Why is sleep so elusive?
We're almost to the point of separating the boys into their own rooms. I really don't want to give up the playroom. And more than that, I don't want them to get used to having their own rooms. For some reason I think going off to college and having a companion on their missions will be easier if they've had to share a room.
But we're at our wits end. Every night we send Cooper to bed while Peter sits and reads in the other room. This was a fine solution for a while. Cooper would nod off while Peter got in his reading for the day. Lately, however, Cooper won't go to sleep. He stays up two and three hours past his bedtime, all while Peter keeps asking if he can go to sleep yet. No one is sleeping enough and it's showing in daytime behavior.
Also, Bryan and I have discovered that we really need that quiet time at night. Our kids are constantly talking and moving, so by bedtime we're beat. I feel kind of guilty that we need time away from them, but watching the occasional movie on the couch or talking after they go to sleep are the only dates we get. And dates are important, aren't they?
Last night we told them that they would go to sleep in the same room, just at their slightly staggered bedtimes. Bryan talked about how we would need to be better at bedtime by the time Baby Sister arrived. He had the boys come up with their own consequences for when they got out of bed or started goofing off. We had high hopes.
It didn't work.
We reached the point when all of the consequences had been doled out, some repeatedly. Nothing. The boys were still not sleeping. Bryan finally had Cooper go to sleep in the playroom. At 10:30 both boys were asleep. For the record, Cooper's bedtime is 7:00 and Peter's is 7:30.
And so, unless we can find a miracle cure, I'm afraid the boys will be getting their own rooms soon. At least then if one of them stays awake, they won't have the other one a few feet away to bother.
Thanks goodness Phoebe sleeps at night.
Do any of you have any magical sleep suggestions? Short of drugging them?
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3 comments:
I would recommend going with it temporarily - sounds like it is definitely necessary right now. That doesn't mean you can't rejoin them in the same room once they grow up a bit - sheesh, maybe the main problem now is that they are just overtired, so after a week or two you can rejoin them. I hope things improve soon! And don't feel guilty about needing down/quiet time after they are in bed. I would think you were pretty weird if you didn't need that. :-)
I agree that you should just separate them; it sounds like that will help! Good luck; I hope they sleep better for you SOON!
It occurs to me, too, that there are definitely lessons to be learned by having your own room! There is more opportunity to see direct consequences from keeping it neat or messy, and it might foster a place to practice solitude and quiet. And yes, you can always reevealuate in a year or two when you don't have a brand-new baby in the house!
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