Sharing a Room with a Toddler

Hi J., I am going to assume that you are moving in with relatives for financial reasons. At 17 months old, it will be an adjustment for her, and you guys, sometimes we do what we have to do, at the end of the year, she may not wan't to go back in her own room, it will be another adjustment she will have to make, on the other hand, in a year she maybe happy to get back in her own room. A divider is good, but just in case you don't know they are very currious at this age, this may put a damper on your intimancy, you can start her in a toddler bed when you move, but will she stay in it know you and daddy are on the other side of the divider? see what works, and I wil pray that your all have your own place before a year is up, it is not easy living with another family memeber, as you have aready experienced. Good luck J.

Good suggestions here... also, with the transition going on... naturally your girl will need to adjust too.

One thing.... do NOT put her in your bed for sleeping...IF she has problems sleeping. The reason is, she has been used to sleeping in her own room and by herself... IF you let her sleep with you/Hubby, just in case.... then she may never then go back to sleeping by herself, like before. And it's a hard hurdle to then get a child back into their own bed AND sleep by themselves.

There is always the possibility, that if she has a hard time adjusting.. .she may want to sleep with you.

Nothing wrong with co-sleeping... we have done that too. But since your girl is used to her own room & sleeping alone, and you and Hubby as well...then keep to your routine.

OH! I just thought of something... yes as mentioned before, a child will not always STAY IN their toddler bed, and it is a phase which requires running a lot of interference and trouble shooting. Some kids even 2-3 years old and older will not stay in their beds all night, even though we "wish" they would....they climb out, want to play, go in and out of their beds etc. It can take ALL night to get them to STAY in their bed and then FALL asleep. It's a process that takes a lot of patience... and if doing this in another person's home... it can be distracting. It will take time to transition her from a crib to a toddler bed. Probably, as most kids. If you start to transition her to a toddler bed now... then expect it to be a process...not a slam dunk event where she will just stay put or not enjoy the un-confined freedom. Even with bed rails... this is just so they don't roll out...but they can still climb out. Some kids are real climbers.

An alternative, since you will be all "sharing" a room... is a child's play-hut... you can put in a small foam pad (like those covered foam pads for exercising),or a mattress in there to soften the floor for her, and let her sleep in it... it will give HER privacy AND you/Hubby. And, it is "sort of" like a "room" (but for her).
My daughter, when she was a toddler, liked to "camp out" in the hut she has. It's real roomy in there and cozy.

Then, when you folks move out into your own place... you can transition her to her "own" REAL "Big-Girl" bedroom... and it will be exciting for her because then she will be older, and better able to understand. Right now, at 17 moths old, she can't exactly "pick out" her own room decor or bedding/accessories etc.

Here is a link:
http://www.shopping.com/xPC-Playhut-Dora-The-Explorer-Gre...

All the best,
Susan

Ok, you get some really good hooks to put in the ceiling. Use PC pipe, or long curtain rod, what ever..that will fit into to size of the hook. Slide that "bar" right into the open part of the hook, all in a row. Hang fabric to divide and put a tiny bit of velcro for a complete connection where fabric meets. My daughter and I loved this and would tie the curtain back with decorative wall holder thing and it was really cute. Made the room look bigger and gave her a hide a way. I used curtains from target the longest I could find. The tabs all ready in place just simply put hooks in, found a good rod and ready made tab type curtains. It took like 10 minutes and they hooks stayed in well too. Your husband might have better idea's what kind of hooks stay best in what material, I hod "pop corn Ceilings at the time so anything with a long screw part worked.

Hi J.-

Glad to hear you are getting out of there! I'd written to you about your MIL-how is she taking it? How did your hubby handle the situation?

We've never had to share a room with our kids for longer than a week so I won't be a big help. The toddler bed sounds like a great idea and it takes up less room than a crib. As for a divider you can hang a curtain or go all out and by a big fancy one that seems a little more permanent. When you move into your own place, make a big deal about decorating her new room.

Our camping trailer has a curtain to divide the "master" from the couch and kitchen. We've had no intimacy disruptions, just need to be really quiet and wait till the kids are really deep in sleep! You'll have to get creative with your alone time too, make the most of those little moments.

Good luck and keep saving those penny's for your own home.

J.