Exiled
Living in a small 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids makes for interesting sleeping arrangements. I mean, big deal, right? 2 kids in the same room. For thousands of years, there have been about 10 people sleeping in the same room (though I'm sure it wasn't the most restful sleep).
Well, the bottom line is this:
Our kids have been sharing a room for about a year now and we're still having sleep issues (Lucy is 3 and Owen is 15 months old). Owen's been waking up in the night and though he could just cry himself back to sleep for 5 or 10 minutes, that doesn't always happen because he wakes Lucy up too (so the whole family is awake at 3am). And vice versa....there are nights when Lucy randomly wakes up in the night and thus, wakes up Owen. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing the rest of you haven't dealt with.
We tried putting Owen in our front room when we went to bed at night and that didn't work because the walls are too thin and Lucy could still hear him crying in the next room. And, he ended up waking up earlier than we wanted in the morning because Casey had to go out there to leave for work.
Oh, to have a 3 bedroom house...
So....finally, I realized.....banish him to the kitchen!!
And we did. And for the past month it has been dreeeeeeeamy.
Our kitchen has a heavy sliding door that closes it off from the rest of the house. So we set up his porta crib in there every night, turn on the air purifier (just to make some noise), and what do you know, this kid has been sleeping in till 8am almost every morning! I have no idea if he's crying in there at night (we also close off the living room door and our bedroom door). But he can work it out. And the whole family is better off because of it. We even pack Casey's lunch in a small cooler so he doesn't have to go in the kitchen in the morning before leaving for work. Some things are totally worth it. I'd like them to share a room again in the future. But for now, we're doing this.
Sooo, that was a long story just to say that, we're all sleeping over here!
And when we wake up in the morning, we find this:
Thanks for taking one for the team, Owen!
12 comments:
i believe you have to pick and choose your battles and getting more sleep is def one of them. glad you guys are all getting more sleep! and that close up of owen is too cute!
Brilliant!!! Whatever it takes to get some sleep, seriously. I love those pictures, too. Maybe you can get Owen to start making breakfast for the family in the mornings, since he's already in there and all. :-)
Haha. Brilliant Jean! I'd love to walk up to fresh pancakes every morning too.
I say whatever works! It's just too hard to function when you haven't had enough sleep--that's for sure!
We have a similar situation...but with our cat, Patches. We got tired of her meowing us awake at 2:00, 3:00 or 4:00 every morning, so now we put her in the laundry room at night, shut the door, shut the next set of doors, and finally shut our bedroom door. Now we all sleep peacefully through the night.
Isn't it amazing how sleep (or lack thereof...) can set the tone for the whole family? I'm sure Owen's enjoying his "alone time" just as much as you guys are!
Yay for well-rested mamas!
Hey -- Alex spent almost a year sleeping in a pantry (granted, it was a walk-in, and fit his crib and a rocking chair, but still...). Kitchens are a step up!
Somebody give that kid a spatula!
I hate to burst your bubble, but 3 BR doesn't solve everything, because then you just have more kids...! We have to put our girls to sleep separately or else they're up till 10 at night playing in the room...yes they do usually wake each other up in the morning, but there's nothing we can do about it...I had all 3 kids up at 3 AM Friday night...so fun...glad to know the kitchen is working!
you didn't burst any bubble. I know we're in for it until we have a room for each child. Of course, by that point, they'll all be old enough to actually share a room and just fight it out themselves.
Bummer you were up with all 3 kids. UGH. Maybe you should try the kitchen method too :)! (of course it only works if you can shut that room off).
Best idea ever. Can you come be my sleep coach!?! I thought the same thing Jean did. Just teach him how to flip pancakes and cook bacon and you are set!
Yeah for getting sleep more consistently. And Owen doesn't seem too upset over his living situation!
Goodnight! Sleep tight!
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