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Hmm that's tough. I actually manipulated the baby's sleep so that she got up earlier, and in turn napped earlier. So she naps at 8 and we go out between the end of that nap and lunch. I also pushed my toddlers nap back just a bit so they both nap at 1 in the afternoon. Double naps were definitely worth the maneuvering! Haha

@aprild: We had this problem as well. Playdates would have been really hard, as was preschool drop off for my oldest. We just decided it was worth the sacrifice to let her get up at 6 every day. It works well for us because our son is up by then usually too.

@aprild: I'm sure I'm going to be in this situation soon and I'm not looking forward to it! My toddler has been acting like she's going to drop her nap soon so that would be one small silver lining. I really hope I can line up naps like mrs. Lion.

I worked hard to get LO2 to nap at the same time. He always woke by 6 and would be ready for a nap at 8:30 or 9 and it was just a short one. Then we could do 10 am playdates and get back home for lunch and nap for both of them around 1. This way they can go to bed and wake up earlier. Maybe a better alternative for you would be to delay the morning nap so it somewhat overlaps your old lo's naps or just have the morning nap happen on the go, in the car or stroller?

@MamaBehr: my friend with three (4th on the way) did the same thing.

Let the youngest maybe have a small cat nap and then she napped in the afternoon with the big kids.

@aprild: it is tough at that age! I think my younger one was closer to a year before I could consistently get the nap schedule down. At that age we either made sure to drive far enough for a decent car nap or had playdates at our house and had the older kids play away from the baby. I still think it's a life saver to get the second nap aligned with your older lo. Good luck! It is a challenge!

@aprild: how old our your kids and how long is the youngest napping for each nap?

That's tough! I manipulated my 7mo's schedule to get a double afternoon nap. DD wakes up at about 6 and naps at 8 for an hour or two, then a other nap at 1. DS naps from 12:30-2:30 so I have an overlap. Then sometimes DD needs a 3pm catnap to get to her 6:30 bedtime. She's essentially on a 2-3-4 schedule, but I tweak it to get a double nap. We just lost the ease of napping on the go too.

I would try to wake up the baby half an hour earlier so that they go down at 9am and are up by 1030am. Then I would push the older child's nap until 1pm, which seems feasible since he's been fighting naps anyway. That should give you a 2.5 hour window for playdate and lunch before the older kid needs a nap. Baby's PM nap would then get bumped up to 2:30pm.

If need be, I would cut the baby's nap short and wake them at 10am on a playdate day and then they should be ready to go down even earlier for the PM nap (say 2pm) and you might benefit from a double nap for at least an hour. Or you can wake the baby an hour early on a playdate day and have them go down by 830am and have a full nap until 10am. Then they would be ready to go down for a PM nap a 2pm.

I just have to say I loooooove reading about all of you who have successfully achieved the double nap! That is so awesome, and my dream for a future LO #2! (Hopefully LO #1 is still napping then!)

I don't have two LOs so forgive me for trying to advise on something I don't know personally! But will LO #2 nap in the car seat if you are in the car? Maybe you could do a car nap from 9-10 and then do the second nap for both at 1.

@aprild: Did you consider pushing LO1's nap later? 12:30 seems so early for us as LO1 doesn't typically go down for nap until 1:30 at home, sometimes 2 depending on his AM wake time. He naps from 1-3 at daycare.