Help with preschool schedule & baby's napping

[Urowife]

My daughter's preschool schedule is from 12:30pm-3pm. This year, she goes on Tue/Thu and next year it will be M/W/F. Right now, the baby naps before preschool in the morning and then after preschool in the late afternoon. It generally works, although he's usually ready for the afternoon nap around 2:30, but I can't put him down until 3:15 or 3:30 after we get home from picking up DD. But, it's generally doable.

However, I know his schedule is going to change and he'll drop the morning nap and then he'll probably want to nap during her preschool. The problem is that by the time we get home from dropping her off it's 12:45pm, which means he probably won't be asleep until 1pm. Then, I have to wake him by 2:45pm to go pick DD up. So, that's not even a 2 hour nap. Now, I know babies change all the time, but he generally likes to take long naps. So, when he drops down to one nap a day, I'm sure he'll be napping for at least 2 hours, if not even longer. To make matters more difficult, my DD wants to go to preschool everyday (not just MWF), so that would be our routine every day starting in Sept.

Ok, if you've kept reading, thank you. I need opinions and ideas. Should I just make the baby only nap for 1.75 hours everyday? Should I try to find a babysitter to watch the baby everyday for an hour while I go pick up DD (when he'll likely be sleeping)? I thought about trying to have one of the other kids at preschool bring DD home, but there is really only one person who could do it and they might be moving this summer (also, how do you do carpools with carseats, etc.? She has a Hundai Santa Fe and two kids in carseats, so adding DD would mean 3 carseats across the back). I thought about trying to get a neighborhood high schooler to babysit, but it's kind of an awkward time because I don't think they are getting home from school until 3 or so. We don't really have college students in the area either.

Thanks for reading and for any ideas that I may not have thought of. I don't really have anyone IRL to bounce ideas off of. When I talk to DH about things like this, his eyes glaze over.

[Pollyanna]

I wish I could tell you that you can preserve the nap for the second child but...
The reality is your sweet little guy will likely fall asleep in the car in the way home from the drop off. If he is a sound sleeper he may transfer to his bed (I've never had one do that). He may stay awake a d then when it's time to leave for pick up you will be standing over his crib willing him to wake up and be happy and not hungry because there is no time for a snack. I'm sorry, it's just hard once you have someone in school. If you can find someone willing to help for one hour per day that would be great. A typical high schooler won't be available at that time however (unless they homeschool). Your best bet would be to either drop off earlier or pick up later (does your preschool have that option?)

[Urowife]

Thanks - I realize that this is likely going to be the reality, I just haven't come to terms with it yet

I also had the idea to hire a part-time nanny for the afternoons, so that I could run errands, go to appointments, volunteer at DD's school, etc. during that time. But, I know that would be expensive, and I'm having trouble justifying that cost. And, most likely, I'd be spending those afternoons wasting time on the internet anyway.... I sometimes get grandiose ideas of how I could spend those 2.5 hours while DD's at school, but when it comes down to it, I just want to vege.

[HouseofWool]

I would talk to the other mom's in the group and see if you can car pool. Is there someone who's kid you can take and then they can bring both home, or vice versa?

[Urowife]

Definitely considering this. Any ideas on how to handle the carseat issue? I would not want to install a car seat twice a day. As of right now, there is only one person I would consider doing this with, and they might have to move this summer (military). So, we'll see.

[SuzySunshine]

If its a regular car pool I'd buy a second seat and suggest the other mom do the same b/c you're right you're not going to want to move them back and forth. We went through this with R and still do every few days but he just had to be flexible because being new to the area we didn't know anyone we could carpool with.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Is it possible for her to go full-day but less frequent? (3x but all day)?

[Urowife]

If its a regular car pool I'd buy a second seat and suggest the other mom do the same b/c you're right you're not going to want to move them back and forth. We went through this with R and still do every few days but he just had to be flexible because being new to the area we didn't know anyone we could carpool with.

Will keep this in mind. It does seem like the best option.

[Urowife]

Is it possible for her to go full-day but less frequent? (3x but all day)?

Unfortunately, no, not at this preschool. I actually like the schedule, aside from the napping issue. She's the kind of kid who wants constant interaction or at least things to do. So, I'd love a break from that everyday. And, it would be a nice warm up to all-day kindergarten the next year.