Having difficulties with children sharing a room

amother

Sienna

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 12:50 am

How do I keep my 4 year old from climbing into the baby's crib? They currently share a room and it was working beautifully until recently. I put the 4 year old to bed first and give him time to settle down while I nurse the 9 month old. Often the baby falls asleep while nursing or right after I put him in the crib and my 4 year old used to listen when I reminded him to be quiet and not wake the baby.

More recently the baby is still awake when I put him in and the 4 year old riles him up and they keep each other awake for far too long. Twice this week I've gone in to settle them back down and found the 4 year old in the baby's crib. The first time I gave him a talking to and the second time I have to admit that I yelled and confiscated a stuffed animal for the night to punish him. I'm not proud of that reaction but I was desperate.

The real solution is to put them in separate rooms, which is the long term plan. There are some logistics that need to be worked out first so I need some short term solutions to get them to go to sleep quietly. I'm really at my wit's end because it not only kills my night to keep on shushing them but it makes mornings so much harder. The 4 year old especially is so tired in the mornings that it's hard to get him up and off to school and the baby gets cranky if he doesn't get a long nap.

Ideas?

amother

Seashell

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 9:46 pm

I have only one bedroom that all three of my kids share. I sit in the room with them until 2/3 are sleeping, otherwise there's too much monkey business. Is that an option for you? When I'm there they fall asleep pretty quickly, so I'm not sitting there all night. Of course I would rather be doing other things, but I prefer to avoid a nightly circus.