Roomies to Be or Not to Be…
While Clark was sick and we were attempting once again to keep the others from coming down with it, Brooks had the privilege of sleeping in Isaac and Henry’s room for a couple of nights.
It made us miss the days of them all sleeping in one room, and hopeful that we can execute that again sometime in the near future. (Bunk beds perhaps?)
For now many nights are difficult enough to settle down two in one room at bedtime. And they are napping better at four years old than they did at two, so I hesitate to make any changes in case it would sabotage our sacred nap time.
So I’m curious for those of you with multiples or larger families that room share… How do you arrange several in one room and enforce bedtime over a frat party preschool style every night?
Cannot wait to learn from your wisdom!
We just have 2 boys- (5 & 7yrs old) and the youngest can get really loud- SINGING. They do talk, they play to some degree. My main rule is that they lay down (they have loft bunks). And if I find out they are throwing stuffed animals back and forth I put a stop to that too. I think its a failure to enforce a “no talking” ban right now, in our home. They get along great and talk for awhile and sometimes sooner than others they fall asleep 😉
Honestly, bedtime was always a bit of a battle with 3 boys in the same room. I just recently stopped naps & now they go to sleep no problem at night. I do have one sweet baby boy though that still curls up in my lap, on a pool chair, on the couch, on the floor…anywhere just to catch a few Zzzzz’s during the day but other than that, it’s been great! That is the great thing about all the same sex or an even split with multiples…makes the sleep situation much easier! =)
ohfun!:) parties are nice once in a while. we have 3 girls in one room. But ours have a 6 year age gap, so to help solve the playing problem, we put the youngest to bed a half hour earlier than the 2 older. so she is asleep before they get in there. then they know they have to be quiet and not talk cause their sister is asleep.:) In your case though, that may not work…unless you let 2 boys stay up 30 minutes later than the other 2 and then rotate…makes for some good one-on-one time.:)
No multiples but my kids do share a room. I also feel that nap time and bed time are sacred – and we have a 3-1/2 year age difference! I put them to bed at the same time and my son (4) is allowed a single book to flip through on those nights that he seems a bit more ‘rambunctious’ than normal at bedtime! We have also surrendered to pushing bedtime back to a later time after traveling and with it being summer! I do remember the ‘slumber parties’ that I also had with my own sisters at 16 – so in the end its just part of growing up I think!!
I can’t wait to learn from your readers’ wisdom too!
We made the transition to big boy beds a month ago and naptime and bedtime are now the worst parts of my day. Seems no amount of stickers, treats, special outings, time outs or anything else we can devise sticks in their brains long enough to prevent a major party every time they go to bed. In fact the hubs is sitting in their room policing things right now.
I want my evenings with my husband back!!! Oh, and the crabbiness that comes from them falling asleep at 10 after an 8 p.m. bedtime? I’m over that, too.
Christy
We have 4 girls (6,5,3, and 5 months) in addition to a 2 year old boy. We have two sets of bunk beds in the girls’ room. The baby will sleep in there once she is a little closer to 2.
I think putting them all together has made them sooooo close and much better friends. We have taught them from day one that they are each others’ best friends and try to do all different things to instill that fact in them!
As for naps, we separated them for a while. Now that none of them are napping, we enforce a one hour “quiet time” where they may read on their beds. Of course they talk and laugh, but as long as they are relatively quiet, I let them go.
Because they do not nap, bedtime is very easy b/c they are tired. We do allow the oldest to read quietly on her bed, but the 5 and 3 year old have to go to sleep. There are plenty of nights when they would rather talk then sleep, but my husband I choose our battles. We have very specific rules (no hanging from bunk beds, no running, throwing, etc) that result in immediate punishment if they chose to disobey. Overall, they really are pretty good and we are so excited to see the relationships they are building.
Right now, it works for us. We have the option of putting 2 and 2 together if we want, but for now, we love the arrangement.
I hope you have been feeling better. I pray for you often. 🙂
I have a boy whom is 7 and twin girls that are 4. They all sleep in the same room. We have no problems of them going to bed and staying there. It’s weird — whom would have thought!! We have a twin bed, twin over full bunkbed in the room. They hate to be apart — we tried having our 7 year old downstairs but he wants to be with his sisters.
Good luck!!!