Monday, March 29, 2010

Mommy Monday - sleeping in the same room?!?

It might actually be a reality...my kids are sleeping in the same room! After trying several times in the last few months, I came up with a couple new ideas so we thought we'd give it a go.
Before this, Nate would go to sleep in our room, then we'd transfer him to the living room when we were ready for bed. It was working okay, but kind of a pain AND he was waking up around midnight whether we moved him or not :(
So here's what's working so far:
*I have to be much more strict about what time they wake up from their afternoon naps. If I don't, it messes up what time they go to bed.
*I put Nate down in their room in his crib first.
*Kahlen and I then read stories in the living room
*She's been having "reading time" after we read to her for several months now. This is basically just time where she is in her bed with the reading light on. She's supposed to stay in bed, but it's not as strict as later on. We've moved this to the living room to give the boy more time to settle down.
*After her reading time, I tuck her in with strict admonishment that her brother is sleeping and she must be quiet!
*If Nate wakes up, I have no hesitation about moving him to the living room, we set it all up for him before we go to bed.

We've been doing this for four days I think and it's working great! Part of it is that I'm not stressing about whether it's working or not. If one of them isn't doing well, I just move Nate out of their room.
Last night (or this morning?) he woke up at 5 and wanted to chat. I just moved him downstairs and went back to bed.

Understanding that this is a process and not something that I can just expect them to do right away has really helped. I know, obvious, right?

Anyway, hope that helps someone out there struggling with the same thing.

AND here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week. I'm borrowing a nice camera from my stepdad (thanks potato head!) and have been taking waaaayyy too many pictures :)

Kahlen playing soccer. She has to wear her hat and backwards :)

"Baby Kahlen"

Nate likes it outside :)

Bath fun together

Cutie boy

~S

No comments: