Sleeping Arrangements: What Are Your Family's?

Sleeping arrangments for the kids: seems like a no brainer, right? Ha! Before you had children, you thought that babies slept in cribs, toddlers slept in their beds, and teens slept...all the time. But after you had kids? Whole different (bedtime) story. Kids'll sleep in your bed, on the floor, on the couch, or (the dreaded) not at all. Yep, kids can have really wacky sleep habits that you have to discern and then deal with. So what are the sleeping arrangements at your house? Dana Loesch of Mamalogues asks, "Where (and how) do your children sleep?"

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Dreya
2 yearss ago

My kids have their own rooms. They aren't very big rooms but I think it's very important for children to have their own space. We just moved our oldest into his 'big boy' room that we freshly decorated just for him. We got him a new twin bed and moved him out of the crib / nursery into his own room. He was so excited about it that he took to it like a duck to water. Now the nursery is my youngest's room and will continue to be his room when he gets older. Growing up my sister and I always had our own rooms, I think it's important for a child to have a space that is 'theirs' in the house so they can retreat there when they need to.

sarah.ann.perrone
1 years ago

My daughter co-slept with my husband and I up to 6 months then she moved completely out of our bed and our room! She slept in her crib in her room! It was so nice to get there. She lays down at 8:00 pm she fusses for about 5-10 minutes and falls asleep.

Ravenne
2 yearss ago

We have a boy and a girl and they share a room. Neither are really old enough to quite grasp the concept of privacy yet, so for them, sharing a room is just fine. They enjoy each other's company, and of course, there are also fights. Some nights they're up for hours talking to each other, other nights we have to go in there several times to break things up. It's part of having more than 1 kid. Who's to say they wouldn't sneak into each other's room if they were in separate rooms? We'd love for them to each have their own room but our house is designed where the extra bedrooms are down in the basement and neither kid is old enough to move down there yet. Our oldest has always been more independent so she'd be thrilled to have her own room. Our youngest is more dependent on his sister and much prefers to have the company in the room with him. One thing my husband and I soon discovered after having our first child was we NEEDED our personal space together without baby around. I was breastfeeding so I practically had a baby latched on all day long anyway, I needed a small bit of space that was mine to keep me from going insane. Though we did cosleep a little out of necessity (for overnight feedings, cosleeping was a better choice than to have baby roll off my lap when I fell asleep nursing) but whenever possible, baby was not in our bed. Neither one of us slept half way decent with a baby in bed and always woke up contorted in a hundred and one different ways that we ached all over. I tried, but cosleeping wasn't for us. So as soon as possible, we got baby into their own bed be it playpen, crib, car seat, or whatever because we both just needed to have a small square inch or few of personal space for ourselves and each other because it was essential for our marriage, personal well being and sanity.

MsBwell
2 yearss ago

Growing up I shared a room with my younger sister, we even shared a bed. I never had a moments peace, she broke my toys, I was a clean freak, she liked living in a pig pen… she was a bed wetter, need I say more. I remember saying, “when I grow up my kids would have their own room”. In addition to that I love sex and sleep! With that said our girls have always slept in their own cribs/beds in their own rooms. Everyone’s bedroom doors are open. It’s not like I have them locked up and put away for the night. This is probably the only parental area that I have held my ground on. And maybe it’s because they take after me and have always been good sleepers that it has never been an issue. There are those occasions, especially during a deployment, that someone climbs into bed with me. I’m fine with that, we all next some extra comforting from time to time. But when I hear my friend gratefully stating that her five yr old finally feel asleep by midnight after she laid down with him. OH NO THANK YOU! I don’t see how you can recharge, where is your down time, a grown up moment. Now let’s talk teenagers! This is a whole new can of worms for me as our oldest is now thirteen. She went from a child who slept from nine at night till seven in the morning to this creature who is up till midnight and has to be up for school by six. The rule is all laptops off by eight and all other electrical devices off by nine. She reads till midnight or later, gets up by six on her own with no problem. I just don’t think that is enough sleep and I’m about to drug her or at least give her a shot of bourbon. (jk) Where’s the book “What to Expect the Teen Years”? http://marriedsingleparent.blogspot.com/

Heather Sellers
2 yearss ago

My 6 month old twins share a room. They do each have their own crib and sleep in it the majority of the time. On occasion one will sleep with us if they are having a bad night. Like last night, my son was in a lot of pain because he is cutting a third tooth (what is up with that by the way? He is on number three and poor Elizabeth can't get the first one through!) and so we be brought him in our room. That was for a few reasons, one being that we didn't want him to wake his sister and I think pain/illness always trumps traditional sleeping arrangements. My mom usually slept with me or my sister when we were really sick/scared/etc because my dad refused to let us sleep in their bed. I think Jaxson and Elizabeth will share a room for quite a while. At some point, I would like them to be able to have their own rooms, just because boys and girls can be so different and I suspect that as they get older they will need some time away from each other. But if they always want to share a room then that's fine with me, Mama gets a craft room!

