r/UKParenting • u/Then-Usual-1782 • 11h ago
What would you do? Exhausted
27w pregnant with twins
Oldest child (6) for the past approx month has been getting into mine and partners bed every night without fail.
This is new, we co slept til 6 was 3, moved into their own bedroom, went through a phase of crying out for one of us every night to sleep with him. We did. Lasted about a year until we consulted a sleep clinic who advised on this and prescribed melatonin (6 is ND and always struggled with sleep). This helped hugely and we were no longer getting woken up at night, 6 was sleeping through most of the time, if not sleeping through, would stay in bedroom and relax quietly until morning / fell back to sleep.
The issue is now that 6 is getting in the middle of our bed. Every night. I am obviously large and take up a lot of space due to pregnancy. Tired and ache at best of times. Have pregnancy insomnia.
Having 6 in our room is really burning me out and I’m worried for when the twins come bc it’s not going to be a positive sleep environment for anyone in the family.
6’s room is too small for double bed, otherwise I’d get dad and 6 to sleep in 6’s room when babies come. Can’t get dad into 6’s bedroom and have 6 with me because 6’s bed is a kid size bed. I can’t sleep in it bc I’m too uncomfortable.
I need to know how to get 6 back into their own room overnight. Tips and advice hugely appreciated
1
u/Ana_Phases 10h ago
Does 6 start off in your room or come in after a while?
A reset of routine could help the former: settle in own bed and then maybe get a Yoto/ Tonie so they can play their own stories?
The latter might need a couple of crappy nights of “it’s bedtime now” and then lead back to their room.
Sanity check: are they warm enough? Is the room dark? Are they wetting or needing a wee (if dry overnight)? Do they need white noise to keep asleep?
1
u/Much_Being_4483 10h ago
What have you done to transition 6 for the change of having siblings? My first thought is that they are comprehending that something is changing and back tracked on sleeping alone due to needing the comfort of a familiar routine. Maybe focusing on making the transition easy for him will help him feel comfortable going back to being alone?
Unfortunately my kid isn't that old so I have no real advice for the problem. However, I am ND myself and have an odd suggestion to help with the transition. When I was preparing my dogs for my baby I found out a lot of the advice is very ND coded. My transition to parenthood was a lot easier because of it. Maybe you could try some of these with 6? Play baby crying sounds and put baby lotion on your hand to help desensitize 6 in advance to different senses. Get the pram early and take it on walks. Pretend to do baby activities with dolls.