Switching rooms and Big Boy Beds

 

Nighttime has been challenging for a while.  Simon has been impossible to get to bed in his crib for weeks, and as a result has been sleeping in bed with us.  When he sleeps with us he sleeps horizontally, pushing his feet into Eric and his big melon right into my ribs.  It is exhausting and no one has been getting enough rest.  

I decided to try something pretty drastic and have the boys switch bedrooms.  This would serve a few different purposes.  The first would give Nolan some more privacy, a nice walk in closet, and less worry about waking up Simon when he walks in his room above.  Second, it would allow Simon the opportunity to have a big boy bed and be closer to us, so if he needs us in the middle of the night, he doesn't end up wandering downstairs.  We also hoped that being closer to us would make him feel more comfortable in his own bed and the use of a double bed would allow us to lay in there with him if needed.  

While we were switching all the furniture, we decided to refresh the paint in both rooms.  Because I am hyper-ambitious when it comes to getting projects like this done, we basically did everything in one day.  We painted first thing in the morning, and moved the furniture and started hanging things by afternoon.  Both rooms turned out so cute and cozy and are so much more functional for both kids.  

We have been laying with Simon to get him to go to sleep at night, but sneak out once he is asleep.  He stays in his own bed most nights, with me occasionally having to go sleep with him.  However, it is much less disruptive to just go lay with him in there than to be kicked out of my bed every night or to try to coax him to sleep in his crib.  We also cut out his nap time in order to get him to go to bed on time at night.  Sometimes that has left him napping at weird times and places during the day, but for the most part he has adjusted well.

Nolan adjusted surprisingly easily, with his only issue being concerned about the red light of the fire alarm being above his bed.  He is getting used to it though, and has been very brave through the process.  I'm so glad he was willing to make the move.

We hope as time goes on we get better and better sleep.  I truly think that the sleep deprivation is one of the very hardest things to deal with when parenting in the early years!