45-3:15 weeks normally get home around 4 if we walk or 3:30 if we drive.
Then pretty much from the moment we walk through the door I’m busy trying to get my youngest to nap constantly running up and down stairs to put her dummy in (she likes to chew on it and spit it out) cooking tea and then we eat at 5pm then tidy up bath and bed. I feel like my eldest is left on her own from the moment we get home I miss doing puzzles with her, drawing etc but I don’t know how to manage my evening better.

Maybe have your baby in a moses basket/baby bouncer downstairs? Then you could spend some time with your eldest one while little one naps?? Or put the baby in the pushchair in the other room?? I used to have my baby in the pram in the kitchen and toddler in the other room with me.

@shellyleppard she doesn’t fit in her Moses basket anymore. I thought about doing the pram as she just doesn’t settle in her bed for her last nap and ends up overtired, I’ll give that a go tomorrow

Baby won't be doing a post 3.30 nap for much longer I would have thought? Once it's morning nap and after lunch at least you won't be trying to keep a baby asleep!

@FizzyOranges were go with the flow with naps but she tends to stay awake for 2-2.5 hours but she literally won’t sleep past 2:30pm
(but she definitely needs it) so our day today went
woke at 6:30
nap 9:05-11:25 (normally doesn’t nap this long)
nap 2:00-2:30pm
then I tried to get her to sleep at 4:30 whilst multitasking doing tea but no chance I gave up in the end leaving a very unhappy baby when it came to her eating tea and bed time

@Lauren8642 good luck x

Can you batch cook at the weekend /during the day so dinner is an issue of just reheating? Or use a slow cooker?

Does your DD have any of that stuff upstairs? You can do jigsaws/colouring/reading in her room and it would be easier and closer to resettle the baby.

You mentioned getting home at 3.30 if you walk - now the weather is getting better would it be possible to walk to school, pick eldest up, go to a park or something and then come home i.e. have baby in sling for an hour hopefully napping during 3-4? Then you can get home around 4, 30 mins play with both in a good mood and start tea 4.30 or whatever.