The past few nights' events have sent us back to the drawing board with Operation Take Back the Evening.
Dwelling on a positive for a moment, T has (all but one night) been able to make great choices at bedtime. There was one morning that both boys had a long time in solitude. (T was SO upset by this you would have thought it was the end of the world!)
Now, that leaves P. Oh, Darling P.
He does look angelic as they come and has so many amazing qualities. However, he has found that the times of solitude as a consequence (which he participates in every morning), although not desired, are still worth him: getting up out of his bed, climbing on to T's bunk on top, throwing T's animals and blankets off, and even hitting T when he calls for parental backup.
So, we began a behavior chart. He gets stickers when is faithful to follow directions. When he has filled the spots on the chart he gets the toy drill that he picked out. (Tools are one of his favorite things in the whole world.)
On top of this we have decided to switch his every day naps with allowing him to be able to read some books while listening to music during rest time. He does not seem very tired as we lay him down at bed time compared to T who only rests and does not actually sleep during the day.
Well see how these things work together...
Any ideas for having kids successfully share a room?
5 comments:
First, JA, it does get better. The novelty of being in the same room will wear off - just a word of encouragement :) Also, "I" has a harder time falling asleep as he naps for a long time during the day. I have decided to try to get him up after 1 hour recently instead of allowing the 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep in the afternoon. I hate to wake him but it seems to help at bedtime. Also, I have started having a quiet few minutes with "I" in his old room in the rocking chair before bed to help him wind down. Sometimes he lays his head down and sometimes we just chat quietly but the wind down time also seems to help.
It did seem that things improved when I stopped trying to make you SLEEP. The Plan B said as long as you stayed on your bed and read, you could stay up as long as you wanted. Of course, the theory was that staying quietly on your bed would calm you both down enough to let you fall asleep. You know what you were actually doing. Was I delusional, or was it actually better--or were you & Catherine just older by then and therefore getting better on your own?
It will get better. And it sounds to me like it's time for giving up that nap. Replace it with a movie for a few days and see how it goes. Or, maybe shortening it? I know it's hard to give up. But it's worth it!
Good luck, it must be so hard to deal with when you are so tired yourself and want the downtime too. I know you will figure it out and this to will pass... You're doing a great job mama!!!
No answers, just been reading your saga and hoping you'll have advice for me when our two will have to be in the same room soon:) Our little girl gave up napping 6 months ago (at 2.5), but we have continued to have "quiet time" for 1 hour with her in room playing or reading every day because we both need the break! It must work eventually... persevere my friend!
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