When it comes to child rearing I don't have any hard and fast rules, other than consistency. All kids are different and my three are no exception. Things work for one and not for the others. Big can be told to do something, Chaos has to be persuaded (or bribed) and Squish will do anything as long as you're coming too!
The problem we are having at the moment is with Squish and sleeping. He sleeps in his cot in the same room as Chaos. He has shared with Chaos since he slept through the night as a baby.
In August, my brother in law came to stay for a few months. Me, my husband and the boys all slept in the same room. So that Chaos could sleep we put Squish in with us if he woke up in the night (not ideal, I know but nothing was ideal then!) When my brother in law moved out we decorated the bedroom and moved the boys in so they would have more room to play. They love it!
With the others, I left them in their cots to settle. If they cried I would go back in every few minutes and settle them down again. I don't feel able to do that with Squish as he may wake up Chaos.
Initially, I slept next to his cot for a few nights until he would settle back down without being taken out of his cot. Then I moved my bed to the other side of the room so he couldn't see me but knows I'm still there. This resulted in alternate nights of sleep, then a wakeful night. Now, however, he has started waking at 3am again every night. Sometimes it takes an hour or more to settle him and we're exhausted. It feels like we just get him to sleep, shut our eyes then Chaos is awake. He is up about 5.30am so there isn't much in it! He also has two big molars coming through which probably ins't helping at all.
I am a bit stuck on where to go from here if I'm honest. I think I should go back to sleeping in our room. Maybe we should stick it out for a week, accept that we are all going to be tired and see what happens. He is pretty quick to catch on so it shouldn't take too long. I will keep you posted on how we get on..
Thanks for listening!
Good luck Kat I have no advice as I'm in the same boat with little man! He can really cry so I worry about him waking his sister up which isn't hard to do when I'm in there plus the light from the landing shines in! Now she's a nightmare to get back to sleep!
ReplyDeleteI take LM into our bed now abs then which seems to not be great for settling him in the cot again!!xxx
Both Squish and LM are still very young, and when mine were that age I would have them in with me for comfort, it just makes the whole thing so much easier if everyone can get as much sleep as possible. Dont worry about them getting into too much of a habit, as long as they go to bed in their own cots to start with, once they are better and sleeping through the night they'll stay put. Its worth giving them the comfort they need just for extra sleep all round. Thats my advice, anyway. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you both. I am inclined to agree with you Joy. He settled straight away in our bed so I know he just wants company. After a while Chaos realised he was missing out on cuddles and started waking up earlier just to bed first in our bed so by 5am we would all be crammed in like sardines! I think we get more sleep now than all sharing together so we are heading in the right direction. If I'm honest, I hate not being with them at night now too so I'm in no rush ;o) xx
DeleteWe often used to end up 4 in the bed, then Rog would get up and go into the spare bedroom. They certainly both grew out of it before they started school!
Delete