Advice on Children's Rooms

Hi K.!
I would have the kids share a room. My two oldest have shared one since they were about 22m and 4m. We lived in a two bedroom townhome at the time. Very minimal problems. The oldest rarely woke at night when the younger cried for feedings, etc. When issues came up (illness, teething) we would just talk to them about staying asleep when they heard noises and then everything was fine.

I would not want my young child on a different floor either. Why not use it as a play room?

Sharing a room gave them alot of security at night (thunderstorms, etc). They have so much fun! We recently separated them, and now plan on putting a bunk bed in the oldests' room to entice the younger one to move back in.

It was so much fun to catch them at bedtime having their "private" conversations away from me and my husband.
Good luck and congrats on #2.

Speaking from experience.... we have a 2 bedroom condo and 2 children. Our almost-3-year old sleeps in his own room. Our 8 month old daughter sleeps in her crib in our room (she was actually in the co-sleeper/our bed until about 3 weeks ago - much longer than my son was). She is nearing the point, now, where she reliably sleeps through the night (she makes it most, but not all nights). Once she gets to that point we will move her in with our son. Until then, it's easier for everyone to have her in our room. My son's room is "open" - we have a loft and the wall to his room doesn't go up to the ceiling. It also has no door. It opens into our hallway and over his wall is our kitchen. We do have to be quiet for the first 30-40 minutes after we put him down, but then we can bang around and watch movies, etc, without worrying about waking him.

I would be uncomfortable having one child on a different level, so I would probably have them share a room. I have only one 8 month old daughter right now, but my husband and i are already talking about #2. Even though we have enough rooms for each child to have their own room, we plan to have the children share a room.

On a different subject, do you know if any of the vents from the garage are connected to the third bedroom? We had problems with carbon monoxide coming from our garage into the kitchen which is located on the second floor directly above the garage...

I would put the new baby downstairs. The main reason is that from the beginning he will hear that garage door and it will just be part of his life and not a disturbance. Also he is not going to get out of his bed for another 18 mos or so, so you don't have to worry about nighttime wandering or safety at all. And having the infant far away from you can make for better sleep for everyone cause you will be less likely to rush in at the slightest peep and chances are he will learn to go back to sleep. And lastly, since babies take multiple naps and older kids don't you will have the baby nearby in the middle of the day and not have to climb the stairs in the middle of the day to nap him.

Hi,

I know that there was an episode on Ask This Old House about fixing a noisy
garage door opener. Maybe you can find it online and fix yours. One less thing
to worry about!

Good Luck and Congratulations!!!

Hi Kristen,
I would have the kids share a room. My kids are now four and six (boy/girl), and they have been sharing a room for about two years. I have not had any problems with them waking each other up at night. If the one does wake up, it has been very easy to get them back to sleep. Your older one will just get used to crying throughout the night and proably sleep right through it.

We have a two-bedroom house and our kids began sharing a room when we moved our younger son into a crib from his sleep hammock - about 9 months old. I was worried that he would keep our older son (3.5 years older) awake, too, but it worked out better than I expected. I would give it a try. Now that they're older, my children hate the idea of being in separate rooms, and it seems like all of my friends who have one of each sex have their kids sharing a bed in one of the rooms anyway. (because the kids want to be together.)

Hi Kirstan,
I would not put the baby downstairs. I would ask your son what he would like to do. If he does not want to share the room, then ask him if he would like to make the room downstairs his very own special place. He can help decide how to decorate it so he will feel like he has choices in this transition. If he does not want to share his room or move to the other bedroom, than I would keep the baby in your room for awhile & then ask him again. He may change his mind after he gets used to the baby.

I am going thru the same dilema! my son is 15mths and i am due in sept. I have decided I am definately going to move my son into a new room, but i want to make sure and do it in a few months so that he doesn't have alot thrown at him all at once with a new baby. I feel like they need their own space, especially at their age, then once they get a little older you could move them intogether. ?? Just my thoughts, u have to do what's right for you. My plan is, if we have another boy, we will do a big room for them together once they are a litle older, and make the other room a big playroom, but if they are different sexes, of course they would need their own rooms. That would be hard with the garage right there for you guys, but if he's a sound sleeper you would probably be okay, you could find a way to make it work I'm sure. Good luck! My other thing is I really don't want to buy another crib, and I am hoping by late summer he'll be ready for a transition, i just don't want to push him. Luckily the baby won't need the crib till dec, 3mths or so i would think. What r u doing with that? (sorry i turned your question back into another question!!) thanks!

I vote for sharing the room with one caveat. Here's my story.. I had a problem where my oldest ..who is a little shall we say strong minded...when she was 2 1/2 and I brought home a new baby she decided on her own in the wee hours of the morning that the baby was hungry so she unbuckled her sister from inside the carseat that was inside the crib, and somehow managed to carry her to me in my bedroom. I freaked out to say the least.
So to make a long story short, if your son doesn't show any desire to pick up the new "doll", make it a bottle (I have found this same child still to this day trying to feed her little sisters bottles with god only knows what sort of concentration of formula vs. water), or do anything else crazy, go for the room sharing. My kids will sleep through absolutely anything and really it's all what they get used to. People are amazed that my babies and toddlers are able to sleep during the day right through all the chaos and dogs barking etc. but it doesn't wake up anyone!
Good luck with your new little one!

