The girls have been sharing a bedroom for the last few weeks now, if you had asked me a few days ago how it was going I would have said perfectly. Everyone told me they would share fine, that they wouldn't wake up to each other, and everyone was right. They do share and they don't wake.
Even though we have a room for Katie to potentially use we decided to keep it as a spare room / sewing area / office / Sisterhood storage area. Also there's a big possibility we'll need to down size to two bedrooms next year so we wanted to get the sharing a bedroom thing in from the start.
Milla loves to have her sister in her bedroom, she whispers whenever she goes in there, and I'll often find a blanket on Katie that wasn't there in the first place.
Katie has transitioned from the basinet in our bedroom into her cot just fine. Infact, I don't think she even noticed a change. I'm still figuring out how to tuck her in, I'm unsure if I should be wrapping her, sleeping bagging her or just letting it all flow. Whatever I do, she gets off to sleep just fine, usually with a thumb in her mouth (adorable).
These last few days Milla has suddenly struggled to keep her hands to herself. It caused problems last night where every 10 minutes we heard a shriek from Katie, only to rush in and find Milla with her fingers in her eyes, nose, mouth, hitting her, pulling etc each time. Oh my heart, it broke for little Katie. I felt so bad for her, and sad for Milla. Katie ended up in her basinet last night to give Milla some space.
Unfortunately this trend has continued today, so i'll be spending today cuddling my biggest, letting her pour the washing powder in the machine (such a treat!) and giving her lots of attention. I'll also be praying for lots and lots of patience.
The trouble with sharing rooms is there's only one place to send them, and if they can't be together then... whats the back up plan?!
I do love this arrangement though, and for the most part I'm glad they have each other. It'll be nice when they're a little older and can have a chat before they go to bed! Cute!
Whats the sleeping arrangements like in your house? Any tried and true recipes for success? I'd love to hear them! Leave a comment and let me know :)
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You are such a wise wise mama. Cuddles with your big girl is probably just the ticket. Also the novelty of having a baby sister has worn off, it's time to play already!! She wants baby Katie to play too.
ReplyDeleteOur boys share and have since Ian was 6 months old and George was 3 years. Sometimes it works well, other times we have WWIII breaking out. They're 9 and almost 11 now and hopefully in about 3 months they'll get separate rooms as they're reaching the point now where they need their own space.
ReplyDeletethe only advice I can offer is staggering bed times. Make big girl go to bed first and then little one after, if poss.
ReplyDeleteMy boys share a room, but we did shared rooms a lot later than you have. You are super brave!
don't ask. fin in bed with me, claud playing musical beds! my sister and i chose to share a room and have a playroom, love those memories of talking after dark, creeping in with you sis if you got cold or scared. lovely x
ReplyDeleteThe advice we read was that with rough/ inappropriate behaviour make sure the wounded is getting the attention so that the wounded doesn't get the idea that this is a good way to get attention for myself. Does that make sense? Lots of quality time at other moments but not with negative behaviour xxx keep the awesome work
ReplyDeleteGood luck!! If you find something that works please let me know!!lol
ReplyDeleteOur 3 girls share a room, though we stagger/separate them at bedtime - or else it becomes party time rather than sleep time some nights. they love having each other there in the mornings and can cuddle in the mornings. Occasionally one will jump into bed with another during the night (which luckily is adorable and non-disruptive!). Quality time at good moments and not with negative behaviour like Miriam said is how we approach it too. No doubt though in time Milla will learn and at the moment is testing, learning and feeling where the boundaries are and what does/doesn't go. You guys will get there, good luck! x
ReplyDeleteWhen my children (now all in their teens) were little two shared a bedroom. Our solution to the bedtime battle was that one of them (taking it in turns when they were older) would be settled off to bed for the night in our bed and then we would scoop them up when it was time for us to go to bed. We continued that for quite some time as I never did like bedtime battles and it worked well for us.
ReplyDelete