Fi
sigh. i'm not sure if i'm in a good position to offer any advice since our sleeping arrangements is in a bit of a mess these days. we're all co-sleeping together (yes all 4 of us, incl hubby) squashed into our bed. which is really starting to take its toll on me since i can't get a good night's rest.
we usu let them fall asleep with us on our bed, and sometimes i wld carry both back to their cots in their room. min is a better sleeper, so if i manage to get her back in her cot without waking her, she can sleep till morning. kai will always wake up at least once. i try not to bring him back to our bed and instead try to soothe him back to sleep there and then. or put him on the mattress in their room and pat him to sleep. but if he continues to fuss, i'll hv no choice but to bring him back to sleep with me in case he wakes min. he usu hv no problem falling back to sleep after that, that lil monkey.
sometimes it's lil things like the temp of the room that helps them sleep. i also find that they sleep better & longer in aircon, so sometimes in hot weather (like nowadays), i let them. altho sometimes we switch it off in favour of the fan in the middle of night.
kai & min still take long naps in the day like babies. it's part of their routine already, so come that time, they'll usu guai guai fetch their soothers and go into their room and wait for me to put them to bed and bring them their milk. they've two two-hour naps (11am-1pm, 4-6pm) and they go to bed around 9.30pm.
mooch
i had this problem with both my kids. i just keep offering them water, ribena, anything! in various forms, sippy cups, bottles.. also made sure they take plenty of fruits for added fluids. actually as long as austin has no prob with his bowel movements, he shld be getting sufficient fluids.
strange thing is that recently both of them suddenly started wanting to drink water, lots of it. it started with they were sick and co-sleeping with me. i kept a bottle of water at my bedside for them if they wake in the middle of the night. they kinda acquired a taste for it after a while, and now they do drink some (not a lot, they prefer to play with it) whenever i offer them in the day. hope this helps.