I had to do this when I was pregnant too. I set some rules for my DD1 (who was 3.5 at the time) like explaining the difference between "naughty" and "mischief" (naughtiness makes mummy cross and takes a long time to tidy up, mischief makes mummy laugh and is easy to tidy up; one loo roll unwound is probably mischief, 3 is naughtiness, etc!). But just to make sure, with my imaginative daughter (!), I napped in the same room as her, or adjacent with the door open. She usually woke me after 20-30 minutes. She even mopped the kitchen floor once though! And she often brought me a cup of water at the end of the nap. I think as long as she's in a "safe" room and you can hear if anything goes wrong, and she's happy, then its fine.

Ok my honest opinion, I would never leave a child unsupervised especially a child under 5. No matter how safe you feel their environment is there are things that even the most cautious person can't prevent such as choking, accidental fire etc.

I understand that you are tired and feel that you need a nap, in this circumstances I would arrange for the older child to go to a playgroup/nursery/childminder for the afternoon then you can nap with your youngest in the knowlegde that your elder child is safe. I also understand that these places cost money therefore may not be an option, so maybe you could arrange a playdate for your elder child a couple of days a week with a friends child.

I hope my honest opinion hasn't offended you and by no means do I think you are a bad person for doing this, I do however feel you need some support at this time and that maybe you should talk to your partner and friends to see if they can help in any way.

You are not the only one who does that. I call it quiet time in my house, momma needs quiet time. And it's also good for the child, it helps them to settle down and they grow independently too. Don't be so hard on yourself!

It is NOT bad to do this!! My husband and I do this just so we could have some quiet time on the weekends when everyone is home. It is good practice for kids to know how to play quietly in their room and become centered. They need to "recharge" even if they don't take a nap. Plus, if you get your daughter gets used to this time, you can have time alone with your baby when your baby comes - this isn't always easy to do with baby #2 (or any baby after the 1st!)

If im to be honest i think  if the child is happy playing and cant in any way hurt theirselfs i dont see there being a problem .

Emz

i think we all do this from time to time pregnant or not lol my son is 18 mnths and i cant even use the phone while hes up instead i tire him out all morning even moved his bathtime just to get an extra half an hr and as my bf will tell you i purposly forget his pj's to delay his bedtime after a non nap day im making sure all goes to plan the day after at 28 wks preg 1 bad days about all i can tk, at first i felt guilty about forcing nap time but by the time we gt through the morning hes asking to go nap now and i find hes more co-operative with his nap and learns more a grumpy child and paint time didnt work well believe me lol

hugs jo xxx

my mum used to tell me stories of how she could leave me in the cot with one toy and i would play in there for hours on end. if kids are happy and not in danger there is no problem. IT'S FINE!!!! you are not being a bad mother by puting your kid in a playroom for a bit!!! doesn't everyone do that???? go have a bath or put your feet up and read a book. pregnant woman have the RIGHT to relax whenever they feel like it except whilst operating machinary (tv remote and blender to make some exotic combination smoothie that only a pregnant woman would find apetising do not count) ::)'s from becca!

If she is happy and she is away from dangerous objects then don't beat yourself up about it :) It's hard enough just being pregnant without a toddler to look after!

My front door is deadlocked, my bathroom is child proof, my kitchen is inaccessable, and the house is completely childproof with cabnet locks, VCR locks, power socket plus, clipsal safety switch, smoke alarm etc and I have 2 little ones who I leave to watch ABC kids and play with their toys while I nap (they are 3 and 4). I have been doing this for a long time and I have never had a problem. I am also pregnant, 15 weeks, and very isolated where I am with no help from familiy or friends. If I didn't do this I would not be able to get through the day since hubby works from 6am-11pm at 2 jobs with 1 hour that i see him at 3.30-4.30pm!