We did it, twice. Our daughter was 22 months when her brother arrived and they shared from day one. We are also "cry it out" parents, so there were a couple of times where she had to just deal with it, and she did just great. When she was 5, her brother was already in another room, sharing with the oldest boy, and baby sister came. Our older daughter shares with her and has from day one as well. It really is NO PROBLEM! Kids have been sharing rooms for much longer than they have been alone in a room. They adapt much easier than adults :-)

It is good for them to not always have the "perfect" enviornment. We want so badly to give our children "all the best" but we need to remember that a certain amount of discomfort and adversity will build them into much better people, not "prima-donnas". They learn to cope and not expect the world to give them everything. Congrats on the new baby...what an exciting time for your family!!

We have three bedrooms, but the third bedroom is downstairs, so we chose to keep the crib in our room. It has it's inconveniences, but our son goes to sleep in his crib and most often stays in his crib the entire night without issue. He is asleep by the time we go to bed. If he does wake up at night, it is easy to get up and calm him down and go right back to bed. We will let out daughter choose which room she wants when the time comes for our son to move into a bed.
Also, kids do sleep through a lot of noise. My daughter's room in our old house in CA was right above the noisy garage door, and it NEVER woke her up late at night or early in the morning, so I don't think that should be a concern.

There are many schools of thought on what you are asking. Here is the best I can offer hope it helps.

Do not give your 2 year olds room to the new baby. By doing this it can cause some psychological problems for your older one feeling like he has to "move over" because of his new sibling. He is already going to feel this way in a sense because of the time you will need to nurture the new baby. It is best to try to engage your first born by asking for assistance with the new born - not give his personal space away. (especially moving him all the way downstairs)

Most likely you are going to want to have the baby sleep in your room for the first few months anyway so I would wait to see how things unfold. You cannot plan everything too soon.

As far as a theme go with Animals and bold colors all kids like animals. I did not want to find out the sex of my child and that worked for me. Babies R us is a great source.

Toddlers are just getting out into the world. They are really dependent on their parents and you may find that he will end up in your bed a lot. How you handle it is up to you.

I have a 7 year old (only child) he sleeps with us almost every night since he has been born. He feels secure this way. In my personal opinion I feel it makes him very secure. Comparing him to his friends he has a lot of confidence and is not afraid of trying new things. If he had a bad dream I usually don't find out till the next morning because when and if it happens he wakes up and finds me or his father and snuggles up. No tears in the middle of the night. (we get good sleep too)

I usually ask parents what animal in the world DOES NOT sleep with their young? - Only one, Humans.....I wonder how natural that really is for us to be in a room by ourselves with our parents so far. As far as the intimacy goes believe me there are other places to "do it".

Make all the noise you want we sure do! I swear my child can sleep through an earth quake and he is used to it. Hope this helps.

Hello,
My children who are 13 months apart shared a room for two years when the oldest was 1 1/2 and the baby was 6 months (boy and girl). I never had problems with them waking each other up. Either one would sleep through the others crying, throwing-up, sleep-training, etc. I did however have to seperate them during nap time. Maybe because they don't sleep as soundly during nap? They loved sharing a room and I believe they bonded because of it. We recently moved to a bigger house and they now have their own rooms. They transitioned well but they are right next door to each other. They now like having their own space and style, but I am sure that their time together was a great thing. As for the comment about co-sleeping. I am by no means an expert, although I do have an early childhood education degree, but sleeping in one's own bed fosters an independance and teaches that it's o.k. to be alone once in awhile. Of course everyone needs to make choices that are right for them but one of our jobs as a parent is to help our children find confidence within themselves. Sleeping in their own bed is just one small step towards this goal. I hope this helps.

S.

Hi, is the Master Bedroom much bigger then the one downstairs? If not, I would move you and your hubby downstairs and keep the kids upstairs. (That is what monitors are for-for the little one). If that is not an option, I would probably move the toddler downstairs and make it a big boy room, and then you wouldn't have to decorate the one upstairs. I guess if they were the same sex, I would then think of sharing the same room, but probably wouldn't if it was one of each? Just my view. But whatever you decide will work out for you and your family. Heck, my brothers shared a room and had bunkbeds their whole lives - and it was never an issue. My sister and I shared a room with a big bed and it was never an issue!!! So if they do share, then I would spruce up their room to accomodate them both!!!!

Best of luck to you and your family....

Hi! It would be great if the kids could share a room until one is old enough to be on a separate floor. However, just know that you cannot predict what kind of baby will have. If the baby is colicky the sharing may not work out right away. In that case you may actually want the baby on a separate floor and just use a monitor. As far as the noise issue goes (the garage) that can be easily fixed with some white noise - either a machine or just a fan or air filter. But don't worry - we'll all think positive thoughts and your baby will be a dream and the kids can be together!! Congrats!