Looking for a Opinion on Infant Sleeping in Same Room as Older Sibling

I always thought my 4 year old daughter was a light sleeper but she has to share a room with her 7 month old brother who usually wakes up once or twice before morning and he will sometimes cry for a few minutes and she does not even flinch. You may be surprised about how she will react and she may just get used to it after a month or so. I would give it a try and see what happens, if it's too hard on her then you might just have to wait a little longer. If you get to the baby as soon as she wakes up then the other child may not have time to fully wake up and realize whats going on. Good Luck

I think eventually your older daughter will get used to it. And if she doesn't then maybe she will learn some techniques to get the baby back to sleep. I grew up with babies in my bedroom. When I was 6 my little sister shared my room and we did just fine. My 3 boys share a room and thought the baby would cry for sometimes 20 minutes at a time, they would fall asleep listening to it. I would turn a fan on or play the mobile for the other kids to help drown it out. But they don't care so much anymore. HOWEVER, I didn't start this until after the baby was a year old. But this was because my 4 year old would wake up during the night and I didn't want him waking the baby. Now everyone is pretty used to each other. I think starting younger would be better.

My son slept in our room until he was four months old, and now I'm reading that the American Association of Pediatric Physicians (I think is the official name!) is strongly encouraging parents to keep their infants in a bassinet or co-sleeper in the parents' room until the infant is 6 months old. This seems to be decreasing SIDS dramatically, even among infants with risk factors. Just what I've recently read! So, if you wait 4 more months, your baby may be sleeping a little more soundly through the night, and if not, there are some great suggestions here for helping your older girl sleep better. Good luck!

I wouldn't move her into her sisters room until she was 4 to 6 months old (whenever she out grows the bassinet). Our son slept in our room until he was about 5 months old. Our next one will do the same. However unless our next one is another boy, they will not have to share a room. I know other moms with 2 or more kids and 6 months to 9 months seems to be when they move them in with their same sex siblings. Hope this is helpful.

Hello Candice!,

I live in a two bedroom apartment. My husband and I are a blended family with a total of 6 kids so far. I have the two girls and he has the four boys and the youngest daughter. At the moment my birth mother has my oldest. However, we put them in the same room for bed. Maybe you should put the youngest down a few hours before the oldest bedtime or maybe just an hour. With our 5 month old daughter Sharen she goes to bed anywhere between 615 and 9. Depending on how her day has been and what has happened. The youngest is our heavy sleeper so noises don't really bother her. Once you get the youngest to sleep you can put the oldest down or just put them to bed at the same time. Eventually the oldest will learn to tune the youngest out and it will help her to become more of a heavy sleeper. If you need and more advice e-mail me at ____@____.com

I was in the exact same situation with my then infant and four year old daughter. I would put them down at separate times. but I would put my 4yr old down first so that we wouldn't disturb a sleeping baby. My son was still waking up in the middle of the night and sometimes wake my daughter. So she would get up out of bed to let me know that Mathew was awake which would really wake him up and kept him from going back to sleep on his own. We would talk with her and let her know that he makes noises at night and thats ok. And to just let him sleep. It was a routine that we all had to get used to. Eventually, they both got used to sharing a room. It was just one of those situations that we had to throw ourselves into and let it all work out on its own. All of our other children slept with us until they were four years old and with Mathew being number five I was ready to stop that trend. Good luck to you, I know how difficult it can be.

I would start with a little at a time, before moving the baby in there, just try it one night and see how it works. If possible put them to bed at the same time. Your daughter may be a light sleeper, but sometimes they will surprise you. I was in the same situation with my 2 boys. They were the same age as yours, it worked out fine in the beginning the older one was bothered a little by it but they get over it really quick. Good luck!

from a clinical standpoint for you 4 year old;I would wait until the baby is sleeping through the night before rooming them in together. Your 4 year old needs adequate rest to be healthy and well if you have not one but 2 children to try to put back to bed, well that ways kind of heavy on mom..