Older Sister Vs. Younger Sister

Two bedroom is really all you need and it will certainly help you out financially. There have been plenty of people that didn't get their own room and they were fine.

Now, as far as how mean the 2yo is with her sister....well, is the older one getting attention? Are you making statements like...'I can't do that with you, I've got to tend to the baby', etc. That puts the problem on the baby, so the older child will resent the baby. It just needs to be worded differently. I don't if the resentment can be turned around now, but I would certainly redirect her attention to something else and spend time with her as much as possible. Hopefully as time goes on and you spend time with them both together and reword things differently (blame it on yourself), she'll come around to loving her sister.

Fortunately, I've never had that problem with my own kids, but see that with my friends' kids....there is that common denominator from what I've seen.

As far as the sleeping arrangements...I would put the crib in YOUR room and let the 2yo have her own room. That way, you can monitor the baby in your room AND you can put one of those child proof caps over the doorknob when she is taking a nap so the 2yo can't go into the room. Good luck!

I agree, unless the money is free-flowing, I would get a two and put the crib in your room. Maybe the two year old would benefit from the encouragement that when she is either a certain age (3) and becomes a the big helper for mommy, they "might" get to share a room. That would be very special, right???? It is all in the marketing, mom!
good luck to you, J.

Sounds like sibling rivalry. Are you giving each special attention? The older child needs to "help" with the younger one. The older one is special, helps a lot and needs to be praised. Right now, although you're staying with parents, take the older one out by herself with you and explain, that this happens when she is good, treats her sister with respect and kindness. But, if she's mean to her sister, she won't get to go out (eat, to a movie, etc). It takes constant work. Don't worry about number of bedrooms for now. Get older child on the right road.

It just depends on how the apt is set up. If there is an area you could put up a privacy screen for the bed for one of your girls you could make a 2BR work. I would not leave these 2 together unsupervised. Even accidents can happen so quickly and a 2 year old is simply at that age when they have no real idea of what the outcome of their actions could be. I'm sure a 2 BR will be considerably less expensive. V.

Praise praise praise the 2 yr old. IF she gives the doll back or the paci back to the baby, praise. Praise her before you put her to bed-- "I love how you help or how you share or how you are nice to your sister."
As for her being mean-- you need to monitor. Start making SIMPLE rules- no hitting. no climbing in the crib. -- stick to it.
Our problem as parents (including myself) is that we are not consistent. Be consistent- perhaps you want to put the 2 yr old in the crib with her- -tell her that you do this only when you put her in.

The 2 yr old- wants ATTN!! Talk to the 10 month old sometimes and say-- "Name, I need to put you down to nap so I can play with your sister. Or "Name, I need to change your sister and put her beautiful outfit on."

I have 2 girls- 2 1/2 and 1. I have learned a lot and am still learning.
DON'T let the 2 yr old be mean. Don't yell at her. Don't stoop to her level. Stay calm.
I have started telling my 2 yr old if she pushes her sister that her sister is going to do it back bc she is just learning from her.
I CONSTANTLY tell both of them that the one loves the other.
PRaise. Clap your hands. make a big deal out of the little good.
And with the bad stuff, the best is to set rules and then distract with a different activity or something.

Hang in there. I am sure it is tough being a single full time working mom.

You know best. What would you tell someone else in your position?

I have four daughters, all grown now. Give them separate bedrooms if at all possible. The two year old will probably outgrow her "need" to be mean to the baby, but meantime you must keep a good eye on that situation in order to protect the baby from the two year old. Two year olds do not have a good sense yet of what is right or wrong morally. In time, with proper instruction and restraint from you, she will begin to restrain herself from harming the baby. Worse comes to worse, the baby will grow up and defend herself. Meanwhile, since you are looking for a place to live now, look for three bedrooms or else put one of them in the bedroom with you; whatever it takes.