Kids Sharing a Room Not Working Out So Well.

If you're concerned about moving the 3 year old to the room on a different level - I'll share my experience. We have a 3 bedroom split. The master is on the upper level and the other two bedrooms are on the lower level. Our 3 year old has been on the lower level since she was about 6 months old and it has worked really well. We still keep a baby monitor in the room, because I can't hear her without it. Also, because she has to walk past the front door to get to us and I worry about her wandering outside and getting locked out in the winter, we bought a $10 door alarm at Radio Shack that goes off if the door is opened.

There are a few things to keep in mind: make sure your lower level is kid proofed. My daughter has gotten up a few times at night and the monitor didn't pick it up so I didn't hear her. Have a fire rescue plan in case you can't get to her on the lower level. Our plan is a simple landscaping rock outside her window that we would use to break the window if necessary.

I would like to have all of my kids on the same level but our house just doesn't allow for it. We have never had any problems with having her downstairs and a few simple precautions have made it work very well. Maybe try putting your older child in her own room downstairs and just see how it goes.

I would put your youngest to bed first and wait until he falls asleep before putting your oldest to bed. Once he learns to fall asleep on his own it shouldn't be a problem. Remember this though- they are bonding in there so if they aren't causing any real problems, or hurting each other, I would close the door and leave them alone! My kids share a room and as much as they drive me crazy at night, I always have to remember that they are bonding in there. A friend of mine shared a room with her sister for years and she tells me all the time that some of her fondest memories are those bedtime play sessions. We have an extra room too, but our kids share because we want them to have that experience. Good luck to you!

I know that some are saying to move the 3 year old to your bedroom downstairs...why not move your 6 month old down there? If you do it early your son will never know the difference. I have all my kids on our lower level...and has worked out great.

This sounds too familiar :) I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 mo old. They just started sharing a room about 3 wks ago. My oldest would decide that he wasn't tired anymore and get up and play which of course kept the baby up. He would also turn on the light to the room. I took every toy out of the room and also installed a light guard switch so he couldn't turn on the lights himself. It's a little shield that goes over the switch. one side is open so we can turn it on but it's hard for him to do it. i also would put him to sleep first and then the baby about 20 min later. he used to be a light sleeper but now he seems to sleep right thru the baby fussing a little bit to go to sleep. Good luck!

I would move the 3 yr old to the lower level bedroom & put in a baby monitor so that you can hear her at all times day and night. The 6 mo. old should have more cuddling, rocking, soothing, etc., from you before going to sleep and that can't happen with an active 3 yr old in the same room.

My girls are 2 1/2 and 13 months. They've been sharing a room for 7 months or so. It started great,b/c the little one's bedtime was when the older one was already sleeping. Then they flip flopped! My older one would wake the little one up and play with her and entertain her by jumping on the bed (at 10pm!!) I started putting my older daughter to bed in our room and carrying her to her room when we'd go to bed. It was temporary until she was old enough to understand why she had to be quite when she goes to bed.
The only slight draw back is she still likes to start off in our bed. I'd say its 50/50 on where she gets put to bed. It doesn't bother me or my husband, but you'd want to ok it with your husband if you wanted to try it. Pretty soon she'll be to an age where she'll truely understand why she can't wake her brother up and it won't be an issue anymore.
They eventually sleep through eachother if one wakees in the middle of the night.
Good luck!

When our toddler has a hard time, we let our oldest fall asleep in our bed, and then move him to his later. If the middle of the night is an issue, I agree with moving the baby downstairs (as much as I would hate to do it) and using a monitor.