October 24th 2012, I wrote this:
One gloomy fall day, on a mom’s whim, two sister were laid down to nap.
They giggled and romped instead, didnt even bonk their heads!
Sleep they did not but mom got a break even if they were in the other room, still awake.
After rejected naptime they did sleep. At bedtime, right away they fell fast asleep!
Since then they’ve been sharing a room. It’s good but sad because it means soon,
two big girls will be independent and strong, less and less they’ll be needing their mom.
All week 13 month old Adalyn has been sleeping in the room with 3 yr old Everly. We aren’t sleeping through the night yet, Adalyn still wakes about once a night to nurse… but the waking happens far less than it used to when she was still sleeping in our bed.
Amazingly, Adalyn’s waking and crying in the middle of the night doesn’t wake Everly, and for the most part, Everly’s shenanigans (when not carried out in Adalyn’s bed) don’t seem to keep Adalyn awake.
This whole month we’ve been trying to inch closer and closer to more nighttime independence, we aren’t trying to force it- just encourage it. This may be going far better than we imagined.
What worked for you in terms of bring about nighttime independence?
