I Put Them in the Same Room, and Now They're Waking up an Hour Early... Argh...

Is the little one still in a crib?

We had this problem and even up in the middle of the night ready to play. I'm not saying this is going work for everyone, but we invested in bed tents. For one thing, they loved staying in them because it was like their own little cubbie or cave. For another, it was kind of out of sight out of mind. Could be your younger one woke a little, looked around in her own room and nothing was going on so she went back to sleep for a bit (what ours did), but now with her sis in the room she sees her favorite playmate and is ready to rock and roll. Maybe if she couldn't actually see her inside the tent, she would be more willing to go back to sleep.

can you cut her nap back an hour and hopefully she will sleep that extra hour at night.

My son who usually gets up at 7 goes through phases of getting up at 6. I have noticed that he partially rouses around 6, so if there is any distraction at that time, (room is cold, or too bright, or he feels sick) he will stay up. Do you think the same thing could be happening with your youngest (her main distraction being her fun sis)? Maybe invest in one of those toddler -friendly alarm clocks ( My Tot Clock, Ok To Wake, Kid's Sleep Classic) and teach her to stay in her crib until 7 ? It might not get her to sleep longer right away, but it could re-train her back to 7 am. And maybe in the meantime, she would stay put until 7.

Separate them.
Is having them in the same room worth it?
Lack of sleep for you, lack of sleep for them.
Makes everyone not getting enough sleep.

I shared a room with my sibling as a child.
HATED it. We were complete opposites.
It did not work.

Or separate them until they are older, then put them together again.

My daughter is 16 months, and I think I read that at this age they only need about 13 hours. So, if she's napping for 2.5, that means that she might only be needing 10 or 11 at night. Maybe it's not the sharing rooms but just getting older? My daughter goes to bed at 7/7:30 and we can't get her to sleep past 5/5:30 :(. Ugh. Good luck!

Sorry to say that my now 18 month and 3 year old shared a room until she was 16 months old. She did not sleep through the night until she got her own room. My son always wakes up earlier than her and he would wake her up too. NOW they have their own rooms and since the first night she has slept through and sleeps a bit later if we let her. Good luck! But I can understand your wanting to ‘reclaim’ your living room.