Whoever built our house felt it unnecessary to put vents in all of the rooms. When we bought the house we didn’t think it was a big deal because our plan was to move before we had children. 7 years later we are still here.
Since some of the rooms don’t have vents they obviously get very hot or very cold. This leads to Kora and Logan sharing a room most months out of the year.
When they were younger it wasn’t a problem because they went to bed at different times and therefore fell asleep quickly. Not true any more.
At 3 and 4, they go to bed at the same time and we can count on them being awake for a good hour to an hour-and-a-half before they go to sleep. They talk, play with stuffed animals, “read” to each other, and just generally do anything they can to fall asleep. Some nights they are up almost as late as me.
We talk calmly to them telling them to be quiet, we try to “Supernanny” them by ignore them and immediately put them back to bed when they climb out, some nights it goes on for so long that we end up yelling. I hate yelling. Especially before they go to sleep at night. We wouldn’t care if they stayed up, but then they are so tired and crabby the next day it’s hard on all of us.
So I’m in search of suggestions. Does anyone have any advice about preschoolers sharing a room? I’m hopeful and all ears!
I was wondering how it would work when Landon is older. At least they are a little more spaced apart but that could make it worse.
I hope you get a solution though!
I shared a room with both my sisters (2 and 3 yrs younger than me) until I was 13. Not quite sure how my parents handled it, but it sounds like you’re doing the right thing. Maybe you could give them less distractions in their room? Like they could get one toy to sleep with or something. And if it’s possible, maybe try to wind them down a little outside their room with a story or something. Just some ideas. Good luck!
It’s also probably not THAT hard to put in new vents…so that’s another option :)
Thanks for the tips. We’ll have to try eliminating things they could play with, that might help. And while I agree vents wouldn’t be terribly tough to put in, they do cost money which we don’t have in the budget at this time. So until then we’re looking for other ideas.
I have twin boys so I went through the same issues when my sons were younger, and I stii go through it now that they are 6, it’s just a little bit better. What worked when they were 3 was music. I put classical or light jazz and it gave them something to focus on aside from eachother and it helped put them to sleep. Hope this helps!! Good luck!
I never thought of music. What a wonderful idea. I think we’ll be giving this one a try at nap time today.
Thanks!
Since they are sharing a room to sleep, could you turn the other bedroom into a “play room” with all the toys? That would leave the shared bedroom for sleeping only. Also someone suggested music – that’s a great idea!
I shared with my sister and there’s nothing you can do. If we were in a talkative mood, we were gonna talk no matter what mom and dad said.
I’m not helping, am I?
We have a similar problem- Madeline (4) and Owen (2) share a room. They go to bed at the same time and many nights we are in there several times. We do have the ability to seperate them by putting one in Ben’s crib (since he isn’t using it yet) if things get to crazy. Can you set up a pack and play in your bedroom and stick one of the kids in there if they misbehave? Other times we take away a stuffed animal for a few minutes and then give it back. Each child has one special lovie and I hate to do this, but usually after this happens we have no more issues.
Glad to know we’re not alone on this! We don’t have means to separate them right now, but maybe we can figure something out.
I really wouldn’t mind if they played as long as they weren’t exhausted the next day. Unfortunately, this is usually what happens so that’s why we are in there all the time trying to get them to sleep.
Thanks for your tips, I’ll be thinking about a way to possibly separate them, even for short periods of time.
My little sisters and I ended up doing the same thing when we were younger. You could put them to bed at 7pm, that way they might be asleep by 9pm. That’s what our parents did. They had to put 3 little girls to bed in the same room most nights. If it bothers you that much, then put your 3 year old to be at one time, and your 4 year old to bed 45 min. to an hour later. That might work? I don’t see too much about what the big deal is of them being awake? Don’t they crawl into bed and go to sleep on their own once they get tired? Maybe try sitting in their bedroom until they fall asleep? I sounds to me like they aren’t that tired when you put them to bed to begin with. If our son isn’t sleepy yet, he is almost 3, then he will play in his room until he is tired. Then he crawls into his bed and goes to sleep without a problem. I don’t care if he is awake or not. At least I get some quiet time, and sometimes, it’s fun to listen to him play by himself over the baby monitor.
Heather
I wouldn’t mind them playing at all. In fact, it would give me an extra hour to get things done at nap time and a little extra time to ourselves for my husband and I, if they weren’t so grumpy the next day.
I do take your point though, that they might not be tired. Hmmm…I wonder if I stopped putting them down for naps and then had them go to bed earlier if that would work? Thanks for your thoughts. You got me thinking.
Our kids don’t share rooms here, so we don’t have that problem (we do on vacation though). But when a friend of mine was having trouble she found a lot of good advice in the book The Baby Whisperer. Her kids were younger then – babies – but you might look through there and see if there are any good ideas.
Ours don’t share yet, but it’s coming.
I would say removing most of the toys might help. But maybe either an earlier or later bed time?
I shared a room with my twin sis. My rents always told me “Don’t get out of bed unless it’s on fire.” (No joke! It’s kind of funny now.) By golly, it worked. I stayed in my bed and I could talk to my sister, but I couldn’t get out of bed. We usually ended up falling asleep anyway since we were lying down.
Tesa,
I feel your pain. My children share a bedroom at 3 and 6. Neither of them are easy sleepers. And we can’t Supernanny them because we live in an apartment so I can’t just let them cry (or more realistically — scream!).
I don’t know if this will help you but a lot of times, we allow them to sleep together. We do stories and cuddles together and we find that if they have each other, they don’t seem to need us as much.
Just a thought! I hope you find what works for you. And if you do, please ket me know — LOL!
:-)
Traci
I fall asleep anytime I lay down to read them books, what I found that worked was on of those little lamps that show lights on the ceiling and something to play soft music, worked like a charm
I never had the guts to put my two together in a room they are 11 months apart. I would use a chart with stickers, for everytime they stayed in bed and behaved they get a sticker. When they got the whole week with a sticker everyday they get to go to McDonalds for a Happy Meal. Good luck :)
My ‘kids’ go to sleep on the couch, all the time. They pretty much can fall asleep anywhere and often do…
Of course, they are dogs, but that doesn’t make them any less important… LOL
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