Keeping Toddler Quiet

I am sure you are getting a wide array of advice, so I'll just toss my 2 cents in. lol

I am in the same boat as you, i have a 5 month old son and 3 1/2 yr old son. To keep him from waking his brother i have done a couple of things. First I make sure the room Mason (my baby) sleeps in has a constant noise. I use a fan.

Also I give him a place to make as much noise as he wants. He knows in his room he can yell, scream, jump around, whatever. If your lil ones room is too close to the baby's make it another room. I sometimes go in there with him and we yell and laugh and jump around. Discipline is sometimes not the answer with this age. They are pushing boundaries, but they also need to know we understand their needs too. Now I find that he does not need to make noise so much. He will tell me shhhh mommy Mason is sleeping. I try to put myself at his level, and understand what he is thinking. Hard sometimes with a three yr old!!

In our situation our lil guy was used to being alone, he was used to being able to do whatever he wanted. Now he is sharing his time and space with another child and I know it has to be hard. We have no family in here so it is just us, I was his playmate and his bestfriend. I try to make sure I am still that, so when I have to spend extra time witha cranky baby I try to spend extra time with him.

One more thing. We started what we call the goodboy jar. I have two canisters, one is bad boy jar, one is the good boy jar. We have these colorful craft ponpoms and when he is a good boy he gets to put some in the good boy jar. When he is bad they go back to the bad boyjar. When the goodboy jar fills up he gets a prize. At first it took a while to understand it, but now he knows what the consequences are if he looses a good boy ball. It has also helped me to remember to acknowledge even the smallest of things he does well.

Hope this helps some.

T.

Do you have a porch or place to go outside? Bring the baby monitor with you and take your toddler outdoors. It's always worked for me...we have a screened in back porch.

I know a lot of people will disagree with this, but it's just one option. I had a 3 yr old boy and a baby also... Boys do not always entertain themselves as easily as girls often do... so they have to BE entertained or be right underfoot. Do you have any short children's video/DVDs? Like Franklin, or Kipper ? Maybe the baby's naptime could become a time for him to have quiet time and watch a short (15 min episode) of Franklin? Then once you have settled the baby you could take him outside or read him a story.
Another idea might be to try and make being quiet into a game. Challenge him to see how quiet he can be, then reward him if he is quiet for 4 minutes.. each time, get him to try to "beat" his previous time in order to win the reward.. (choosing 2 books for you to read to him,or whatever)..
My son is and always has been a very sensitive child and VERY aware of where my attention is directed. It was not until he was closer to 4 or 5 that he began really being able to play alone. Believe it or not, playdoh is something he could do alone for the longest.
Good luck.

IT'S REALLY GOOD THAT YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY IGNORING THE CHILD! I DON'T AGREE WITH THAT RESPONSE. THE CHILD COULD BE TELLING YOU SOMETHING OF HEALTH OR IMPORTANCE AT SOME POINT AND I AM GLAD YOU ARE ATTENTIVE.

Try to remember that he is only doing what kids his age do. He knows that there is a baby in your arms and he is jealous. He doesn't understand that he is growing up and that means, he will move farther from being cradled in those mothers arms and closer to more hugs instead. You may just have to bear with this, and have him sit near you so you can stroke his head with your other hand. Try letting him sit on your lap and reading him a story while you try to get the baby to sleep. Try laying a mat or blanket on the floor and lay down with the two of them and he may feel a part of the sleep attention given to the baby, a nap would probably be good for him to at that time. Just remain gentle and patient and remember, he is just a little 3 year old boy.
Good luck.
Jen

At three, he is very capable of understanding what you want him to do and is also fully aware of the consequences, which must be no big deal to him, or they are too inconsistent. He will only do what works, remember that when disciplining him. At this point, before the baby needs to go to sleep, I would sit down with him and talk to him about listening to mommy and always obeying what mommy says. Make up silly scenarios like, "what is a boy's mommy said no pizza in the bathtub? what woudl happen if the boy took his pizza in the bathtub even when his mommy said no? Do you think that boy would be in trouble? I think his mommy would put him in a time out ( or spanking or whatever punishment you see fit for disobedience)." Explain to him different times a child woudl be punished for not listening and then end the conversation with a situation where the boy listened even though he didn't want to and his mommy was so happy and they read a book together and had a special snack together, just hte two of them. Then talk about the noisiness when his mommy is trying to put the baby to sleep. Tell him," We have a new rule, when your mommy is trying to put baby to sleep, you must be very quiet. You can go find two books to read and as soon as the baby is alseep, we will have a special snack and read the books as a reward for good listening. If you don't listen, you will not get a book and will not get to have the special snack. You will even have to have a time out in your room all by yourself. I don't want to see you in time out, I want to share a snack with you and a book, so lets work together to be very quiet so baby can sleep and we can have our special secret time to have a snack and a book. It helps to prepare the snack with him before you have to put the baby down, then make sure it is out of reach, get the books ready, have him constantly focusing on the reward. The first few times he cooperates, you need to make a very big deal about it, whispering, havign a special little party. Letting him watch his favorite shows, etc. Eventually, you will just be able to tell him, it's quiet time, I need to put the baby down, go find a book and we will make a snack when she's asleep. Good Luck.

have u tried completely ignoring it?

I had the same problem with my son, but the more I told him to be quiet so his brother could sleep the more he shouted and made noise because he thought it was funny.. how about putting on TV while you get your daughter to sleep or sit him in his cahir at the table with some book or a snack.. this worked for me.. and I stopped making a big deal about his brother going to sleep..

Good Luck... it's hard with two little ones close in age..