Bed Sharing with Sibs?

[kevinsgirl]

I would love some advice--we have a full sized loft for our 3 1/2 & 51/2 year old girls. Our room situation is such that they really need to share a room, but I guess they wouldn't have to share a bed, even though it saves SO much space; they'd have very little floor space w/ even bunk beds.

The trouble is, the 3 yo torments the 5 yo until the 5 yo asks to fall asleep in our room and then we have to haul her up to the loft later on, which obviously, is not ideal.

Any ideas to make the little one be less pestery? THANKS so much!

[PreggieUBA2C]

Our four boys share a big bed and sometimes the 29 month old is very rambunctious at bedtime with his brothers. Ours take two hours or longer to fall asleep, but if ds4 is bothering them when they are ready to sleep (for instance on the rare day when he fals alseep in the van for 30 minutes or so), I take him into the dimmed livingroom and lay down with him on the couch. He'll play for a bit, but when I just rest next to him without enagaging him in play or conversation, he tends to quickly relax and fall asleep. Then I take him to the big bed with his brothers.

Every now and then, it's one of the bigger boys keeping the others up, but it is usually easier for them to gain self-control through reasoning with them about their need for sleep than the youngest. But we have taken three yr olds out for wind-down-with-mummie time too.

Sometimes we find that a child has a very hard time letting go of dp and me to go to sleep, and that being with us when their eyes close for the day helps immensely, and then we put them in bed when they've fallen asleep.

Could you take the younger one out for some parenting-to-sleep?