Big Kid Beds

We had such a nice thing going. Not even a month ago, Sebastien and Eden were still in cribs. We had an awesome bedtime routine. Naps and bedtime were a breeze. Seriously, so low maintenance. And bedtime was 7:00. So by 7:30, Adam and I could have an evening.

Around the 10th of July (right before the kids' second birthday) we moved them to big kid beds and a new room. In some ways it went better than we expected. For example, from night one, once they fell asleep they were asleep all night. (Except the night before their birthday when Sebastien fell out of bed and got a fat lip.)

I had been putting off writing this blog because I expected that, like with most of their transitions, if I waited just a week or two, I would be able to write this update with some perspective. A happy ending, if you will. "Yeah, it was tough in the beginning, but now..."

Unfortunately we have not reached our "...but now."

Here's the issue. They are two years old. And there are two of them in one room. So of course, you can go through the routine, do the stuff they need to settle into bed, but then you leave. The door shuts, they pop up and they have this whole room and they have access to each other. So they play and they run around and they go bonkers. So, when things seem to be getting out of control, we go back in, settle them back down. But again, that door closes behind us and up they pop.

Ok, fine, right? Just let them run off their steam and eventually they'll fall asleep. Even if it's on the floor. I would agree.

Except.

Except that usually one of them (Eden) is ready to sleep before the other (Bash.) And that one (Eden) likes her space and her quiet. So inevitably when the other (Bash) does what had been previously acceptable to the one (Eden) - jump in her bed, talk to her, play with her toys - the one (Eden) has a fit. ("Noooo Bashy" "Daddy/Mommy HELP Bashy!" "Bashy get DOWN!" etc. with some hitting probably. Face it, she's two, and we're still learning not to hit and push.) Then the other (Bash) is hurt (not as much physically as emotionally) and he has a fit too. (A nonverbal fit in his case, just crying hard.)

So we have two very unhappy, sleepy children.

Solution? Once we reach the point where we can tell one is ready to actually sleep, we sit in the room. Yes, we sit in between their beds to keep them apart so that they can fall asleep.

Do you have a better solution? Because if you do, we are all ears. Bedtime has become very time consuming. We've had a few good nights, where they have been able to fall asleep without us physically present. But most nights and most naps, we sit there.

I have a feeling that the better solution is "give it time." We will. It's really fine, and I know they will learn. I just don't want them to unlearn all of the good self-soothing sleep stuff that they used to do like pro's because now they have mom and dad right there while they drift off to sleep.