strange bedfellows?

Lately, I’ve noticed a new trend in the bufflogals’ sleeping arrangements. They sleep in toddler beds and can get in and out on their own, but up to this point have mostly slept in their own beds until morning. Usually, the girls get up and play together for 20 minutes or more before we have to retrieve them (just one lovely reason I love that they share a room– extra sleep for us!), so it probably took me longer to notice than I might have, but there were clues– Etta’s stuff would all seem to be in Claire’s bed. Her pillow, her blankey, her stuffed loveys, all in sister’s bed. I thought it was happening in the mornings during play time, but when I heard a crash and a cry the other night, I realized Etta was trying to sleep in Claire’s bed. I put her back in her own bed, but later heard stirring and went in again to find her curled up at Claire’s feet. After my heart exploded from adorableness, I tried to extract Etta back to her own bed, but she clearly did NOT want to be moved. I asked Claire if it was OK with her if Etta snuggled with her, and she sleepily agreed, as if she’d be willing to do anything if it meant her sister would let her catch some zzzz’s. This would have worked fine except two toddlers in one crib-sized mattress is cramped, and they woke each other up later in the night. 

At this point, sleepy myself, with my husband working a night shift, I faced a dilemma. Put Etta back in her bed and deal with crying because she wanted someone to cuddle, thus keeping Claire from sleeping? Put Etta in the pack and play in the spare room next door, where she would likely wail, thus keeping us from sleeping? Put her in my bed, where she would flop and kick and keep me from sleeping? Inspiration kicked in. I dragged the mattress from our sofa bed in and put it on their floor. I settled both girls on the big mattress and went to my own room across the hall. Etta called out for “my mommy, my mommy!” for a few minutes, but soon both girls were asleep. Brilliant, I thought! I felt less brilliant when I had to go in again to find a lost pillow at 3 a.m., but after that, both slept until their usual 7a.m. wakeup.

This morning, I asked Claire, the more reluctant snuggler, if she liked sleeping “in the big bed on the floor” or wanted to go back to her own little bed and not share with her sister. “LIKE BIG BED!” she declared. Etta said the same.

Etta is currently napping on the big bed, and I guess we’ll try it for a while, maybe a week, and see how it goes. If this works out, I might see about getting a twin-over-full bunk bed that they could use now, sharing the bottom bed, and then one can eventually graduate to the top bunk when they’re older and I feel OK about one using a ladder.

Any other twin parents have kiddos who don’t just share a room, but a bed? It makes sense to me that they might want to snuggle up at night– I know I certainly prefer having a warm snuggly someone in my bed, too.