We are expecting our third child in January! We will need to have our two girls (now ages 14 months and 3 years) move from having their own rooms to sharing a room so the new baby has a room. I'd like the girls to be used to sharing a room by the tim ethe baby comes-so they aren't having too much change at once. My questions are: when should we do the switch and any ideas on how to make it fun for them? thanks in advance!
Talk about it with them and have them help! It's going to be so exciting and they will feel the excitement along with you. I went to the library and checked some books out on sharing rooms and on sleepovers to make my boys see others excitement as well.
I dont think they will have any problems with it. My 2 girls are close to the same age and love it. The only thing we struggle with right now is getting them to stop playing. We put my youngest to bed around 7:30 and the oldest around 8. I would switch them now. Do it on a weekend so they have a few days where if you have to get up in the middle of the night you can rest during the day. Every once in a while one of my girls will cry at night and it wakes the other one up. It usually doesnt last long and doesnt happen often. Im not sure if you are switching the youngest one to a bed but if you feel comfortable it might be a good time to do it all at once. I have my third on the way due in Sept. and our girls have shared a room since my youngest was around 9 months old. They do great with it and love it. Its actually helped my oldest sleep better.
I wouldnt worry to much about the transition. My kids did great when it came time to change them around. First my son and daughter shared the upstairs room, as my son was a little nervous about going downstairs, then when my second daughter was born, he was moved downstairs without a hitch, he got a nightlight and new beddings and all was great. When we got pregnant for the fourth time, we had to move our daughter downstairs with my son, and it worked out just fine, she loved the new place. My other daughter switched out the crib quite nicely, as she wanted a big bed like the others anyways. When the babies are older, they will move downstairs too, and I am confident that since they love being with the older ones and have to do things all the same, it will be an easy move too. Good Luck!
My boys are 16 months apart. When we moved them into the room that they are now in. I had them put a hand print border around the room with their own hands. One was green and yellow the other was red and blue and we just rotated the colors. So they both have their own handprints all around the room. They had a blast and still talk about it 2 years later.
~M.
Explain to them about sharing and let them help decorate their new digs.
