just moved boys into the same room, but the younger one wakes up the older son

[Anonymous]

HELP. How do people do this?!?

Boys are 5.5. and 4. We just bunked them together. It has been an ok week, but perhaps the honeymoon phase is over?

DS2 wakes up and immediately starts making noise, thereby waking up a snoozing big brother. Will this just be the new wake up time? Will DS1 learn to sleep through it? Will he just learn to be tired?

HELP.

[Anonymous]

We had this with my kids (now 8 & 6). Younger one has always been an early riser and she's not a quiet person even when she tries to be. Yes, the older kid learns to adapt, in our experience.

Alternately you could see if 4 year old could go somewhere else in the house to play as soon as he wakes up. My oldest would've woken up if we tried that, but maybe it'll work for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had this with my kids (now 8 & 6). Younger one has always been an early riser and she's not a quiet person even when she tries to be. Yes, the older kid learns to adapt, in our experience.

Alternately you could see if 4 year old could go somewhere else in the house to play as soon as he wakes up. My oldest would've woken up if we tried that, but maybe it'll work for you?

Ideally I want DS2 to sleep later; he is waking up much earlier than needed. I would like for him to learn to stay quiet in his bed until he sees the "green light". Leaving the room would wake up DS1 for sure.

[Anonymous]

Are they sharing a bed, bunk beds, twin beds? Is there a way to place your early riser closer to the door so he's not walking through the room?

[Anonymous]

Is the younger one deliberately waking the older one? My kids are much younger (4 and 1.5) and they usually do wake each other in the morning, which is rough. But my 4yo knows that she'll get a sticker for a quiet wake up, and now she and the baby are OK quietly talking together in the morning for a bit. Totally different ballgame with older kids, but at 4 you should be able to set expectations around morning wake up behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HELP. How do people do this?!?

Boys are 5.5. and 4. We just bunked them together. It has been an ok week, but perhaps the honeymoon phase is over?

DS2 wakes up and immediately starts making noise, thereby waking up a snoozing big brother. Will this just be the new wake up time? Will DS1 learn to sleep through it? Will he just learn to be tired?

HELP.

Most things in life are phases. Maybe exercise the little one more so they are extra tired?

This soon shall pass!

[Anonymous]

Does the 4 year old still nap?

[Anonymous]

Can you give DS2 something quiet to play with - puzzles, magna tiles, Legos, etc.? Or have him go to another room (shut bedroom door and play in the hallway)?

Also, try role-playing this new "routine" with DS2 so he knows what's expected and understand. I find at the preschool age that "be quiet when you wake up" doesn't really mean much to them so you really have to show them what you mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the 4 year old still nap?

No

[Anonymous]

We went through this too. Give DS2 specific instructions about where to go and what to do when he wakes up (not in the bedroom). Our DS2 was a little younger and we told him to come wake up mom or dad instead of his brother.

[Anonymous]

We have a noise machine that helps.

Also, we placed a basket of quiet things - Water Wow-type things, etch a sketch, mini chalk board set, etc.

We also told her to come to our room and be sure to whisper.