SilverXeno
2 yearss ago

I have a 6 & 2 year old right now...I fully intended to do a co-sleeping thing with my babies...but after the first turned out to be the BIGGEST bed hog ever...she went right into the bassinet at night (it pulled up to the edge of the bed). She would flip herself sideways (she couldn't life her own head...but she could turn every which way to make my husband and I as uncomfy as possible!!) and give every else the worst night of sleep EVAR! Into the bassinet she went, then into the crib, and when she was 15 months, she no longer fit into the crib (she was too long all stretched out). When I moved out when my husband and I got married I traded my full size bed to my sister for her twin daybed/trundle. (Hubby and I had bought queen, didn't really think we would need the full bed.) Anywho...put the baby in that, and she was fine from day one. Slept in it until just rencently. When I had the second, I left her in the crib much longer, b/c my husband was away for about 9 months straight...and I couldn't disassemble and reassemble the crib elsewhere alone! Lol...So when I decided it was time for her to move up (and into the big sister's room), I had to either buy 2 new twin beds for them...or give them my queen bed and buy my husband and myself a KING. ...I wanted to ensure the beds could be used as bunk beds later if I went with twins...and the daybed could only go against a wall. I also had a conversation with my oldest child about it (she was 5.5 at the time) and she made a comment that she would probably sleep with her little sister anyway "so she won't get too scared". Hmm...I gave them the queen bed...and got myself and the hubby a KING bed. WOO! I don't regret it...they seem to enjoy it...yes, some nights are a little noisy, and there is fighting, but would there be less fighting if they were in seperate beds? Unlikely...I would keep them in the same room anyway. I put their bed & dressers in the smallest room when we moved...and gave them the dining room for their play room so their toys are confined to ONE space...and their room is for sleeping only. (So being sent to their room is an *actual* punishment!) It wasn't something I really fretted over...And as soon as I heard my 5 year old talk about basically abandoning her own bed to share with her sister...I thought, heck...I might as well make it work for us ALL!!

celestialmomma
2 yearss ago

We have a non-sleeper who is 5 and a 16 month old good sleeper. Our non-sleeper is such a non-sleeper, we didn't know there was a good sleeper version until ours was born. It took a portable DVD player at age 3 to entice non-sleeper out of our bed and into her own room. Colic and exhaustion brought her into our bed at around 6 months. Good sleeper has never been in our bed. She delights in her crib (so far). Every month or so, I wonder if maybe it's time for them to share a room and for us to gain a play room. Inevitably, I'll hear non-sleeper blasting classical and sounding out words by her led nightlight at two in the morning.

MeMyselfandMommy
2 yearss ago

For the first few weeks of Moanna's life she did not sleep. She would sleep for maybe 10 seconds at a time. When she finally entertained the idea of sleeping, she slept with us some. Most of the time she was in the infant crib beside our bed. Once she outgrew the infant crib, we moved her to a full sized crib. She still shared a room with us because we were living with my parents at the time to save money and for the extra helping hands. Ever since we moved out of my parents house, Moanna has slept in her own bed with the door shut. We've had nearly no problems with her sleeping alone at night. On a few occasions we have laid her down with us if she wakes up because of a storm or something. That only lasts about an hour or two before she is ready to go back to her own room. She has made it very clear that she needs her sleep (thank goodness) and her own space. When we lay her down with us she tosses and turns and pushes us to give her room. When we have more children, I'm sure for at least some period of time, they will share a room. If for no other reason, we don't have enough bedrooms right now for them to have their own room.

Pentamom
2 yearss ago

jnjmommy
2 yearss ago

For a little bit after my daughter was born I was in limbo at my moms because of my husband being in the navy, the custody case for my son with my ex, plus waiting for a house. So my husband was out to sea a lot so my kids and I stayed at my moms and we were all cramped up in my room that I used back in highschool. Now we have our room and they each have their own

Sleeping Arrangements: What Are Your Family's?

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