New baby rooming with toddler?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
New baby rooming with toddler?
6
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 7:53am
Since we are expecting another boy, we planned on rooming my two year old with the new baby. My first son slept with us for a year. It was impossible to break him of it. We have both agreed not to let another baby room with us. I know people do this, but how successful is it? Will my toddler keep the baby up? or vice versa? How can I help the transition? I am just getting my toddler out of the crib to his own bed. Please help.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 12:00pm
i'm in the same boat, and all i can say is i hope you have better luck than i have had! my 4yo and 18 mo share a room, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. yes, they keep each other up, i think it's kinda inevitable. i can't put them in there together for nap time as they will just play with each other and screw around, noone gets any sleep. at night it seems to work better if they are both pretty dead tired when they go down, and if i put them to bed at the same time. that way they usually pass out after 30 mins or so of talking to each other. however, mine are a little older, i'm not sure how it would work with a newborn and a toddler.

have you thought about keeping the baby in your room but in his own crib? i ask because sometimes with an older one that young it's not safe to leave them alone together. my best friend had sons 2 years apart and she put the baby in with the older one, and her oldest son almost killed her little one by climbing into the crib and throwing the baby out. it had been the older one's crib and i guess he felt like having it back that night, but it was a really bad scare. my dd was 3 1/2 when her bro was born, but she still didn't understand how careful you have to be with a baby. when he was only a few weeks old she put a penny in his mouth and he almost choked to death, and a few weeks later i caught her trying to give him a screw to play with. anyway, don't want to scare you, but i would seriously think about it before i left them alone unsupervised until ds is a little older and the baby is a little less fragile! if you could just put the baby in a crib or bassinet in your room, or even the livingroom ftm, it might work better.

just my thoughts,

clarity

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 12:13pm
I've been wondering the same thing. My 21.5 month old dd still sleeps in her crib in her room. I know we need to get her transitioned into a bed. My 5 month old dd sleeps in the pack n' play in the living room. I've been wondering when they could sleep in the same room. They both sleep through the night, but my youngest dd gets up earlier than her big sister. However, before my youngest dd slept through the night I knew it would be a diaster if she was in the same room as her toddler sister because then they would both be up all night. My advice to getting them to sleep in their own bed would be to have a cd with white noise (like vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, etc). That really seemed to make a big difference with my youngest. I think the white noise mimics the sound of the womb. I am curious to see what others say. Thanks for the good post.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 12:18pm
o wow, i can't believe i forgot that! whatever you decide to do, CERTAINLY have either a fan, a cd of white noise, or if your kids can stand it, music going in the bedroom. i run two fans in their bedroom simply for the noise, bc if one wakes up and cries it really helps to have something to drown it out. course, now neither of my kids can sleep without one, but i'm the same way so i can sympathize. thanks for that, i totally forgot!

clarity

Avatar for triptakers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 8:37pm

I can only speak from my own experience, but I'm thrilled my 2 share a room. They don't have to, we have enough bedrooms, but they're so close because of it! My older dd was in a crib till age 3, then had her "big bed" for a couple of months before I moved her sis in with her.


The little one was in our room (in her own crib) for a while, then in her own room till she was about one. Then I moved her into the same room as her big sis. So theoretically, if you were to do this, you could just keep the baby in a crib in your room till you're quite sure he'll sleep all night.


The girls consider it an honor to be allowed to share, so they're quite good together. (this being said, they're both partying it up in there as I'm typing this, lol). So what if they keep each other up a little, that's life, right? Won't kill 'em. And it's fun to listen to at night & in the morning. Took them a little time to get used to being together, but they're great now,

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Sun, 05-23-2004 - 1:01pm
Thank you all very much for your replies. At least now I have things to consider and think about.
Avatar for lisacolette
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2003
Sat, 05-29-2004 - 11:06am
Our DS's (4yrs & 18 mos) share the same room at the request of the 4 yr. old. When the baby outgrew the bassinet in our room, he moved to a crib in his brother's room. They get along well since both are used to noise. I warn the 4 year old before it's time for the baby to nap so he can get any toys he wants ahead of time. When the baby goes to sleep, he is not allowed in the room until afterward. I put them to bed at the same time at night and amazingly, with the exception of naps, they both have a similar sleep schedule. Yes, the baby makes noise, but the 4 year old sleeps through most of it. They have a voice-activated projection light show that plays music to soothe the baby and it doesn't bother the older one at all. We put a Fisher Price Aquarium on the crib and that doesn't disturb him either.

They're doing just fine with it. The 4 year old likes having the extra person in the room just in case "monsters" come in and the baby likes the company as well. I think they're also much closer because of it.

Good luck!

Lisa