Letting my kids share a bedroom

They love each other right now

My son is almost 4 and for a while he has been asking if his sister can share his bedroom. She’s 19 months and absolutely adores his brother. She would, no doubt, also make this request if she could verbalise it.

 

The only problem with this is that one of the kids is an amazing sleeper and the other… is… not.

 

One good sleeper and one poor sleeper

Can a bedroom be shared by one good sleeper and one not-so-good sleeper?

 

The not-so-good-sleeper

The 4 year old has been a troubled sleeper since day 1. Even as a tiny baby he seemed allergic to sleep. We had to rock him between feeds. Even then there was no guarantee that he would actually go to sleep. We tried the cry it out method but he would make himself vomit. My son’s will power was amazing. It still is.

My son will be exhausted, worn out from a day of running but still struggle to go to sleep. Some nights he will come out of his room every couple of minutes for 3 hours.

 

The fantastic sleeper

The little one on the other hand is a “by the book baby”. You follow the guidelines and she goes to sleep, most nights anyway. But she does tend to have a cry in the night. Just a little cry because someone has moved her favourite bunny to the other side of her cot and she can’t find it.

 

Can they share a bedroom?

In ordinary circumstances I wouldn’t give my son’s request two thoughts. In ordinary circumstances the answer would obviously be NO but their grandparents are coming to visit. For 7 weeks.  They need to have their own space. Historically we would move baby and cot into our room but we decided to give my son’s request a second thought and give it a try.

 

We’ve done it and it’s changed things

 

The feeling of the space has changed

Last week the two kids moved into one bedroom. For starters the bedroom space felt awesome: from the minute I first walked into the room it felt different and in a good way. With the bed and the cot, it turned from a messy boy’s room into a comfy cute sleeping space.

Closely associated with the new feeling the room has is the fact that it is now a dedicated sleeping space. Before the kids would play in the bedroom and run around like crazies but now with the bed and the cot there is no more space to run like a maniac. The room has become a place for sleeping, reading or contained play. It is awesome.

 

Calmer bedroom = calmer son

As a result of the space becoming a quieter space – my son is much calmer when he is in his bedroom than he ever was before. The real test however will be when his best mate comes to visit this week – we will see whether he remains clam when the two of them are in the now confined space.

 

My son’s sleeping has improved

 

My son has started sleeping a WHOLE lot better. We have had two nights when the two of them stood on / in their beds giggling at each other. The novelty of sharing a room meant they were too excited to sleep. They were playing the drums on the chest of drawers between them like crazy kids.

 

But that was the first two nights. From there things improved.

 

After the first few days, when asked whether he liked having his sister in his room, my son said “I don’t feel so lonely anymore”. As for my daughter well she just wakes up with a smile on his face so I reckon we’re doing the right thing, at the moment.

 

It may still change

 

This is however a report back on the FIRST WEEK so we’ll just have to wait and see how things progress.

If you’re thinking about doing it but you’re not sure, my advice is – give it a chance and see how it goes, if it doesn’t work after two weeks, you know you’re tried it but if it does it may improve your child’s sleeping patterns and strengthen the bond between your kids.