Overwhelmed

[Guest]

HI, I am new to the forum and am happy I found this place. I am at home mommy, able to take my 2 children to the YMCA to work at nursery with me. This has been working out great my 6 month old DD has been able to nap in the stroller at 10 without a problem and I had a routine going well. My DS 3 years old has also enjoyed this as he is able to play with the other children. I do this T, W Th 9-11:15. I had planned to begin adding more teaching moments into our day when school started as my husband and I decided to teach DS at home for now. My sister in law a single mom going to school asked me to watch her son 14 months old. Of course I agreed. The state is going to pay me to watch him.

She drops him off when its convenient for her. Sometimes at the Y and sometimes not till 11. So I am having a hard time with my routine.

Napping is hard too. How do you it with three of them? My DS is recently scared of that I am leaving and wants to be with me when he is going to sleep. With my DD I can just most of the time lay her down. But nephew needs to be laid with. Mom says he takes a bottle, but he has not for me. I have tried to put him in a pack in play and let me cry it out and have patted it bottom while laying next to him. Which has worked but when I get up to leave he sometimes wakes up. Each of them wake up an hour after they have been asleep so I am just rotating around the rooms at nap with no break of my own. On Thur she has class till 9:50 and its at least 45 min away. So I have suggested he just stay over night. They other nights he should be her till about 6. I do not give him another nap, even though he is ready around 4-5 I feel that is too late. I want him in bed between 8-9 like my other children. DD takes a nap 3 or 4. I am going to start working nights 4:30 - 8 on mondays. My DH will pick up the children when he gets home.

I am overwhelmed that I am taking on to much and it is not fair to my children. How am I suppose to work with DS on school things? or play and interact with both the toddler and my baby. I feel that I am running around with my head cut off. How do I schedule my day? Let alone get house work done. How do I talk to her? I want to know what I am doing everyday, I would like to work on age appropriate things with each of the children.

I wanted to stay home to be with my children and have them comfortable not crazy busy. I asked DS if he wanted to go to school with other kids he stated he wanted to stay home and learn with me. Please help.. I need a friend and another mom who has been where I am. Thank you and GOD BLESS.

[kendallina]

It sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders. I would also be frustrated about the difficulty in scheduling when your nephew sometimes comes early and other times not until 11?? That must be difficult. It's not fair to you to not know what to expect, you really should talk to her about it. You're doing her a huge favor and if she really respects what you're doing, then she'll understand. Also, many daycares will require that she be consistent with her drop-off times, or at least give you a week's advance notice. It's not fair to you or him, as neither of you know what to expect for the day.

As for the naps, unfortunately I have no advice. I don't have kids here for naptime, but I'm sure someone else will be able to help.

I wish you luck and I really hope that you're able to talk with your sister-in-law.
Katy

[Lilbutterflie]

Yes, I definitely see how that can be overwhelming! I agree with kendallina, the best thing for you and the children would be to have her drop off and pick up at consistent times. It's hard to get any of the kids back on a napping schedule if every day the schedule is different.
As far as napping, 14 months is a transitional age. Both of my children transitioned to one 2-3 hr nap each day after lunch by this age, but I know that sometimes they are not ready for this. I would try to get the 14 mo on the same napping schedule as your 3 yr old. All of my daycare kids are on the same napping schedule (my youngest is 2), and they all sleep in the same room. You also could try a routine before naptime. Our routine is to eat lunch, clean up, read stories, then naptime. Some daycare providers provide white noise or lullaby music during nap, I don't b/c generally all the kids do well at naptime. I would NOT give him a bottle inside the pack and play. I would pat his bottom for a while, and if he won't go to sleep let him cry it out for 5-10 minutes. Then pat his bottom again to calm him down, and they usually go to sleep by then. Be consistent, and stick to a routine, and you will see results in no time! Hope it gets better real soon for you.