Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Sleeping Arrangements

Last night was Bundle’s second night in her crib in her brother’s room. So far, so good. I mean, it’s a work in progress, obviously, but we’re getting there. Kirk’s got a set bedtime ritual and once the routine is completed, he’s done. It’s easy to move bedtime up when necessary, just by starting procedures earlier. Ronnie, however, just eats and eats and eats and eats and then passes out. There’s no real adjustments possible. She’s generally sacked by 10:30, though it can happen earlier. So basically, I just sneak into the sleeping boy’s room, put the sleeping baby in her crib, and sneak back out. We’ve got the monitor set up so I’ll go fetch her when she wakes up in the 2am-4am range to eat again. Theoretically she could then go back but since we’ve mastered the laying down nursing position I generally just keep her in bed with me until I have to get up anyways.

I think the trick is going to be those nights where she falls asleep earlier and he’s wound up and talking to himself in his bed for two hours. We’ll see what happens.

4 comments:

Elen said...

Oh I do beleive siblings should share a room!

I had a nursing chair in my boys' room for a while (not a very comfy one I grant). But I'd slip in when bubby woke, feed then put him back down. Worked well for a while...then all went to pieces. We ended with separate rooms for about 6 months then Ryan asked for his little brother to sleep in his room. Then it worked beautifully. I think children sleep better (and giggle more!) when they share a room.
Both mine did that cluster feed all evening thing too.
Hope it keeps working for you.

belsum said...

How long does the cluster feeding last?! Man alive, I can't get anything frickin' done in the evening because I've got a bundle attached to my boob the whole time. She drains me dry nearly every night and still needs a bottle.

The mister is talking about getting bunk beds for them already - putting the crib underneath the top one for now. That would make enough space for a nursing chair but I must admit to enjoying the sleep-nursing position now that we've got it figured out.

Elen said...

Then do the sleep nursing thing! If you like it do it!

*thinking back through haze of early babies* uh I think it lasts to somewhere around 4th or 5th month? Or maybe when solids are started. I remember the cluster feeding but not so much the end of it!
I used to try to think of it as sitting down time - because goodness knows I wasn't getting anything else done!
My two year old fell off our neighbours bunk bed the other day. He was climbing the ladder and slipped. I am holding out on bunks until my youngest is 4 I think.

belsum said...

I definitely do a lot of internet surfing/television watching/book reading during the evening cluster sessions. I was hoping you'd say the start of solid foods is the end of that. I'm going to check with Doc at her upcoming 4 month visit and hopefully we'll get the green light to start her on cereal.