Newborn and Toddler Sharing a Room? Is That Possible?

I don't see a problem with a newborn and toddler sharing the same room. The toddler will soon feel like a big person caring for the newborn and knowing that someone is in the same room and not alone.

B.

I think you should give it a shot. I have some friends whose kids share a room and they are about 2-2.5 years apart. Especially if your older one is a heavy sleeper, I think it could definitely work. If you start them out that way, then I don't think you will have any problem. I can't speak from personal experience (I have only 1 child at this point), but it seems to be working fine for my friends.

Good luck!

I've always been hard to wake up, so when my younger 2 were itty bitties, I put their crib up in my room, in order to make it easier for me to hear them, but when they started sleeping through the night, around 6 months, I think is when I moved them to their big brother's room. Now all 3 of my boys share a room. (until I can add on to the house I'm buying...lol) Just so you know, I had 3 boys in 4 years, so its always been a tight age grouping: between my oldest and middle was a little over 2 years difference, and between my middle and my youngest was about 18 months exactly.

B., I think it depends on the sex of the newborn really. I personally have a almost 6 year old girl and a almost 2 year old girl who have shared a room since birth. They get along great. My huspand and I thought that our oldest would want her own space so we made the upstairs playroom all hers with all her "big girl" toys upstairs. The thing is she would rather play downstairs with Na-na as she calls her. I think it really just depends on the sexes and temperament of the two. Good luck. P.S. I shared a room growing up with my sister who is 2 years older than me.

A.

My kids are less than 10 months apart and they share a room fine. I will admit at first it was hard on my older child because she was use to her quiet sleep. So a couple of weeks it took and now no more problems, they are both use to each other just fine. In fact they look for one another before and after bed, it is so cute. So good luck

Hi B.,
My oldest daughter was 14 months when our second daughter was born--We had a similar situation in that we had an extra bedroom, (but we had it set up as a playroom). We knew we wanted them to share a room eventually, but I was definitely concerned about disrupting the sleep of the older one--especially with knowing she was going to be dealing with plenty of other change just having a new baby around the house and my attention divided now! What we did was set up a crib in the bedroom, and the baby would take her naps there in the daytime. But at night, she slept in a pack and play bassinet that was set up in the extra room. This extra room was all the way on the other end of a long hall, so we did get a second baby monitor to give me peace of mind that I wasn't missing anything. Once she was sleeping through the night (about 2 months), we moved her into the shared bedroom for nighttime sleep.

Best wishes to you and congratulations on your upcoming little one!

I have seen other people do the "sharing thing" with their children. I too have a three bedroom home, 2 kids, and we all sleep well. Your toddler may sleep through changing of clothes, etc. but in reality you are disrupting her sleep. Think about how tired you are when you are stirred during the night. Is it really fair to do that to a growing child who needs up to 12 hours of sleep for her age?
Plus, didn't you have a great time decorating the nursery the first time? I did. I also loved being able to have that quiet time with my second one, you don't get that as often as you did the first time around. Trust me, give your first child the biggest room and purchase a double bed or two twin ones (for the guests), your oldest can have sleep overs with you in your room when you have company, they love this! Give you and the new arrival some alone time, and quiet time. You can alway have them share when they are 2 and 4. It will be worth it, i promise!
~A

Co-sleepers and a family bed...not my idea of fun...I like my space away from my kids...anyways to the point. MY oldest daughter was 18 months old when my second daughter was born. We bought her a toddler bed and explained to her that that was her new bed and the baby was going to have the crib. She did not like the idea at first but we explained that only big girls get big girl beds and after awile she was fine with it. When we brought the baby home she slept in a bassinet in our room for the first week and then we moved her into her sisters room. Her sister felt like it was her job to watch the baby at night and finally felt like a big sister. We did not have any problems with the baby crying and waking up her sister (she slept right through it) it is the oldest advice in the world 'do not tip toe around a sleeping baby' and because we never did this our older daughter adjusted rather well. I hope this advice works for you. A.

I have a friend with seven children in a four bedroom house. The youngest five are girls. Two older girls share a room and the younger three share a room. The oldest two are boys and they share a room. I think this leaves one extra room for the parents. LOL. So, yes I'm sure it's possible for your children to sleep in the same room.

I have to boys who are about three yrs apart when my baby was born my oldest was 3 of course I keep the baby in a co sleeper in my room until he was alittle bigger and was sleeping a few more hours through the night. The baby is now 9 mths and my oldest turned 4 in april and the share a room together and it works fine for me my oldest sleeps through the crys at night (were teething) so it dos'nt seem to bother him and in the early morning when the baby decides he dosnt want to sleep any longer he is entertained by his older brother for an extra hour or so of course we talk with the oldest about safty and what can and can not be done with the baby and he is very protective of him and realy caring for a 4yrold so I say try it just what you are comftable with.

