Siblings Sharing Rooms - Aurora,IL

We had 6 kids in a 3 bedroom trailer house. 3 girls in one room, 3 boys in the other. It worked fairly well for us... BUT my parents DID keep the baby (my little sister) in their room until she was sleeping completely through the night. I wouldn't put the baby in the room with them at least until then...

I would say to keep the boys together and make a room for the baby. You can always rearrange later, but babies have so much stuff that putting them all in one room sounds crowded. The older one may want his own room later, but probably not at 5. My sons still choose to share at 11 and 8! This gives them a playroom with a desk area and trumpet practice area. I suggest moving the toys to the family room. That way the baby can nap in peace, without them playing in the room next door. Enjoy your new baby!

I would keep the two boys just the way it is but put the baby in the bedroom closest to you guys and just close the door between the two bedrooms

I would move the toys downstairs and make that room into your nursery while baby is little - if you really think your bedroom would not be big enough to have baby in there in a comfy cot rather than pack n play. Once baby is older - maybe a year or more, then have all three children in together. If you think it is too crowded maybe the older boy will want his own room - but don't count on it - he may not want to miss out on his siblings. Depending if it is another boy or a girl, you may decide for her to have her own space. No harm as I can tell though, for brothers and sisters to share when they are young. You can always rethink the sleeping arrangements down the track anyway if it doesn't work out. We have a 3 bedroom, our 2 boys share, and the other is a play space. If we were lucky enough to have a third, we would have baby with us while young and then more than likely put all three together. I'm all for them bonding - hopefully it will really forge a life long closeness well in to there older years. My two children are deep sleepers once they are asleep, so neither wakes the other up with crying.

I would probably make the attached bedrooms into a quite playroom (soft quiet toys, books, blocks, etc) with new babies items (where you might change her, where she has her crib, where her layette is kept, etc) and where you and your husband have your bedroom. The boys could take the separate bedroom so that they could continue to share (I know mine would have a hard time separating after sharing a room and close sleeping quarters) and would be less interrupted/interruptive by/to the new baby and you and your husband.

For me, it was easier to have a newborn close by - especially for night feedings supplies, etc. For a small while we had an office that we turned into a nursery. We *never* used it because it wasn't as easy (for us).

Also, when your body still needs rest and to heal, your boys would be able to either play quietly near you (especially if they are feeling like being close and need extra mama time), or take rambunctiousness into the other room. I guess your 5 year old would be school aged, and perhaps away from the house...but your two year old would probably be 3 and my 3 year old certainly appreciates space to play with vigor (while my little one is finishing her nap, for example).

There's probably many ways to arrange them in a way that works best for you all. Exciting!

Ideally, I would give the older boys the unattached bedroom, move the playroom to the basement and return to the master/nursery layout. It will require a lot of moving and adjusting, but in the long run it will provide everyone with their own space and lead to fewer sleep disturbances. Good luck!

The baby probably will not wake them but they may wake him/her. As far as that goes you really have to wait and see whether your new one is a light or sound sleeper. I would keep the baby in your room until he/she is between 1-2 years old. I have a 6, 5 and 2 year old and they all sleep together in the same room and even in the same bed (a full size) because they all refuse to be separated. We have 2 other rooms that they could use but the all get so sad at the thought of having their own rooms that we just let them be. I figure soon they will want their space (or at least my son (the 6 yr old) will).

I have three children and they all share a room (boy-6, boy-3, and girl-6 months). When and if baby cries in the middle of the night, the boys don't wake up. Although if one of the boys wake up, she wakes up. Wouldn't be that bad though if my baby took a pacifier, but she sucks her thumb and can only be comforted by me. Depending on the day...the boys get tucked in first, then baby comes in later or baby first and the boys come in later. If baby is sleeping then we read stories and say good night in another room then quietly walk to bed. The toys are down in the basement, I don't believe in having toys in the bedroom. Some of the smaller toys are in the living room since it's small. This works for us, it was my goal to have them all in a bedroom together and we just took one step at a time. Good luck with baby!

Our third child is due in 6wks, and our plan is to have all 3 kids in the same room. While it's a decent-sized room, it's not that big. By the time this baby arrives, it will be just before my oldest son's 4th bday, and his younger brother will be 2-1/2. We have always put the newborn in the crib from the beginning -- I tried keeping our first in the room with us but was waking up with every newborn grunt and not getting any sleep. My plan is to set up the pack 'n play in our room for naps but to let them all sleep together at night. My boys are pretty deep sleepers, so I'm not worried about overnight. It may be a problem if the baby wakes up around 5 or 6am and waking up the older kids too early, but I'll deal with that if it happens. We also have 3 bedrooms, but we're in a duplex down so the third room is technically in the basement. I'm not totally opposed to putting the baby downstairs, but my husband wants us all on the same floor in case of a fire or some other emergency. We (briefly) considered moving the kids into our room, which is considerably bigger but there would be other problems and child-proofing, like sliding doors out to the deck. I guess my point is that you'll have to play it by ear and see how it affects either the newborn's or your older kids' sleep. Good luck!

We presently have a 5yo girl, a almost 3yo boy and a 10mo boy. They share a room. Bedrooms are for sleeping, not for playing.

We put the baby in a walk in closet in our bedroom for 9 months as that is when nightfeeding happen then off to the big kids room... all 3 are in there and all have the same bedtime.

I never had an issue...