Two kids, one bedroom

We have a two bedroom house.  One could describe it as "cozy".  Despite it's size, we will most likely be here for a very long time (i.e.: until the kids are too old to share a room).  As you can imagine, sleeping arrangements have been tough. 

Parker was sleeping in our bedroom in a pack and play up until 6-ish weeks ago.  He started each night in the pack and play, and I would do my best to return him to it after each nighttime feeding.  (There were several many times that he slept in our bed for that last stretch, though, because I was just so dang tired.)  Unfortunately, Parker outgrew the bassinet level and found the actual pack and play to be very uncomfortable.  So he began spending more time in our bed...which sucked.  He was waking 3-4 times each night.  Every time Casey or I entered the bedroom or got in/out of bed, he'd wake up.  It was frustrating.  Verrrrry frustrating.  I felt trapped. 

One night I said, That's it!  He sleeps in the nursery from now on!!  And the next night, he did.  I was nervous about interrupting Lucy's sleep, but the first night went smoothly.  I put Parker down around 7, and then Lucy at 8.  Parker woke twice that night; I fed him and put him back down (awake), and Lucy didn't stir either time. 

Parker slept through the night for the next six nights.  It was glorious. 

And then we hit a few speed bumps:  nightmares, sickness and teething.

Lucy rarely has nightmares, but, when she does, she'll scream anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.  Regardless, it wakes Parker.  The first time it happened, I tried to calm them down, but failed miserably.  I gave up and left the room, and they cried-it-out together.  It lasted 10 minutes, and they both slept peacefully the rest of the night.  It's only happened a few other times since then, and we let them cry-it-out every time.

Then everyone got sick and Parker stopped sleeping through the night.  I tried to feed him when he woke, but he could hardly breathe through his nose; and when I tried to put him back down, he screamed and screamed.  Afraid of waking Miss Lucy, I rushed him to our bedroom.  That was an awful week.  The next week wasn't much better-- we were healthy again, but Parker was cutting his first tooth.  Again, he spent a lot of time in our bed.  I started sleeping on the couch to create a little more room in the bed, and it helped him sleep for longer stretches.  (Fortunately, Casey can sleep through anything, so he wasn't bothered by any of this.)    

The only other issue we've dealt with, but resolved fairly quickly, was Lucy's bedtime.  Prior to sharing a room, she was going down at 8 pm, and would talk/play/sing for up to an hour before finally going to sleep.  Every night we told her, "Baby is sleeping.  You need to be very quiet and go to sleep."  And she would say, "Okaaaaay.  Ny-ny mommadaddy."  We occasionally had to go in and remind her to be quiet, but overall she was pretty cooperative.  There was one night that she had had a late nap and was really wound up before bed-- we should have kept her up to burn off some energy, but didn't.  That was fun!  Now we know to adjust her bedtime as needed.

All in all, it hasn't been that bad.  Parker is sleeping so much better.  It is certainly hard to drag myself across the house in the middle of the night to feed Parker, but I know it's worth it.  I also know it won't always be this way.  We're surviving.