I had a 2 1/2 year old and a new born in the same room. It worked out fine. For the first few weeks the baby slept in a basinet in my room, which is right next to his sisters. I kept the doors open. That way she could get used to the sound. During nap time I moved his bassinet in her room so they could nap together. When he was a month old I moved him in his crib in their shared room. It worked out just fine. Now my daughter is 19, she married a man with a 2 year old and they recently had a child of their own. They waited until the baby slept thru they night before moving her in with her sister and that worked out fine too. I think it is what you are comfortable with trying.

My 3 youngest are 7,5,3! (each was born 21-23 months apart) And I gave birth to all while living in our first, small 3 bedroom home! And yes, we did have them share. I did keep a portable crib in my room for the first 6 weeks, but the nursery was where they slept most of the time. It will take time for the "older" child to adjust no matter where the new baby sleeps.
If your older baby is such a sound sleeper, she will do just fine! I would keep a very close eye, as the older baby LOVES to help, and may try to "help" get the younger baby out of the crib for you, or climb in for that matter. But that can happen if they have their own rooms, or share. Best wishes!

My advice is probably seeing it from a different view point. If you have the room why go thru that situation. My girls are 15 months apart and share a room but only b/c they have to. You can always leave a twim bed and crib in an average size room as a guest bedroom. The thing about your children would be your oldest has already "formed her Territory". And along with a new baby coming along she also have to give up her room. She may become very jealous. My girls were young and my oldest calls their room- "my room" mommy. ivy just sleeps there. Yes Isabel has told me this. We did go thru a period where the baby would wake up and keep the older one up. Many sleepless nights. Also for now you don't know if you are have another girl so if you have a boy are you going to do the same thing? It's hard to say what you should do. But if it were me and I had the room I would just create seprate rooms for them.
Hope this helps
~Leti

I do have experience with this. At this present time I have a 4 year old and an 8 month old sharing a room. It works out pretty good in my opinion. We kept the baby in a basenet (sp?) until she slept through the night and then after that she moved into the room. My oldest daughter sleeps through most of the crying most of the time. I usually wait until my youngest is asleep before my ooldest has to go to bed. My main piece of advide is keep a monitor on and with you so if the baby does wake up you can get in there quick just in case. Hope this helps.

B.,
It is very possible. I have two little girls that are 26 months apart. A couple of months before I had my second, I put her in a twin size bed and she has done well with it. We told her that it was her Big Girl bed and that the crib was for her baby sister. When we first brought home our second we had her in a bassenet in our room until she slept all night(she was around 6 weeks old)then they shared a room together. I didn't ever let my babys sleep in my bed. It was something that I just didn't want to start. I have never had any problems with them in the same room. When they started sleeping in the same room together, I found that my 2 year old accually slept better at night. If you are worried about the baby waking up your other child maybe you could try a bassenet.I hope that I have been some help to you. Good luck and congratulations.

My first two children were 22 months apart. I wanted them to share a room. The sleeping part worked out great but we had to separate them within a few weeks because it turned out to be very unsafe for the baby. My oldest would climb over the bars of the crib and then jump in with the baby. I was scared to death that he'd accidentally land on her. I also caught him one night throwing a very thick blanket directly over her head because he was afraid she was getting cold. It scares me to think about what would have happened if I hadn't caught that so quickly. Small babies can suffocate within a couple of minutes. I ended up putting them in separate rooms with a lock on the outside of the baby's door while she slept because my older child continued to throw blankets over the baby and toys in the crib for her to play with. Good luck! It's so much fun to have two little ones around! (It's extremely busy too!)

You probably have enough answers at this point, but if it's any comfort, I slept in the same room as my baby brother and I don't think there were any problems.

However, it it does start to be a problem, you might want to consider cosleeping for a little while. For example, I coslept with my baby until she was about 3 months old, and then moved her to the crib, and she transitioned fine. I probably would have coslept longer except that she started going to bed over an hour before I did, and I was afraid she would learn to roll over in bed and fall out while I wasn't there. Also, around that time, she started sleeping through the night.

Here's an idea you might try to see what happens. See if you can record a baby crying (maybe 2 minutes) on a CD and play it while your toddler is sleeping at different times during the night (just once, not day after day!) to see what happens. Then plan where to put the baby based on that.

Hope it all works out.