Having said this however it really DOES depend on the child. If she is happy to play in her room then thats probably ok. If your locking her in there it's probably not a good idea incase something did happen and she couldn't come to you. For example my dear 4 year old decided the other day to eat a 20 cent piece. This wasn't done on purpose, he found it outside and was putting it in his mouth and GULP! If got stuck. He came staggering in and luckily I knew first aid and with one big bang on his back while yelling COUGH COUGH it came up and it scared the POOP outta me and him. Now if this was to happen while I slept he may not have lived. Scary YES! Luckily I know there is no money or small things lying around inside but it really is a risk you have to decide if you want to take or not.

Either way I don't judge you because I do it! I hope you find the solution. It is hard not knowing how old your daughter is. Maybe you could leave your bedroom door open and hers and close the rest of the house off. Just make sure there is nothing for her to stand on to open doors!

hiya, i did this with my sson, when he was younger and i was preg and just after my daughter was born, but i would fear something happening, SO what i did was put a movie on, lie on the couch, put your oldest on the couch too and let her(or him) watch a movie. i put them in what i call my "pocket" which is you know when you lie on the couch and you slighty bend your knees up there is a gap behind your legs put her in there, works a treat, gave me an hour to rest,

i have done this on many accasions. my kids are 4 and 6 and they know not to answer the phone or the door or touch the door. they play together well and i can put a heap of movies on or tv shows like dora and they sit there and watch it. if they have a problem they wake me up.

if you feel your child is ok with this then do it as you need rest too or you a not good to look after them. i have found this out.

my advice is make sure your house is well locked up so they cant get out at all including back doors. all sharps are out of reach and there is food and drink for them.

You don't say how old your daughter is, but I will assume between 1 and 4.  You could get a child safety gate to put over the door so that she will stay in the room while you have your rest.  You could put the tele on for her, or even get her to have some quiet time beside you with her books.

You need your rest, and as long as the house is secured so she can't escape (a very good point Dannii made in her comment) then there is no reason for you to not have your naps.

If you had a futon couch, you could even fold it out and both have a nap there together.  That's what we do here, but we have safety gates on just about every door! lol.  Our own private gated community!

hey sorry if my comment is offenceive but the only reason i say its not good because i know soembody who has had a bad experience..While they were sleeping there twins got out walked two blocks away and lucky an old lady found them and took them to the police station.I just think its lucky a good person found them not a bad person.This person also had a bad experience when one of her twins got in the clothes dyer and the other one turned it on...yes you need your rest but try and keep the kids in the same rooma s you and make sure there is nothing that tehy can get into that may be harmful and keep doors locked.

Hard for me to say really because if it is a bad thing then I have been guilty of it.. Right up until the time he went all silent on me and got out of his room (by climbing the child gate). Thankfully he came to wake me up.   But there have been a few times of late in the morning I would wake up and find him playing with the dog, and the other morning I woke up to him eating chocolate at the dinner table for breakfast...

The only sollution to that is that now I set an alarm for 6am so that I know that I will be awake or at least semi awake for when he wakes.... 

But I could not take a nap unless I actually take a nap with him in his bed these days so that I get an automatic wake up from him...

I would say you may need some kind of warning system for yourself so that you know when your child has decided that she is independent enough to explore the house with out mummy around...

I am not saying what you do is a bad thing, I am just giving you a warning as to what happened to me. I am lucky nothing happened, and I understand how hard it is... Maybe you could try napping in her room with her...

My son stopped naps at 2, and I fell pregnant soon after.  During the last semester, I would give him something quiet to do - watch a video or read a book and I would lie down.  Sometimes I nodded off, but not all the time and I would stay in teh same room as him.  It is not an ideal situation, but teh concern is their safety - as long as they are safe and occupied I guess it is not bad. 

You may have the same issues when the baby is born and you are feeding and settling them.  That is when my son would act up - and paint the lounge room blue, or scatter rice cereal all over the house.  So you become adept at juggling and occupying an oder child before you start something.  Hope that helps!