Master Bedroom Update // How We've Survived Our 'Not So Good' Sleeper
THE FARMHOUSE In honor of last weekend's Daylight Savings - the bane of every parent's existence - I thought I'd share a little peek into the minor change we've made to our master bedroom that has made all the difference in how our toddler sleeps at the Farmhouse. Spoiler...he and we sleep much better! I'll be back back next week with Wilder's Farmhouse bedroom reveal as promised.
Our toddler has never been much of a sleeper. I can probably count the number of times that Wilder has slept through the night on two hands (plus maybe two feet) and he's 3 1/2 years old! Lack of sleep is one of the things that Garret and I have struggled with the most as parents, especially in Wilder's first year, but we've finally found a way we can all survive.
sconce / cord cover / bed frame / velvet pillow / accent pillow (similar here) / sheet set / rug / curtains / lion / books: Pajama Time, Lama Lama Nighty Night, The Little Blue Truck / sleeping bag (no longer available, but my favorite alternatives are at the bottom of this post!) / paint: BM Simply White
Yes, that's a sleeping bag on our master bedroom floor. I didn't exactly include that in my master bedroom One Room Challenge reveal, but it gets used Every. Single. Night! Somewhere between midnight and 4 am, Wilder slides out of his bed, crosses the landing, and tucks himself into his sleeping bag next to Garrett's side of the bed, where he proceeds to sleep the rest of the night.
And that right there, is the best thing that happened to my night of sleep since becoming a parent!
Let me explain how this all came to be. Sometime last year, we were at our pediatrician's office, and the doctor asked us how sleep was going. After I stopped laughing, I launched into it: Wilder has never been a "sleeper". Wilder has woken us up almost every night of his life. At 5 months old he was sleeping in his crib and waking up 5 times a night, and though sleep got better as he got older, Wilder has never taken to the all-nighter. We've read and tried just about anything, including sleep training, but nothing seemed that helpful. At 2 1/2, we were putting Wilder down in his own room but he was sneaking into our bed sometime in the middle of the night, and it worked okay, except that Wilder was a restless sleeper, often kicking us and steeling blankets. Once Brooks came along, our bed was too full and our nights were too short. The doctor heard us out and then surprised us by saying that she had similar issues when her sons when they were young. She recommended we put a sleeping bag next to our bed and teach Wilder that it was his own (and *only*) special sleeping place in our bedroom, when he needed it.
It wasn't a new or particularly creative solution - I'm sure many parents have done something similar in the course of history - but it was a respectful solution we could all live with, and one that had a profound impact on our family's sleep and thus our lives.
The first couple of nights were rough (Wilder really wanted to get in bed with us), but soon his middle of the night antics were reduced to tip-toeing into our room and quietly tucking himself into his sleeping bag. The best part was that he didn't even wake Garrett and I up. It's worked so well that the sleeping bag is still our policy for Wilder today (thankfully Brooks has proved to be a happier sleeper in his crib), except when he's sick or needs cuddles after a bad dream.
So that's the minor change to our bedroom that has made our household majorly happier. I'm a big proponent of doing what works for your family and your child (because goodness knows they're all different) when it comes to sleep, so please don't take any of this as advice. It's just fun to show you guys the full story of how we use our bedroom space. And if you've come up with your own creative kid sleeping solution, I'd love to hear about it!
Wilder's shark sleeping bag (a 2nd birthday gift from Nana) is no longer available, but I found some fun alternatives. Check out the roundup below. I'm thinking about getting number 1 or 2 for Brooks (for traveling not for our bedroom floor!). Or maybe 4. Goodness, they're all cute!
I'll be back next week with Wilder's bedroom reveal. In the meantime, you can get caught up on what we've done to his space at the Farmhouse here. For all you parents out there, I wish you an easy Daylight Savings transition. But if it's not, you can sign this petition to end Daylight Savings or this one to stay on summer time permanently, aka Daylight Savings time...just saying.
xoxo
-Cathy