Hi everyone,
I am a big fan oft the structured routine BW can bring. It was a succes with our now 2 years and 3 months old toddler, however we hardly ever managed to put him to sleep using shh-pat (believe me we tried). We didn't manage to remove AP (using a stroller) for falling asleep for naps and BF in the night. At some point we got there but he was well past 1 year old before he fell asleep on his own.
Now, we have a 5 weeks old baby who is also being breastfed. I try to get him on a 3 hour routine but he prefers to eat every 2 hours or every 2,5 hours. So far I have used babywearing for naps most of the time, simply because it's handy when you want to go to the playground with the toddler and he is not great with walking for a long time on his own. And because the wrap worked so well I also used it for other naps or he just falls asleep in our arms.
So, the situation is this: My boyfriend has to work from home because of corona and we only have a small apartment. We have a toddler who is making a lot of noise, walking in and out of the room, asking questions and doing things he shouldn't do. So, I have to keep an eye on the toddler so he doesn't disturb my boyfriend while working (video calls ec.) which means I have to go after him while trying to put the baby to sleep.
I have tried to get the baby to sleep using shh-pat a couple of times but it is really hard in this situation. He only fell asleep once using shh-pat and woke up again after 10 minutes. The other times I was disturbed by the toddler or I had to give up after more than an hour because the baby was so overtired by then and hungry.
In comparison it's so easy to use babywearing to get him to sleep (but not a long term solution of course). I try to put him into bed after he falls asleep (apart from when I'm out).
But it's really hard to introduce shh-pat for sleeping and I'm doubting if I'm too early because he is only 5 weeks old or because if it's the situation that makes it even more difficult? Sometimes I feel like giving up and using accidental parenting / babywearing because I might otherwise go nuts.
Any recommendations how to keep motivated? I know shh-pat is a long time investment which would pay off eventually but I just don't know how to get it done in this particular situation.
My toddler is at the créche once or twice a week so I could try to focus on these days...
Hope someone will have some advice for me!
Dorit