Every morning for the last 18 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days, Hazeline has woken up screaming. But who’s counting? Oh wait – Me. Okay, there have been a handful of mornings where she’s woken up and quietly played in her crib, but I can count those occurrences on one hand. So not kidding.
When she was a newborn, I expected the screaming and crying. In fact, I would have considered it odd (and outrageously lucky) if she woke up happy and cooing all the time. But by the time she hit 6-9 months I thought it would stop. By then babies are sleeping more regularly, eating solids, and can play alone for short periods of time. Around 8 months old, Greenleigh would wake up and spend 15-20 minutes in her crib, happily playing with her toys before I went in to get her in the mornings. It was blissful.
I’ve waited and waited with Hazeline, but that blissful moment hasn’t happened. Morning after morning, she wakes up in a state of absolute panic, screaming and crying. And make no mistake, by “screaming and crying”, I mean losing her ever-loving mind. Each and every single morning. In the old house we were all on the same floor, so I’d run to her room on the other end of our townhouse, grab Hazeline from her crib, and bring her back to our room to (hopefully) get some more sleep. In our new house, the sprint to get Hazeline includes running up a flight of stairs and leaping over obstacles that Greenleigh has put in the way on her late night jaunts through the house now that she can leave her room (thanks, toddler bed) – humidifier water tanks, stuffed animals, books, and occasionally Greenleigh, herself. All to get Hazeline before she screams so loud that she wakes Greenleigh up.
I’ve tried tons of things to stop the screaming – putting her favorite toys in her crib, taking everything out of her crib, getting her a sippy first thing in the morning, and even waiting a bit before going to get her to see if the crying would die down. I can assure you that the last one does not work. In fact, nothing has worked. Nothing.
But this morning as Hazeline started crying I was downstairs drying my hair and I didn’t hear the monitor. Greenleigh came running into my bathroom telling me that Baby Sister was up. She then asked if she could go into Hazeline’s room and see her. My hair was only halfway dried (and it tends to frizz if I leave it wet for too long) so it sounded like a fine idea. Over the next 15 or so minutes, I watched and listened to the girls play and laugh through the monitor. Hazeline was in the crib, but Greenleigh brought her toys and books for them to play with. There were also lots of knock knock jokes – Knock knock. Who’s there? Knock knock. Who’s there? Knock knock. They had an absolute ball together. When I finally got up there, Hazeline in her crib reading a book and Greenleigh on the floor beside her crib, singing and playing with some dolls. I reached to grab Hazeline out of the crib, only for her to look at me like I was disturbing her. She was clearly having fun (and surrounded by a crap-ton of stuffed animals).
And then I had a thought – What if the girls were in the same room? What if they had the company of the other? Would Greenleigh feel compelled to leave the room if her baby sister was in there with her? And would Hazeline wake up screaming if she wasn’t in a room alone? What if they could play in the mornings together while I get ready for work? Greenleigh’s room is plenty big enough for Hazeline’s crib. And Greenleigh seemed pretty excited about the idea when I asked what she thought about Baby Sister sleeping in her room.
If you had asked me last week if the girls were going to share a room, I would have responded with “eventually”. But now I’m seriously thinking about moving up that time frame.
Lots of my friends have (older) kids that share rooms, but it’s normally an issue of space. That’s not our problem. We have the space for each of them to have their own room. And yet, this might be the only time when they might appreciate sharing a room. My sister and I shared a room from the time I was 7 until I turned 14, and trust me, sharing a room was not welcome at that point in my life. We constantly drew lines with masking tape down the center of the room dividing who got what. Unfortunately, one of us always ended up without access to the bathroom so that never stuck. But maybe this is an okay time for them to share a room, even if it’s based on preference and not necessity.
Do you have or have you had two young kids sharing a room? How did it work out? Did you do it because you had to (due to space) or because you wanted your kids to share a room?
my boys..4 and 7…share the room due to space but it also work really great right now because my 7 yr old is pretty protective of his brother so if theres any nightmares or anything we usually find them in the same bed lol its also great in the mornings because they play really nice together till i get up on the days theres not school lol
It’s not a bad idea for siblings to share a room. My grand kids do. Sooner or later they will want their own room. BTW – I like personal post. Thanks for sharing.
