Toddler Thats a Light Sleeper and Baby on the Way..

This is a very similar situation to what we had. I really wanted to deal with our similar sleep situation before the baby came, but looking back now (our 2nd is here and 3 months old) I wish I would've not stressed. First of all, as we neared our due date, my daughter woke more and more but I know now that it was just her stressing about what was coming and me changing. The older sibs seem to "know" more than we think they do. Secondly, the toddler will wake up with the baby at the beginning. I remember looking at her when the baby was just a couple of weeks old and seeing bags under her eyes and I felt like a terrible mom. However, I realized we were ALL sleep deprived and we were all doing our best with the big change. And sure enough, it didn't last long and now our once, light sleeper can sleep through anything and is getting better sleep now than she ever has. It may be a bit of adjustment for Sawyer, but you'll both manage. It really didn't take too long. Best of luck!

Hi K.!
Back when we were anxious to get Alyssa to sleep through the night, we started playing music for her all night. Our idea was to let her know that if the music was playing, she should be sleeping. We still put the music on out of habit, although she's on a great routine now. We know she doesn't need it because she sleeps great when we're away from home and don't have the music. But she's also a pretty deep sleeper, and I wonder if the music has helped. Your question has crossed my mind, too, with a baby on the way and our bedrooms close together. Or, I don't know much about them, but you could also try a white-noise machine. Hope this helps!

J.

I have never met a toddler that could be waken by the baby. I believe that is because waking for the baby isn't all that exciting. Mom and Dad... on the other hand....

I don't think that you can make a child sleep anymore deeply. However, with your new baby, make lots of noise (vacuum, let your toddler talk in a normal voice) and he will get used to the "regular house noises".

My daughter was 2 and a half when our second baby arrived. She was a light sleeper before also, and would wake up when the baby would make noise, but she did alright. She usually just went back to sleep. Sometimes when I would be trying to calm the baby in their room, the older one would just lay there and try to sleep.

The first couple of months I usually kept the baby in a bassinet or pack&play at my bedside for convenience, but I did move her right in with her sister.

I don't think there's a way of "breaking" a kid of being a light sleeper. Just make sure you stay on schedule with a proper ammount of sleep for Sawyer and he'll still be sleepy at bedtime.

Good luck!

I put a radio in my son's room and tuned it to the classical music station. I leave it on all night so he is always sleeping with a little noise and then another noise outside his room isn't such a suprise to him and he doesn't even wake up anymore.

Hi K.,

I advise a white noise machine for Sawyer's room or something like that.

I put on a fan on and a soft lullaby on repeat for our boys in their room. The fan is the best in the summer but for winter we'll see, maybe we'll have the heater. Luckily nothing is an absolute crutch for them.

Good luck
-S.