Anyone moved 2-3 year olds into the same room?

For a long time we've talked about moving Elliot and Clarissa into the same room so we could have our guest room back. Over Thanksgiving they shared a room at MIL's house and did well, and this weekend my parents visited and we put Elliot in Clarissa's room in his pack and play (in the past he's always slept in our room when we have guests). Again they did well, so we've kept him in there, three nights now. They love sharing the room, BUT they talk and talk and talk for over an hour before going to sleep, and then when one wakes up in the morning, he (always Elliot waking up first) he talks to Clarissa and wakes her up. They are happy, and I let them stay in there awake for an hour this morning, so it's not messing with my schedule. But I'm worried about them not getting enough sleep . . . they're currently getting nearly 2 hours less actual sleep than they did before, and I know that will catch up with us soon.

So, my question is, once the novelty of the situation wears off will they likely stop talking so much and start sleeping more? Or do we just need to decide which is more important - a guest room or well rested kids?

BTW, we're still going to have them nap in separate rooms - if they talked for an hour at naptime they'd never get any sleep.

Thanks for any insight!

Rachel

 

Well ours always shared a room up until 3 months ago. And yes they always chatted at nap, at bedtime, when they woke up. It didn't really affect their sleep too much. In fact now that they are separated they still chat away except they are talking to themselves. So if you don't mind chatty kids and the arrangement works better for you than I don't see why you shouldn't try it.

 

ours still share a room and talk at nap time and bed time - but not in the am. some days there is a LOT of talking (and it's quite hilarious to listen to) and playing before they go to sleep, other days hardly any. i think once the novelty wears off they will be fine - on days when one of mine is exhausted, they just go to sleep - even if the other is still talking (the other night i heard alisha saying "cam-en, what you doin over dere?" - he was clearly asleep or trying to sleep and she wanted to talk - it was super cute). although naps some days are tough (lots of playing and jumping and throwing stuffed animals between cribs) night time is not bad for us, and i think they really like being together.

 

Mine share a room and always have. Sometimes they are chatty if something really exciting happened right before bed, but usually O goes right to sleep and Lu entertains herself until she falls asleep. O gets up much earlier than Lu, so they sleep about the same amount as each other, it's just staggered.

 

Our girls have always been in a room together since the beginning. We just moved them to twin beds in our guest room (to get the nursery ready for the baby) a few weeks ago. They love it and are doing well. There have been 2 days of NO nap though b/c they talk/play/stuffed animal throwing, etc. But, those were both days when DH was home with them. They haven't done that with me. I guess I know how to "threaten" better than he does...lol! On average, it's taking them around 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to settle down for nap time. Sometimes they go right to sleep. Depends on the day. But, once they fall asleep, it's still for 2-2.5 hours. So, I cant' complain. Bedtime is usually better since it's dark in there and they can't see to mess around.

 

Our boys have shared from the beginning for nighttime and sleep seperate for naps.... Some nights they will chat for 45 mins or so and others it is dead silent from the moment I close the door... and like one of the pp's said sometimes one will keep chatting while the other is obviously asleep. They also will wake about 20 or 30 mins before I get them at 7am but they never cry or raise their voices too much. Mostly just sleepy chatter back and forth and sometimes fall asleep again after 10 mins of talk. I wish I could nap them in the same room (Reese is getting way too large for the PNP but wont sleep on the guest bed...) but they would chat and play the whole nap (I've tried it!) I guess it does boil down to what you think those 2 hours will cost you in the long run.... Good Luck!

 

Mine chat a lot at bedtime (sometimes up to an hour or slightly more), and Amy also starts talking the instant she wakes up in the morning, which usually wakes Sarah up. (Not always -- sometimes we find Amy chattering away and Sarah sound asleep.)

We just recently started napping them in the same room too. The first 3 days went great -- then on days 4 & 5, they stayed up chatting and singing for over an hour, before finally falling asleep (at 2:30 instead of 1) and having to be woken up at 4:00 (normally they're up at 3). So I'm not sure whether I can call the co-napping a success yet.

But as far as nighttime goes, I think they will get the sleep they need. Yours are old enough that a gentle reminder about it being bedtime might actually help. I've had a bit of success with that recently.

It might also be possible that they're not missing as much sleep as you think -- if they were in separate rooms before, they may have actually been awake, but just quieter (because they had no one to talk to). Even with ours being in the same room, every once in a while I peek in, thinking they're asleep, and find them both sitting there murmuring to their loveys or playing with their hair or something.

I say go for it -- I'd kill to have a guest room!

 

Your twins are older than mine -- it does help me to see what our plans will be like after the holiday. I am planning on moving my son into his own room. We have a 3 bedroom house too and need a guest room for my father-in-law and Nana. I am hoping that both of them will be able to sleep better because they do chat at nap and bedtime.

We already have 2 twins bed ready for them that is currently in our guest room. When we do move Justin and his crib into guest room which will include a twin bed for father-in-law. With Rianna will have one of the twin bed in her room for Nana to sleep when she visit. One of these days we will have a trunkle bed for Rianna and use both of the twins bed in her room. And buy 2 more twins bed for Justin and his future friends when staying over night.

If I had twins that are boys or girls and have them share as long as you can because I would want to keep the guest room. But I am blessed to have one of each g/b.


Diana w/Rianna and Justin (14-1/2 mos)

 

Mine have always shared a room and they will talk and play with each other for awhile on some days. We recently dropped their aftenoon naps as they were going to sleep later and later and talking more and more. But now at bedtime they may talk for 5 minutes to about 10 minutes and then they are out. In the morning my dd is the early riser and very chatty in the morning and she'll climb up to the top bunk and sit and talk to her brother until he finally gets up. I find that if one of them is tired enough they will just fall asleep and ignore the talking and the other will eventually go down because no one to talk to.

On the days when they are really wound up and not tired I will come in their room after about 20 minutes and remind them that it's bedtime and time for quiet and that seems to work.

 

Connor and Chloe are 3 1/2 and still sleep in the same room in separate toddler beds but they don't take naps anymore. At night they talk to each other a little but its no big deal,she usually falls asleep first and Connor is talking to himself!

oh,when they were still taking naps they usually did it in shifts or in separate rooms.

 

Mine share a room and always have. They talk to eachother alot when we put them to bed and they're not tired. As long as they are tired they usually go right to sleep.