Tuesday, February 26, 2008

the queen of the nile bed

At almost 4 months old, Chloe is still sleeping with us in our bed. I know, I know, AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), this is something you seriously frown upon, but at this stage in life, it's the easiest and most convenient way to do things. I do, however, intend to transition her into a crib as soon as we transition Britten into a big girl bed in Ella's room. As I lay in bed last night, wide awake at 4:00am, having been woken up for the third or fourth time by cramped limbs, I realized this transition needs to happen sooner versus later. As I watched my sweet baby sleep, as peaceful as can be, I thought to myself, how on earth can a 14 lb. baby take up over half of a California king-sized bed? So, alas, the days of co-sleeping with my baby will soon be over. For as much as I'll miss her warm little body next to mine (and the convenience of nursing in bed), I know a good night sleep is in order. I guess we'll just wait and see how she feels about it!

If anyone has any recommendations about how to get a toddler and preschooler to successfully share a room, by all means, PLEASE send them my way!

6 comments:

Kim said...

Oh man, you dont know how much I am with you here!
Landen doesn't sleep with us, well what I should say is Landen get's up in the middle of the night, climbs up in our bed and snuggles om "und-covers" as he says and my back, ribs, etc are so sore in the morning b/c I can't get enough room to save my life, and we have a King sized bed.
So, I end up on the couch. :(

MerrandaVK said...

When we transitioned out toddler and preschooler into the same room, we did it with a new "T" bunk bed. It was so much fun for them that they didn't mind the new baby taking over the other bedroom :)

We only have a queen bed and when the kids end up in bed with us, I too am sore much of the next morning.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I need help on the toddler and preschooler sleeping together, too. We did it successfully for a while, and lately it has been unsuccessful.

Oh, and as far as cosleeping and nursing in bed, I put Maisie in her bed to sleep, but when she wakes, I take her to bed with me and nurse her there. Sometimes I fall asleep while doing that, sometimes not. Either way, once she's done and I realize it or wake up, I put her back in her bed until she wakes again. Then, I can move my body and have my space alone in bed for a while and get good sleep, while also enjoying being close to her as well as the ease and convenience of nursing in bed! So, anyway, that's just how I do it:)

Fun chatting with you briefly this afternoon! Sometimes it's nice to get a bit of voice to voice time (though face to face is always even better) rather than just type to type:)

Kristi said...

Kids sharing rooms...it is an adventure!!!

I was in the same "boat" that you are in currently. When my youngest was born, my middle daughter (then 2) was still in the "nursery" but using the crib as a toddler bed (we had to transition her out of her crib a bit early...she is a climber!). So, when Caleb proved to be a very LOUD sleeper and neither my husband nor I were getting any sleep, we decided that we needed to move him earlier than we wanted into his own room.

Which meant it was time for the girls to share a room!! My girls were then almost 4 and a little over 2...similar ages to your girls it looks like!!!

I don't have any "secrets" to how this all works. There were some rough nights in the adjustment...nights when the girls kept each other up when they were supposed to be falling asleep (mostly Kylie keeping Mackenzie up) - especially right away!

BUT...no matter how the transition goes, know that they WILL sleep! Now that it has been over three years since we first put them together, they go to bed well and it has worked out great for them to share a room.

It definitely is an adjustment...moving beds, adding another to a room. But, my "advice" would be to keep it in perspective. On the other side of the "change" is the new "normal" that the girls will get used to and I am sure grow to LOVE!!!

Wow...this got long - sorry! :-)

Jenny said...

When we moved our 2nd out of the crib and into a bed, we had the two girls (3.5 and 1.5 or so) share a double bed, sideways (so the pillows were on the long end). They LOVED sleeping in the same bed, and as long as they each had their own covers (to minimize cover wars), they did great. They loved sleeping "just like mommy and daddy get to do!"
We were pretty lenient with the chit-chatting, since one benefit to this arrangement was a close sister relationship. So, we let them talk a while at bedtime, but that sometimes backfired because then they got too tired and would meltdown. But it was overall a positive experience. They're in a bunk bed, and that's been great too.
That's all I got :)
Blessings!

Amanda said...

I wanted to THANK everyone for the wonderful recommendations for getting a toddler/preschooler to sleep in the same room. I took EVERYTHING into consideration and decided to go for it two nights ago...

I'm happy to announce that Ella and Britten have SUCCESSFULLY slept in the same room for 2 nights, and Chloe SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT in the crib last night. I'm in awe, I really am. SO, Thank Uou!!!