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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Good Advice

I like my doctor. He is not your average doctor. I think that I mentioned in another post that he is the one who initially planted the idea of natural childbirth into my head. When I have asked him questions about circumcision/vaccinations and many other topics, he is open to listening to my ideas and then in a fatherly way telling me his ideas.
At Gabe's last well child appointment, I was telling him about sleep issues... namely the fact that he doesn't sleep great. I explained to him that he slept with us for the first 11 months and that he was having a much harder time adjusting to the crib than Sofia did when we transitioned her around the same age. The first thing he asked me is if they sleep in the same room. I explained to him that Gabe is a really light sleeper and that Sofia would wake him up all of the time so they are in different rooms. He told me that he wonders if they would sleep better if they shared a room. He then went on to tell me his fatherly story of how at one point, he had 5 of his own children in the same bedroom when they lived in a small apartment, and that they all slept great with the comfort of having siblings close by.
That night I went home and asked Sofia if she wanted to move her bed into Gabe's room. She was so excited..... and we all lived happily ever after.. J/K. Things are not perfect still, but Gabe is sleeping better, and they are both so happy being in the same room. Why didn't I think of this before? It makes sense that kids would sleep better together and be happier with the closeness of another human that they love. Most of us would believe the contrary (and Sofia has woken Gabe up a couple of times), but it just makes sense. I'm not saying that this is a cure all for sleep problems, because like I said, things are not perfect, but don't be afraid to try at least if you are running out of options!

7 comments:

Dani said...

I love your new blog background! Go Christmas! Our kids share a room and love it. Granted, they play for a little while before they go to sleep, but I absolutely love hearing their little giggles in there and they love having each other. Hope that continues to help.

adrienne said...

What a good doctor! Our kids have shared a room- right now M shares with V and T is in his own room, because the girls are both really good sleepers and T wakes everyone up on purpose. I'm surprised by how many people have said to me "Oh, we could never put our kids in the same room." It's not so bad and we've never had the choice. I'm glad it seems to be working for you!

Amanda Nemelka said...

That makes me so happy to hear. Our plan has been to have Chance and the new one share a room b/c I just feel Chance is still too little to be in the back room all by himself. Soooo...it HAS TO work. Hope all is well. Have a great thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

Isn't Dr. R the greatest :-) I love him too!

Elisa Street said...

Dr. R definitely takes the extra time to make things personal. Didn't I have any influence on you about the natural childbirth???

Robyn said...

He told me the same thing when we were having trouble with Elliette.

5 kids - 1 room. Crazy, crazy stuff. . . . just can't imagine how it worked.

Cami said...

My kids when they are little sleep together they do sleep through alot of noise. And they do play before bed. They even console each other in the middle of the night if I don't hear. So great!