If you have landed on this post, chances are that you are considering making the switch to a shared bedroom for your kids. Or you have already made the switch and the transition is not going well. Whatever the reason, you are in the right place.
We never planned to have our kids share a bedroom, but when our third child was born and we were living in a 3 bedroom house, we had to. At the time, the two kids that would be sharing were 2 and 4. The 2 year old was still in her crib. We dove right into the switch and failed miserably. Bedtime became a MESS. Mornings became unbearable with kids waking up 2 hours earlier than normal. I DEEPLY regretted not coming up with a solution that didn’t require my kids to share a bedroom.
Something HAD to give. We have made a lot of changes since then. So here are the tips I wish I would have known before making the switch.
If the bedroom is new to both kids, move one in first.
We ended up using the bonus room as our shared bedroom. The bedroom was new to both kids. We moved my 4 year old son first so that he could get all of his new room exploration out before we moved his sister in.
Potty Breaks before bed
Nothing wakes up the entire room more than one kid getting out of bed and opening the door. Empty bladders help discourage them from getting up.
Use a sound machine (or two if the room is large) to make the kids less likely to hear one another
We have a bunch of different sound machines, but our Hatch sound machine was by far the loudest. It helps so much to drown out the noises that they make. Running a humidifier also helps to add a bit of white noise. Read about my favorite one here.
Put one kid to sleep first (preferably the loudest kid) before the other comes in the bedroom
This is doesn’t have to last forever. But it really helps if bedtime has become a circus because of room sharing. I would put my 2 year old down to bed first and once she was asleep, my 4 year old would quietly sneak in and go lay in bed.
Play Music WITH lyrics at bedtime.
A great way to discourage kids from talking with one another, screaming or fighting is to give them something else to focus on. The easiest solution for us was playing a CD of kids music.
No nightlight in the bedroom
It may sound mean, but my kids are 800% more likely to get up and play around in their room when they can see well. A dark room encourages them to stay in bed. Our compromise is that we put glow in the dark stars on their ceiling. They LOVE them and love laying in bed staring up at them.
Visual Barrier between kids
Maybe your children are angels and don’t ever fight. But mine do. All the time. A single look from my 4 year old to my 2 year old and she will immediately start crying. Our kids bedroom is the bonus room, so we arranged their beds so that they were in the dormers. When in their beds, they are very separated.
Okay to Wake clock to encourage kids to stay in bed in the mornings
Our Hatch white noice machine comes with an okay to wake feature. It glows red starting around 5am and then turns green at 7:15am. The green light gives them permission to get out of bed. If they stay in bed until the green light then they get a bribe reward .
Since making these changes, we have far more good nights than we do bad. Many nights where both kids are in bed by 7:15pm and asleep shortly thereafter. Halle-freaking-lujah! Life is finally back to normal and mama gets time to herself in the evenings!