I dont think I am asking a question however looking for suggestions. My husband and I have to move due to some financial issues. We are TEMPORARILY moving in to his sisters house (thats not the problem). The problem is this. My son is going to be 2 and has been sleeping in his own room in his crib and has done this since the beginning. Right now sleeps about 12 hours a night. The 3 of us now have to share a room with our own bathroom. Once I put him to bed I know he is going to wake when we go to bed later and I am certain the only way to get him to go back to sleep is putting him in bed with us. I really dont want to do that. I am a light sleeper to begin with and I feel like we are going backwards and dont want this to be a habit later. Not to mention that he will wake up with us in the morning and right now I am able to get up and get ready before I go in his room to get him ready. I just feel like I am also losing my me time!
Thanks in advance for you thoughts and suggestions!
Could you maybe have a sound machine or something on so that he would not hear you when you come to bed. You could also use a fan or radio. Hope things go smoothly for you.
Maybe a room divider would help. Then when he heard you at least he wouldn't be able to see you.
That is a tough one, especially about your me time! I have a couple ideas that might help?
1- Invest in a while noise maker and set it up near his crib at night. This might lessen the distraction of noise when mom and dad are coming in to go to bed.
2- Think back to elementary school! ;) Set out your bedtime clothes (although when we were little it was school clothes) before bedtime. When you put the little guy down, put you and dad's jammies in the bathroom so they are waiting for you when it's time to go to bed, less drawer banging and closet shutting.
3- get a couple good, dim nightlights. Plug one in the bedroom so you can see your way to the bathroom without turning on lights. plug another in the bathroom so you can shut the door before turning on the bathroom light. This way you avoid any bright flashes of light that might wake him up.
4- This one might not be feasible, but if possible hang a cool curtain from the ceiling between his crib and the rest of the room. You can get inexpensive curtains and rods at Ikea (do you have this store? if not, online) They have rods for like $10 and curtains for about the same. Some of them are pretty heavy and will block out some noise and light.
I would not put him in bed with you at all if that is not where you want him to be for a long time. I have a MIL who let my daughter sleep with her behind our back and she's been getting out of bed at night for 2 years because of it. If you want to share a bed with him then it's no prob, but if you don't want that to be a permanent battle I would strongly advise against it!
I agree with another Mom-- try a room divider. I've heard that even just a visual divider will work-- can you put the crib in a corner and hang a curtain from the ceiling? If it's a fairly heavy curtain it will provide some sound insulation.
He's going to be upset by the move anyway so you're probably right that he'll wake a bit at the beginning. But if you don't want him in your bed, just be firm.
About your Me time in the morning, maybe he wouldn't mind snuggling with daddy in bed while you get ready for the day?
Good luck to you all!
This may be a wierd question, but does the room have a large walk-in closet? Perhaps it can function as a small sleep area for the baby instead of a closet. Otherwise the room divider/white noise, and anything you can do to pre-prep for the morning to minimize noise would be best. Maybe your SIL can babysit once in a while so you can have some me-time. Good luck!
You might be surprised that he might stay asleep when you and hubby come in at night to go to bed. If he doesn't right at the beginning, once he gets used to you coming in and so forth, he will probably sleep through it. Same for the mornings, once he's used to it, he'll probably sleep through or at least be happy just laying in his bed watching and listening to you. As for putting him in your bed at night, I would just keep taking him back to his bed and laying him in the bed. He will get used to it after a few days.
if he does wake up and want to come in bed with you, stay strong and repeat to him over and over, "you can't come in bed with us." offer him something else comforting, like a special blanket or doll or just a hug. he'll stop asking if you're consistent. yeah, he'll fuss and maybe cry. but if you really don't want him in bed with you, stick it out. he's smart and flexible and it will work out eventually.
when my daughter was in mine and my boyfriends room we put her to bed like an hr or so before we went to bed and just did out best to be as quite as possible when we went to bed
I share a room with my son now. It is not as bad as I thought. We live with my sister and her family. He spends the night in his cousins room sometimes to give me space and for him to have a little fun with his cousins. I take a shower when I give him his and get ready for bed with him. I read to him and then put him down. I generally go to sleep a few hours after him and sometimes even watch TV on my laptop in the room with head phones. when he wakes in the middle of the night or early morning I generally go over to the crib and pat his butt back to bed just like I wasn't sleeping in the room. Some times when I am really tired and he will not go back to sleep he comes in bed with me. He doesn't seem to have an issue with this but I know some children do. Good luck
C., yes you will be loosing your me time. That is one of the sacrifices you make in this type of situation. With the love of your family that is making sacrifices to have you there as well they are loosing privacy too. Hopefully you won't have to be there long and will get a place of your own and if its in the next few months you will make it . I know one family that has 2 children staying in the same room as them and one cried all night and made everyone in the house not get sleep for 3 months but all of them survived and are doing well. I hope that you will make the best of this hard time and that you and your sister in law will be close and appreciate the things you can do for one another.
