The Big Room Share... Again

The whole take-a-nap-while-within-arm's-reach-of-your-sibling thing is not going well. Most of the time, if they sleep, its a very late nap. So far, that's not really disturbing bedtime too much, but most of the time, someone's not napping, usually the littler someone. And she needs it. When she doesn't take a nap at nap time, she either falls asleep on the floor just before dinner, (usually naked and covered in toys), or her behavior deteriorates to such a level that she can't survive dinner and has to go to bed. If the bigger one doesn't sleep, (and he's the one who wants too), his behavior goes to a destructive place. It's absolutely maddening when neither one of them sleep. The thing is, they are having a really great time playing together, until the dinner hour, when it all goes to... well... you know where.

I figure I have 2 options. Option #1: Continue to fight the good fight. I am trying, for 2 weeks, to scatter the naps. No more napping at the same time. If I can get LJ to fall asleep, (and she does get tired earlier), then I am sure RF would happily and quietly climb into bed and drift off to la la land. Unfortunately, LJ didn't co-operate today. I ended up separating them after 1.5 hrs of struggle, and that worked like a charm. Too bad RF is sleeping in MY bed. I think that may cause a secondary issue, but I'm hopefully that I won't give it the chance. If this fails, then I think it's on to Option #2: Mourn the loss of nap time. Now, I'm sure over time, their behavior will improve, and they will adjust to the new schedule. I could even convince myself that I could make that all happen before the baby comes. The hard part is that, without a nap, and considering that we have to be up by 7 for preschool, they would have to go to bed by 6. While I would just love to be child free by 6pm, and get so much more done, (and have baby and me time when the baby comes), my children will never get to see Daddy! That's no good for anyone. So... wish me luck!