Hellobee Boards

@Hypatia: Do they have the same bedtime? I'd try to get the younger one to sleep first and then have the older one sneak in and go to bed. This will be my reality if we ever have a second!

Oh also, don’t know if this applies to you but both kids really like an adult to be there as they fall asleep. We try to do it whenever we are able, for 10 minutes at least, sometimes I can’t if the youngest needs me. But then we always say “if you don’t work on being quiet and calming your body, I can’t stay with you” and that is surprisingly effective. If that specific thing doesn’t work maybe there is something important to them that would incentivize them to remain calm.

Mine are same ages and share a room.l. They get along great but bedtime is difficult because they insist I stay in the room. I currently stay in bed with the 3 y/o until she falls asleep (and many nights I fall asleep too). Before this stage (me pregnant and feeling like crap) we would often let her go downstairs and do puzzles or literally watch me/us do chores so she didn’t keep the 6 y/o awake.

Our 4 and 6 year old share a room and have for years. Even though they are getting older, still one of us will stay in the room with them (we just read on our phone or watch a show with headphones) until the youngest is asleep. The good news is, she usually falls asleep really fast. After we read stories, tuck them in and turn off lights, it's probably just 5-10 minutes.

Mine are a little younger, 2 and almost 4, and we just moved them in together about a month ago in preparation for baby 3 coming soon. So far, the older one has been the bigger problem for sure. They talk, yell, giggle, and sing for about 20-40 minutes before they're quiet, and then one of them usually wakes up the other too early in the morning, so they're losing about an hour of sleep at night...but this is slowly getting better! It's maddening sometimes, but it's cute to listen to them over the monitor and hear what they're saying to each other. The older one is a chatterbox, and sometimes I'll hear the younger one scold her "no talking, it's sleepytime!" It's the cutest thing ever.

For us, I don't think it would work to have one of us sit in there while they're falling asleep - older DD would never stop talking. It's easier when her sister falls asleep and stops talking back, then she has no one to talk to and will fall asleep. Same thing with putting younger one to bed earlier and sneaking in with DD1 later - there is no "sneaking" with her, she would never be able to be quiet enough. It's an adjustment period for sure, but it's getting better. And a bonus - they're napping better because they're so exhausted lol! DD1 had previously started skipping naps a lot, and I think she's only done that once or twice since moving in together. We do have DD1 nap in our room - we tried them together for the first week or so and it was NOT working. They'd talk/cry for an hour+ until we moved one of them, and/or one would wake up the other way too early and they'd both be super crabby. But DD1 napping in our room is working.

We use the insight timer app for a bedtime story that fades into white noise. And the older one understands time, so I was able to say things like, if you choose to play at bedtime then tomorrow you will have less play time and an earlier bedtime so you get enough sleep. Then I only had one stinker to deal with instead of two.