[SilverSky]

Can someone tell me how this works? Two year old would be in a single bed and obviously 6mo in a cot. I'm worried about 2yo putting a small toy/piece of food/paper/rubbish in the cot that the 6mo might put in their mouth?

I do have the options of having them in separate rooms however I would prefer them to share to have use of the other room. I suppose I'd be faced with the same dilemma even with the toddler in his own room, as he would just walk into the babies room - as shutting the door would only work until he learns how to open it.


What do people do?!?

[JBaby]

We havent done this but I will be stalking this thread as we will likely be having a 2.5yo with a newborn

[Madnesscraves]

A friend of mine has this arrangement. Seems to work as I asked her due to I'm looking to do the same down the track.
She kept the room to the basics ie nothing that would hurt younger baby.
Says the older just sleeps and even if one wakes, the other sleeps through it.

[froggy1]

We had 2yo with a newborn - never a problem. The first time she kindly put one of her suffocatingly large toys in the cot, we explained gently (but firmly) that she couldn't do that - she caught the drift after a few explanations. Same for small things. Somehow once she'd 'got it' no more things went into the cot. (Until of course she started moving furniture over to the cot to help her sister escape! )

[Guest_3Keiki_*]

I have this - sort of, DS was 6 months when he started sharing with his 2 yr old sister been about 8/9 months now works a treat they adore each other. I have not had any issues with safety, and put them to bed at same time they giggle for about 15 mins then off to sleep.

[Xenice]

Hi, sorry, no help here but I'll be watching this thread closely. I have a 3 yo and a newborn who I plan to move to her sister's room as soon as I can. The funny noises newborns make just totally destroy my sleep, however I am worried about baby's crying at night will wake my toddler up. Is anyone in the same situation as i and managed to solve this problem?

P/S: sorry to hijack this thread.

[Freddie'sMum]

Been there, done that.

We started our 2 girls sharing their room - DD#1 was about 3 years old and DD#2 was 8 months old. It worked out fine. DD#1 was in fact very excited that DD#1 was going to be in "her" room. I agree about the no little toys in the room that the baby can put in her mouth etc.

I always put the girls to bed at the same time at night. Always - so if we had had a bad day, I would do an early tea, bath and put them into bed at 6pm. We still do that now - even though they are 7-and-a-half and 5. I think this is very important - they have very long days (as babies and toddlers) and they need their sleep.

They will actually sleep quite well in the same room (that's our experience anyway). They have their own soft toys / blankets / the baby would have her dummy (and a few spare in the cot !!) / read a story, night lights on and big light off.

They also learned to sleep through even if the other one woke up. On more than one occasion - the toddler would be sick / have a nightmare and the baby would keep on sleeping and vice versa.

So, our girls shared a room for more than 2 years - till we sold our 2 bedroom unit and bought a 3 bedroom townhouse. Totally do-able.

[BronR]

My 2 have always shared. 2 yrs 4 months apart. DS didn't really have his toys so much in his room when he was 2 so it wasn't ever really a problem. He used to climb into his sister's cot though to give DD a cuddle but that wasn't until she was a bit older so no real risk.

FWIW DS was an extremely light sleeper himself as a baby. As a toddler, with his baby sister in his room he just went with the flow and didn't wake up when she did and she was a shocker. Having a baby in the same room actually improved the toddlers sleep.

We are about to renovate and they will get their own rooms (they are now 7 and nearly 5) but both are adamant they want to still sleep in the same room. They often get into bed with each other, especially if one wakes up from a dream or something, just climbs into siblings bed. I much prefer that than them coming into my bed.

[YodaTheWrinkledO...]

A friend of mine has this arrangement. Seems to work as I asked her due to I'm looking to do the same down the track.
She kept the room to the basics ie nothing that would hurt younger baby.
Says the older just sleeps and even if one wakes, the other sleeps through it.

same here. Ours started sharing when DD1 was 2, DD2 was 6 months. DD1 mostly slept through any grizzles or cries that DD2 made. we were constantly amazed.

Hi, sorry, no help here but I'll be watching this thread closely. I have a 3 yo and a newborn who I plan to move to her sister's room as soon as I can. The funny noises newborns make just totally destroy my sleep, however I am worried about baby's crying at night will wake my toddler up. Is anyone in the same situation as i and managed to solve this problem?

P/S: sorry to hijack this thread.

I think if your older child is not a super light sleeper, they do learn to adjust. For the first month of so, sometime DD1 would stir or start to come out of sleep, but she was very easy to settle back into sleep (just a pat and some "shh shh" sounds). After that, she slept like a log most of the time and DD2 would have to be seriously screaming the house down before DD1 would wake up. Not sure if it would work so well if your older child is naturally a very light sleeper.

Our girls are now 5.5yo (DD1) and nearly 4yo (DD2) and still share the same room, even though they don't have to. If one of them wakes up, they don't wake the other. Sometimes we will find in the morning that they have hopped into the same bed sometime during the night.

[~ky~]

Worked for us with no problems at all.

Fasr forward 9 1/2 years and they still prefer to share ...