Sharing the Bed

I have bragged to many people about how my kids sleep through the night (at least 8 hours) by 7 weeks old. It's nice. Really nice.

But,

I paid the price for bragging when Morgan turned one. She woke up nightly with night terrors. Luckily, she grew out of it within a few months and we were back to peaceful nights.

At age two, once we could get Morgan to stay in her room (see here), she slept pretty soundly through the night. She and Sadie never seemed to bother each other and once again, when Sadie was about 7 weeks old, we were back to un-interrupted sleep at nights. Nice.

Jump ahead now to age three. Morgan wakes up in the middle of the night and whines (think a dog whimpering at your back door) until either Brian or I comes in to their room. (Most of the time, Sadie sleeps through it). Then, when we go to leave, she starts crying, "No! Sleep with me! I can't sleep by myself! Come cuddle with me!" At this point, I leave and go grumpily back to bed, but soft-hearted Brian usually lays with her for a bit.

Long story short, I am getting so tired of her coming into our room and trying to climb into bed or hearing crying from down the hall (mothers unfortunately can't sleep through this). So, I tried something new a couple nights ago.

When I went into her room late one night, and Morgan asked me to lay with her, I suggested she climb into bed with Sadie. I was worried this would backfire and in a few minutes I might have TWO kids up, crying for Mommy and not going to sleep. But, it was worth the chance. The next morning, I went into the girls room and there they were, laying in Sadie's bed, happy and giggling!

So, I tried it again last night. Actually, Morgan asked and she started in bed with Sadie. It did take a few times of reminding them to be quiet (I remember my dad hollering up the stairs at us kids many times), but once they were asleep, we didn't have any problems! It was fabulous to sleep through the night again!