Third pregnancy need some help please

[MrsHarveySpecterV]

Hi not sure if this is the right board to post on but thought some more experienced mums here could help me. I'm 32 weeks pregnant with third baby. Have a 3 year old (3yrs 4m) and an 18 month old. We put them in a room together about three months ago as we need the box room for the new baby and wanted to give them time to settle in together. 18 month old DS has become a nightmare going to bed since the room sharing started, think he is excited because his big sister is in the room. DD is shattered because he's stopping her from going to sleep as early as she would like. He's too tired to be kept up though, is ready for bed then just starts acting up when he gets there. We used to love bed time with the kids as they've always been great but now DH and I dread it.
Both are waking at night DS is teething and DD just came out of nappies at night ( refusing to wear one) she a doing great and staying dry but waking in the night for a wee which is to be expected. The problem is that she wakes up and starts shouting and crying instead of just coming in to us - she has always carried on like this when she's woken up at night. This then wakes up DS and if it's after 4.30am when it's now light he won't go back to sleep. We have a blackout blind and black out curtains but some light still gets in.
All of this is leaving me very short tempered! And the kids are ratty too because they're always tired.
Any advice on anything we can do to help the situation please???

Nightmare. But can't you leave them in their own rooms and have the new baby in with you? We have no3 in with us and he's bloody two years old.

No we've put them in their own rooms from weeks old and it's always helped us and them to sleep better. We found that neither the baby or us slept well in our room with the other two. Plus now my daughter doesn't like to sleep without her brother! DM and MIL have them overnight occasionally and when it's been DS's turn DD cries and says she doesn't like sleeping on her own! Aargh!!

Can you try settling your youngest half hour or something before your eldest? So that your son is asleep and settled before you go and put your eldest in bed? Also could you leave a light on for her to go to the toilet during the night? Like a soft nightlight to help her see, and leave your bedroom door open so she can come straight in if need be? I hope it all gets better for you. Good luck with everything :)

Hi we've tried settling him first but he's taking so long that DD is begging to go to bed before he's asleep. We leave our door open, she's got a night light and a potty in her room too. They're awake now, DS stirred and I settled him quickly, he was almost asleep but then DD started wailing that she needed a wee and despite me telling her to go and ask her Dad to take her she carried on crying and woke DS fully. So both wide awake now!

Oh no sorry to hear that OP, I hope you managed to get some good sleep. My only advice would be keep doing what your doing and hopefully your little ones will adapt to the change and fall into a good bedtime routine. Best of luck

Thank you I hope you're right. Had a good talk with DH today about it all. We agreed to try a more relaxed approach so after their story let them sing together etc once we put them to bed and just went in when they got too loud. DD went to sleep around 8.30 and DS around 9. We're hoping that the novelty of being able to do that will wear off a bit and they'll start to fall asleep a bit earlier They went back to sleep after the wakings early this morning and DS slept til 7.15 and DD til 7.30 so much better than previous mornings. We've had a good chat with DD and stressed to her that she should use her potty or come into our room if she needs the toilet in the night. My wonderful DM is having DD for a sleepover tomorrow night!