For the past few days, Niko’s door has been open while he is preparing for sleep and during the actual sleeping. He also insists on having a really bright hallway light on just outside his bedroom. He also has 3 lights that he sleeps with and 2 more lights that are plugged into the wall outlets. The few times I have slept with him is always a little bit challenging, mainly because of all the lights; I like it dark! Maybe, I should buy an eye mask like Nina has!
When we first moved into our current home, it took us a few weeks to hang curtains in our bedroom and man, when that sun arrived, it was bright and woke me up immediately. Until the curtains got installed, I used posters to block the sun from shining in. We did take care of Niko’s curtains as soon as we moved in; we really wanted his room to be good to go and it was.
We leave our bedroom door open throughout the night and that hallway light shines in our bedroom. It does bother me a little bit, but once I am asleep, I am sleeping. I am a very easy and quick sleeper and am able to get up when needed and go immediately back to sleep; I have a Niko pee alarm set for 4 am and my work from home alarm is set for 7 am. If I wasn’t working from home, that alarm would be set for 5:45 am.
I am used to listening to Niko’s white noise and Nina’s audiobook all night. Several years ago, Nina had a radio show called Suspense and it was a lot of episodes. Only a few times it has woken me up and after I tell Nina, she happily removes it from her phone.
I haven’t yet peeked into his room when the door is open because I know I would probably wake him up by falling on one of toys. But, I am a wise old dad and I always make it my duty to clear a path from our bedroom to his bedroom so it doesn’t happen in the middle of the night when we get him for pee; Nina does midnight and I do the later one.
I have to be extra quiet in the evenings and especially in the mornings. A few days ago, Alexa woke him up with one of our 9 am daily reminders; we have an Alexa in the loft, our bedroom, and the kitchen. The loft is very close to his bedroom. After that happened, all Alexa reminders have been removed! I think he sleeps longer when he has the door open and I guess the sunrise doesn’t bother him. A few days ago, Nina and I were both downstairs when Niko woke up; I was already working and Nina was sitting on the sofa with a breakfast smoothie. We heard him get up, go in our bedroom, and say mom. We answered in unison for him to come downstairs. I went to the bottom of the staircase to greet him and he looked so happy; I thought we was going to say something really sweet, but what happened next was he farted!
One thing I am glad about is the fact that ever since he upgraded from his crib mattress to a our old king sized mattress, he hasn’t fallen off the bed nor has he gotten up in the middle of the night to roam around his room and try to damage something. His mattress was on the floor for a few months, but once we felt he was being safe, we put a frame underneath. Of course, everything in his room is securely and safely attached to the wall. The worst thing he can do is throw all of his books clothes around the room. Even our new IKEA wardrobes in our bedroom are all secured and safely attached to the wall. Hey, he is still 4 years and very strong and very curious about everything.