I think that sounds like an awesome idea. Then when they get older, if they want to move into separate rooms, they can. I think it would really help, and if it doesn’t, then you’ll at least know that isn’t the problem.
I think it also sounds like a great idea! It sounds like Hazeline (I LOVE her name, btw!) and Greenleigh really enjoy being with each other, so why not? 🙂
Sorry to hear about her waking up screaming, I have been lucky and have always had really great sleepers. Well, I take that back. My little boy occasionally had night terrors and wakes up in the middle of the night and crys while walking around the house. Its really freaky but doesnt last long and he doesnt remember a thing the next morning
Wow! That sounds so scary…at least he doesn’t remember it, but still…
I’m so jealous that you have that as an option. My youngest son would love to have Zeva in his room, but he doesn’t see dangers of putting things that she can choke on in her crib. Nor is he gentle with her by any means. He tries to be a good big brother, and I’m not trying to say he does it to be mean. He’s just hipper and doesn’t see danger of any kind. The boys are a great help with Zeva though!
I’m at my wits end with Zeva waking up in the middle of the night a lot, and then crying until I go get her. She use to play nicely in her crib, but no more. 🙁
I’m glad to know I’m not alone with this issue. I believe you found your solution though. 🙂 Girls are natural care takers. 🙂
Oh, trust me, you are not alone! I am so sorry to hear about your waking in the middle of the night problem. That’s one benefit to our situation – she is sleeping until 6:45-7:15 in the morning, she just wakes up really upset. It’s just hard because I have to get there right away for her not to wake Greenleigh up. That’s my one hesitation about moving them into the same room though, Hazeline wakes 30-60 minutes earlier than Greenleigh and Greenleigh really needs her sleep or she is impossible to deal with. What to do, what to do. [Insert heavy sigh here]
I also worry about Greenleigh putting something in her crib that she can’t have…Greenleigh’s good (and a worry wart, if you can believe it), but what if she doesn’t realize a hidden danger in a toy? It just makes me nervous.
I think I might wait until the next time we have company in town and try it then, but put Hazeline to sleep in a pack and play so nothing is permanent. With the holidays coming, we should have some company soon…
Hazeline sounds a bit like my 24 month old, Hannah, who also screams every time she wakes up in the morning and from her nap. Yes, every time. We moved her little brother (Jonah- 12 months) into her room once he was sleeping through the night regularly. Hannah would still wake up and scream but then as soon as Jonah woke up (normally just a minute after the screaming commenced), she would calm down and they would laugh and shriek at each other from across the room. It has worked great! I put Jonah down in a pack and play in a guest bedroom for his afternoon nap because he’ll normally sleep 2-3 hours while Hannah only sleeps for 1. The other thing that is beginning to help is this clock: http://www.amazon.com/KidSleep-KSCLB-Classic-Blue/dp/B000VVIHPS. We tried it at 18 months with no success but we just started a few days ago and Hannah is beginning to catch on. She is in a toddler bed now so I tell her that as soon as the bunny “wakes up”, she is allowed to get out of her bed and play quietly in her room. I’m hoping it continues to work! Best of luck to you… the screaming is oh-so-frustrating but they have to grow out of it, right?! 🙂
Thank you so much for chiming in! One of my main concerns has been that Hazeline would be waking Greenleigh up. Hazeline’s internal clock is set about an hour before Greenleigh’s. At first, it probably wouldn’t be a problem, but after a week or two of Greenleigh losing an hour of sleep here or there, I think it would be a problem. But now that I think about it (and thanks to your comment), I think maybe they would probably just find a new schedule, maybe that would include going to bed earlier or breaking up their naps into separate rooms, but it would eventually work it’s way out…I think.
And I really hope you’re right about them growing out of it. Crossing fingers.
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