How Do I Get My 3 Yr Old & My 11 Month Old to Share a Room?

All three of my kids share a room and have been for almost 2 years. When the baby was born (she's 3 now) we put our oldes together. We just told them, "You guys get to share a bed." It took about 3 nights, but they adjusted fine. Then when the baby was ready, we moved her in with them too. We were a bit concerned, wondering if they would really sleep through the night. And again I think it took another 3 nights to get them all used to each other. But now, it's second nature. I think the key is that we just expected them to do it. "Here's what's going to happen." And they wre good with that. And honestly, having the baby still in the crib wasn't an issue. Once she was in a big girl bed, all three wanted to sleep together for awhile, but now they each have their own bed and are 7,5 & 3.

You just do it! As a couple of the other responders said, it just works out. It might be helpful to explain your expectations to your 3 year old - ie, we are moving your brother in your room, and you are expected to sleep in your own bed, to keep your toys on your own bed, that he will sleep in his own bed, etc (myabe try to state them positively as opposed to telling him what he shouldn't do - don't want to give him ideas!). And be firm if he disobeys. Return him and or his toys to his bed and let him know this is where he belongs. Let him think it is a privelege (and it is - the rewards of having siblings share a room are abundant!) that can be revoked if he doesn't comply. If he fusses or causes problems, he can be removed to your floor until his brother falls asleep, for example, or even until he falls asleep. He'll get the message. As for waking in the middle of the night, I worried about this, too. My pediatrician suggested that I calmly tell whichever one was awakened by the crying child that "it's okay, Mommy's taking care of him. Go back to sleep." IF he even wakes up (and most times, they don't) that is enough to assure him and he'll go right back to sleep, probably before you even take care of the other one! I've got 2 sets of boys sharing rooms, and have had one of the pair sick so many times over the years, worked on night time potty training, dealt with bad dreams, having difficulty going to sleep, and now, having friends spend the night - all while sharing a room. I've found that establishing guidelines (expectations) and being calm about anything that does wake one or the other has worked, and they've done well.
You might want to be really firm during the day with the climbing in the crib (not only is it not safe for him, he's teaching his younger brother how to do it), and give him the message that this is definately not okay, and follow through with fairly stiff consequences for breaking the rule.

my 2 boys shared a room untill we moved into a new house. My baby was in the crib and my 18 mo. had a toddler bed. I didnt know how this would work or if my older one would sleep or go back to sleep if the baby cried at night. They were fine:) The older one would get up at first but just go right back to sleep. I think it will all work out for you! Good luck!

I dealt with this with my young ones too. When my daughter was about 3 months old, we moved her out of our room, to her brothers room. He was just over one, and ALSO could climb into her crib.

What I did was let them wake each other up for a couple of weeks until they got used to each other, and to this day they can sleep right through the other waking up because they got used to it. I would go in and supervise and assist them with whatever they needed (diaper, drink, blanket, nurse/bottle...) and put them back to bed.

I am a LIGHT sleeper though. My husband has never been the one to wake up at night for both children. I ALWAYS had to get up when they cried, so I am so used to it now, it's habit. So it wasn't a problem for me when matthew would wake up and try to get in her crib. I would here him (just down the hall) and go tell him to get back in his bed and put him back to sleep.) There was a couple of times he actually got into her crib and woke her up before I got to the room, and I would have to put them both back to bed.

If you're not a light sleeper, get a baby moniter and turn it up. You have to know you will be there when your kid climbs into that crib! for your baby's safety!

EXPECT some sleepless nights though!!!! just for a while until they get used to each other.

I only had to put up with this about a year until I noticed she could get into his toddler bed and out of it, without help. So we bought her a toddler bed too, and now they both sleep in their beds. Now the hard thing is getting them to stay in their beds at bedtime. I have to tell them at least five times to get back in bed until they fall asleep. lol Gotta love it.

We have 3 kids that share a room (girl-6, boy-5, boy-2). It has just always worked. When knew when we had our third that he would eventually have to be in the same room as the other two, so we prayed and hoped for the best! Maybe you could put a baby doll in the crib to test your 3-year-old, and use it as a learning tool for a couple of days. We have discovered that toddlers are very heavy sleepers, and our youngest never woke up the other two. Good luck with this transition!

When you move them into 1 room make it fun and exciting let them know that when they do good,good things happen

My girls have shared since the day we brought YDD home.
It was never an issue...and we never thought twice about it.
She was 2....and I did wonder if the baby would wake her....but she learned really quick that I would be there soon...so sometimes would smile and say hi when I came in...but learned to just sleep though the nightly wake ups.
As far as climbing into the crib...we just firmly told her that it was NOT allowed....and that nothing was to go into the crib because it could "hurt" the baby if it got in her breathing way...and never did have an issue.
At 11 months though, the baby is old enough to not really have to worry about that part.
I think you are stressing over nothing in this case.
We had both girls in toddler beds when YDD was about a year because she was climbing out of the crib...and I was worried about her falling etc....so we put her in a toddler bed with rails right about her first birthday...that might be a thought also...then the "intrigue" of the crib might be gone.
Barb

I would buy a crib tent. They are usually used to keep your toddler in his crib, but they work just as well keeping kids and toys out. We use one to keep our cats out of the crib.