A few years ago when Ray and I were in the market for new bed, we couldn’t quite agree on which size to get… at just over 6 feet tall, Ray is not exactly a small man  and wanted a king size bed so that he would have enough room to move and be comfortable. I on the other hand, liked the comfy, coziness of the queen size bed we had, and didn’t want to lose that. In the end, we did get the king size bed… and boy am I happy that we did, because every day, in  the early morning hours, two pairs of little feet come scurrying through the hall and crawl into our bed next to us… 

Will I Ever Get My Bed Back

 

Noah was never a good sleeper. He was always a fan of short naps and has slept through the night only a handful of times. It took us what seemed like forever to get him to fall asleep on his own while in his own bed. We were a little scared of how the transition to his big boy bed would go and were glad to find out that he loved it. For once he started going to bed without a fuss and he started sleeping better at night too.

He’s become much needier since Abby was born and doesn’t like to sleep alone in his room anymore… both at night and at naptime. It used to be that he would start his nap in his room, sleep there for 45 min then wake up and finish his nap on the couch. Since Abby’s birth though, he has started refusing to sleep in his bed for naps and will only fall asleep in the car or downstairs on the couch… on my lap… while I’m trying to nurse Abby… oh and did I mention that he has to hold her hand too? Yeah, it’s fun.

The thing is that I have tried to change it. I’ve tried to keep a routine and yet he went and turned it upside down on me. He is taking his nap later and going to bed later as well… the plus side to that is that he is now also getting up later in the morning. I’ve stuck with the same nap and bed routine that he is used to and that we have been doing for months… and yet there is almost always drama at nap and bedtime.

I’m starting to notice that I’m slowly reaching that last straw… I have an insane amount of patience, but it’s wearing thin. I need his nap time to not only recharge my own batteries, but also to spend some time alone with Abby and to get the house in order (again). We’ve tried talking to him… that’s not very useful with a child under 2. We tried letting him cry, but he is stubborn and doesn’t stop… at all. When nothing else works and as a last resort, we just bring him back to where we are and let him fall asleep there and then transfer him back to his bed, but honestly that doesn’t help the situation at all and I’m not a big fan of it.

I’m hoping that this is just a phase and that it will pass… I’d love to hear your thoughts and will gladly take any helpful suggestions on how to reclaim naptime and my bed!!

 

 It’s been two years and now instead of just one little bed crasher, we have two. We’ve tried many different things to try to get them to stay in their rooms and beds, but they have all just been temperary fixes at best. Instead of worrying about how I can get the kids to sleep in their own beds, I have learned to embrace what we have… because I know that in a few years, when the kids are older and bigger, I will look back, smile, and wish that for just one day they would be little enough to do it again.

{Thankfully the nap problem has been resolved, and though they don’t always go to sleep without a fight, they both do sleep at least 1 1/2 hours daily… which is a good thing, because we all need their rest!!}