When Boys Have To Share

As our family readies to embark on a HUGE move across country, we are also gearing up for a few other family changes. One of the biggest and most wonderful blessings will be the addition of our third child this August. I can’t tell you how excited we are to welcome “sweet baby J” so soon…

In an attempt to avoid future child adjustment issues, we’ve decided to move our two boys, M and T (3 years 4mos and 22mos, respectively) into a room together as soon as we move into our new house. We chose to make the switch now while they are already transitioning, rather than after the baby comes. No need to add more to our lives in August. I think the logic here is sound (though if others have alternative suggestions, I’m open to hearing them).

T will remain in a crib (as long as we can keep him in it without climbing!), while M will be in a twin bed. Their room is rather rectangular in shape, but will be pretty spacious. The door is in the lower left corner of the room, the closet is on the upper left, and two windows are spaced equally on the right. I’ve attempted to “draw” the room layout here–enjoy my attempt at computer graphics! 🙂

Knowing that we have a lot of seasoned parent readers out there, I am asking (begging) for your tried-and-true wisdom when it comes to child room sharing. Just having a leg up on what we should expect/anticipate/avoid will do wonders for our family’s adjustment! I have already started offering this intention during prayer times–I’m really nervous, especially as I get further along in the pregnancy and sleep becomes oh-so-precious!

Here are a few of my questions:

1) what advice do you have for transitioning children into room sharing?

2) how should we arrange the boys’ beds?

3) should naps and nighttime sleep look differently?

4) what sort of incentive/disciplinary measures have you taken to ensure proper sleep behavior?

5) how can we maximize our (parental) sleep?

I’ll take whatever advice you have to share. Thanks a million!