We had our kids start sharing a room when my daughter was 8.5 months old and my son was almost 27 months old. So they weren’t quite two under two, but I don’t think I would have been able to handle them sharing a room at a younger age. This is how their room sharing experience went for their first nine days together.
We want to allow our children to sleep as much as they need to and we try to allow them to do so by following the book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Marc Weissbluth. I know sleep is a hot topic for many parents as there are some strong views in opposing areas, but I do not plan on addressing this here, this is a post about two babies learning to share a room.
But in order for you to understand how our children sleep, this is our procedure: we put them to bed and allow them to sleep by not going to them unless they are in danger. Our son is a people person and would love nothing more than to hangout all day and night with people. Before we started Weissbluth’s method we were laying with him until he fell asleep which sometimes would take an hour. It was unsustainable for us as parents as I was pregnant. With my daughter, we started using Weissbluth’s methods a lot earlier on and she has a lot less struggles with going to sleep.
Unfortunately we planned it two days before daylight savings. It was unintentional and extremely poor timing.
Day 1 room sharing
Nap– My daughter was asleep when I put My son down. My son screamed a little but My daughter stayed asleep.
Bedtime-My daughter woke up when we put My son to bed but she fell asleep in less than 25 minutes. My son took his usual hour to fall asleep
Day 2
Nap– my daughter went to sleep after 30 minutes. My son didn’t sleep & threw all his stuffies in to her “pen”
Bedtime– my daughter was awake for 30 minutes after we put them down at the same time. My son was up for his usual hour. He threw all his stuffies on the ground but not in her “pen” because I told him we would have to take them away if he did.
Day 3
Morning– woke up at 5:45 am (daylight savings time)
Nap– put my daughter down asleep. Put My son down 10 minutes later & he didn’t wake her up.
Bedtime– put kids down at the same time. Both fell asleep quickly.
Day 4
Nap– put both kids to sleep together. My son threw all his stuffies into Sister’s “pen” again. My son fell asleep In 20 minutes. My daughter fell asleep 10 minutes later
Bedtime– put both kids to bed at 6:40. My son only had a pillow, blanket and two bears and he threw them over the “pen”. My son was asleep in 30 minutes. My son was asleep in an hour and 20 minutes. I went in and removed the soft objects before I went to bed. But there wasn’t crying.
Day 5
Morning– My daughter woke up at 6:30 and was crying but didn’t wake up my son.
Nap– put both kids to bed together at noon. My son had all his stuffies and threw them over the “pen”. Then proceeded to remove all of his clothing.
Related: Potty Training Struggles
Night– put both kids to bed at 6:45. My daughter was exhausted but cried really hard for 20 minutes then fell asleep. We left My son with two stuffies and his blanket and pillow. My son didn’t throw anything into her “pen” but tried to steal the narwhal we left in there for her by trying to lift the gate and pull it out (he was unsuccessful). He went to sleep around 8 as usual.
Day 6
Nap– My daughter fell asleep nursing at noon. My son screamed when we put him in the room to sleep but didn’t wake up his sister. We let him have most of his stuffies again. At 1 pm he threw everything into sister’s “pen” waking her up. After she climbed out of the pile she quickly went back to sleep. After an hour and 20 minutes My son finally went to sleep
Night– put both kids to bed at 6:45. My daughter was asleep by 7. My son was asleep by around 8.
Day 7
My son got his foot stuck in his bunk bed slats at 5:30 am. He cried out mama and I went in and got him unstuck. While he was calling out mama, my daughter woke up. When I left the room, both kids were crying. My daughter went back to sleep quickly. My son took a little more time.
Morning- My daughter woke up at 6:45 and played with the narwhal.
Nap– put both kids to bed at 12:45. My daughter fell asleep a little after 1 then my son threw some stuffies and his pillow over. He fell asleep at 1:30. I went in and removed the pillow. My daughter woke and played quietly for 15 minutes.
Night– My daughter fell asleep while nursing. I put my son to bed at 7. He woke his sister up and threw some stuffies over and then tried to get them. He kept His sister up for 30 minutes. Then she fell back asleep. My son was asleep before 8.
Related: Baby Proofing
Day 8
Nap– put both kids down at 12:45. My son fell asleep first at 1. My daughter fell asleep at 1:10. My son woke up at 2 and was noisy so his sister woke up 30 minutes later.
Bedtime– put both kids to bed together at 6:34. My daughter cried for 10 minutes then fell asleep. My son fell off the bed 10 minutes later and bumped the gate that sister’s feet were against. He woke her up and she cried and crawled onto the bed. My son fell asleep at 7:45.
Day 9
Nap-put both kids to bed at 12:45. Both kids were asleep at 1:15
Bedtime– put both kids down at 7:05. My daughter was asleep by 7:30. My son was asleep before 8.
How room sharing is going now
Most days now, my daughter is asleep quickly and my son takes a little bit of time to unwind. But this unwinding period isn’t any different from before they shared a room. We have sometimes tried to put my daughter to bed first and my son later on which more often than not wakes up my daughter, but she gets back to sleep quickly. We usually do this when my daughter had a short nap and needs more sleep.
I love that my babies get to interact a bit more after we’ve left the room.
