A Shared Room For The Girls — kendra

Apr 17

Apr 17 A Shared Room For The Girls

With the impending arrival of baby #4, we knew that a shared bedroom was in order for 2 of our 3 kids. I've been dreading this day for a very long time, as sleep is a premium around here and I go to great lengths to make sure my kids nap and sleep at night with excellence. Sleep is just one of my 'things'. SO, when it came time to decide who to combine, I considered everyone's personalities, as well as longevity of the arrangements and decided it would be best to put the girls together. All of our kids are under two years apart, with the oldest being 4, so there's not a ton of self-regulation over here ;) With that being said, I knew Baylor would go crazy if he had his toys mixed with Bellamy's (he's a classic first born with control & ocd traits) and the thought of having to put the two of them down together at night was enough to send me into a downward spiral.

Winnie is 18 months, and Bellamy is 3, and so far, we've anything but mastered the shared bedroom. Night one started out great, Winnie is an excellent sleeper and went down without a problem in her crib. We read books & did our bedtime routine with Bellamy in Baylor's bedroom (which was only a novelty for a couple nights and now a total shit show), and then instructed Bellamy to be very quiet in her room and close her eyes and go to sleep. (don't get out of your bed, don't talk, and don't turn the lights on, yada yada yada). She got out of her bed 15 times to get 27 different books, and once her bed looked like a library, she was ready to sleep. It took longer than normal (as I assumed it would), but I thought things were going to be fine! I was optimistic and self-admittedly totally naive. 11:00 rolls around, I'm an hour into my REM cycle ;) and I hear Bellamy screaming - I'm thinking throw-up, bloody nose, or she rolled out of bed. I run in to see what's going on (Collin's also home but somehow he always ends up with earplugs in before bed? ;), and Bellamy gathers herself between tears enough to explain to me that there's a stranger in her room sleeping in that crib and she's VERY SCARED. At this point, Winnie is also screaming, I'm still trying to decide if I'm dreaming or if this in fact, reality, and also thinking - WTF?! So, needless to say, total fail.

BUT, on the upside, the room is adorable and we have a few months to work out the kinks before Winnie is evicted from the baby's crib in the nursery (that is more like a hot mess storage room at this point). I loved putting this room together - my goal was fun & playful yet sophisticated enough to grow through the baby & toddler years! Sources are at the bottom - I hope you love it as much as we do!