SOS - room sharing help

[hamster]

We moved to a new state earlier this month, and my kids are now sharing a room. They are 4 and 2.5 (and his first time not in a crib).

It is not going well. At all. Previously we would do a book, song, stick them in bed and not see them again until their green light.

Now they just spin each other up. Sometimes maliciously but mostly just singing. But it just keeps escalating and getting more and more rambunctious. Then they start climbing out of bed. The only way we can get them to fall asleep is to sit in their room until they are mostly asleep. Neither kid naps so they are plenty tired.
Then my 4 year old keeps waking up ask asking for somebody to sleep on his floor (we had been bed sharing for a week and a half or so prior to actually moving). This happens a couple of times a night. Then he is awake for the day at 6. Sometimes he is quiet, but often he is not and then the 2.5 year old is up then too.

I'm sympathetic to the fact that we moved them from everything and everyone they know and had Christmas in the middle of it, but this sleep situation is just not working for anyone. I don't know what to do.

[Susie]

We deal with the same thing when we travel, so I am no help but welcome any suggestions that may help.  We had to pile our family of 4 into one bedroom when my brother and his wife crashed our vacation at my dad's in Sept., and the hours between their bedtime and ours were a disaster.  They got so overtired.

[maudefindlay]

Can you stagger bedtimes by 30 min? Maybe put the younger one down and then in another room read to the older one and then put him to bed when his eyes seem to be going.

[af1212]

We put our kids to bed at separate times.

The second one doesn’t go into the room until the first one is already asleep.

[dcn]

Yes we either staggered bedtimes or one of us stayed in their room until they were asleep. I also started playing audiobooks for them, the younger one would drift off and then it was easier to leave.

[hamster]

How do I keep the second kid from making a bunch of noise and waking up the first still? Nobody is listening to me these days lol.

[joy]

Dec 27, 2021 15:15:08 GMT -5 hamster said:

How do I keep the second kid from making a bunch of noise and waking up the first still? Nobody is listening to me these days lol.

I would put the 2.5 year old down first and then explain how bed time will go with the 4 year old. Play up the “big bro” role and the importance of behaving like a big kid. He gets to stay up later because of it but that also means no fuss when going in the room.

Young kids do sleep deeply - maybe even if there are shenanigans, they won’t awaken the younger one.

[joy]

Alternative choice: put each to sleep in different rooms (one in your bed and one in his own bed) then move the one in your bed after they are asleep.

[chickadee77]

We recently moved, too, and they have to share for a few months (age 3.5 and 7.5). It took a few weeks, honestly. ABSOLUTELY stagger bedtimes. It's still a mess if we don't.

For the younger, I had to set a timer, and when it goes off, lights out. So if she screws around instead of getting ready, books and song get cut short.

For the older, we do books and songs in the living room, then a quick whispered conversation in her bed (favorite part of day, etc.)

[SusanBAnthony]

We put the 4 year old to bed in his bed and the 2 year old to bed on our bed. Once they were both asleep we moved the two year old to her bed.