For some reason, both my children had been sleeping with us ever since they were born.
We were always in the same bedroom. You know how inconvenient it is to have intimate moments with your spouse with children tagging along in the same bedroom. But I have always believed that one day my children will raise their hands and volunteer to move out of our room. This is a common belief for parents who follow attachment parenting. AP practitioners believe that children will never grow too attached and they will become independent when the time comes.
My wife and I had, in numerous attempts, tried to persuade my children (now 7 and 4 years old respectively) to sleep in another room. We used many tactics including an offer to decorate their own room. Also when we see some of their little friends who sleep by themselves, we purposely emphasize this to them hinting them that they can do the same too!
As you might have guessed it, all these attempts failed flat… until last Thursday.
Out of the blue, J told us that she wanted to sleep in another room last week. Not bad for her to take up a new challenge besides her very first week in primary school.
It sounded so amazingly sweet when I heard this as I wanted to hear this long time ago. Of course, I contained my excitement even though I was so happy inside. Fearing the idea would fizzle out like a glass of Coke sitting out in the open, I quickly seized the opportunity by moving the beds into another room for J and K. Getting ready the new room for them to sleep.
Everything goes well until today and it has been a week now ever since the day they slept in another room. Every now and then K would say something like he wanted to come back to our room but I told him he had to stay in his own room. Period.
They have not reached a level where they can doze off by themselves. My wife and I have to lie down with them until they fall asleep. Though this is not what we expected but it is a good start. Given them some time, I think both of them would be able to go to sleep without our company. In the meantime, just relax and enjoy seeing them go to sleep… provided I don’t fall asleep before them.
