I am giving birth in January to our 2nd. My son will be fifteen months then. He has always slept in a crib in our room. We have 2 bedrooms. What should our sleeping arrangement be like? We have the crib, 2 donated toddler beds (from friends with older kids), pack and play yard... we can borrow an air mattress from my parents... but should we all sleep together in the same room when baby is born? Daddy moves with son into another room? Should I move with newborn into the other bedroom? Another problem is that daddy is going to be at home with them... I need to return to work after 6-8 weeks of giving birth. What should sleeping arrangement be like then???? I need my sleep as well. Do I then switch back and sleep with the older one and have daddy sleep with newborn in the other room? Should newborn sleep by herself? HELP!
So I just gave birth prematurely. Baby girl is in the hospital for the month... so that still gives me time to train the older one to sleep by himself. Thank you for your responses. I totally agree with older one sleeping by himself... daddy thought we should separate (sleep in separate rooms), me with newborn, him with older and then switch children when I went back to work so I don't need to take care of the newborn... Should I still be sleeping with newborn when I return to work in January? Thank you again for your help!
Do not all sleep in the same room. No one will get any sleep. Move older
one into his own room, then you can keep the baby with you. My kids always went from hospital to crib in own room. You could put the two
in the same room.
My boys are 18 months apart, and w any through the same thing. Start your oldest sleeping in another room before the baby comes. Let him get used to his own room, maybe you or dad take a week and sleep on the floor of his room while he adjusts, then be with him until he falls asleep, then eventually let him go all by himself. I had my newborn in my room with his bassinet set near my bedside until he was four months. Then we put him into his big crib in his own room.
I would not take the toddler out of the crib. My kids were in cribs till they were 3 and reasonable. (wellmore reasonable than they were when they were 2)
I would put the toddler in the crib in his own room.. I would keep the baby in your room till she sleep through the night.. I would buy a second crib.
I do not like children able to walk around in the night or potentially escape from the house until htey are old enough to know that this is dangerous.
My kids are 18 months apart and I bought a second crib for the new baby. sometimes Ihad to take a shower and put them in their cribs so they were safe.
K.,
Check with La leche league and attachment parenting international if you need further assistance with this.
Best bet for you is to have baby in bed with you, or in a sidecar (if you have any sleeping issues like restless legs, apnea or are taking anti-depressives or are a smoker/drinker).
Best for both babies to be with you in the room. Saves a lot of time, energy, hassle and gets you ALL back to sleep earlier when someone wakes up.
There is a wholelot more but I have a 4 and 1 year old, and a husband also, and this is my WAKING time with them.
So congratulations!
and good luck,
M.
I would suggest moving your oldest to his own room, before the baby comes so he doesn't feel evicted or replaced by sister.
I am really not one to give sleep advice, we have a family bed (althought not really intentionally) but it works for us.
I just wanted to put that pack and plays are not regulated to be used as a sleeping space. Small children can get stuck in the areas between the mattress and the mesh sides, and be unable to breathe. The mattress (at least on many, mine included) does not go all the way to the edges. It is fine for naps, when you are supervising, but I wouldn't use it at night. I know many people do and the kiddos are fine, but after reading an article about it, I could never do it.
Good luck! And get some rest. :)
What about just transitioning your older son to his old room? All of my kids went into their own room at 3 mos. Then have the baby sleep in your room with you and your husband... take turns getting up with the baby. If you are nursing, have your husband get up to change the baby and then give him to you. Your older child needs his own room to avoid being woken up... and should be fine by himself!
Your toddler should have his own room...and with a crib. I also agree (with someone who already commented) that your toddler should be kept in his crib until a later age when he has a better understanding of what id dangerous. With a toddler bed, he could get up in the middle of the night, get into stuff, get out the door, ect. There are just so many harmful possibilies. I would keep a baby monitor with you for him at night. That way, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, you are aware. Also, you should keep your newborn in your room with you until she/he is able to sleep through the night. You and daddy need your own room with your own bed so you can sleeo together. Your bed is like your's and his' OWN space. When the newborn sleeps through the night, transition him/her into the toddler's bedroom.
:)
Went through the SAME thing! Babies were 14 months apart, and I co-slept with my oldest all the way into the 7th month of pregnancy with my 2nd. I know it's hard but the toddler should be in his own room in his crib (my oldest is just now getting into a toddler bed and she's over 2 1/2). That way, he'll be able to be on his own schedule and you can get up and deal with the newborn for the first months until you move him/her into a crib. At that point, if you only have the 2 rooms, you could probably get away with having the newborn in the crib in your room, at least for another year or two. So yes, you'll have to buy a crib, and after your newborn is in a crib, you'll sort of have to just treat it like his/her room and put them down early and sneak in yourselves when you go to sleep. Also, I would highly recommend a good strong white noise machine (I use the Marsona) for both rooms, so they don't wake each other up. Good luck. Remember, you'll figure it out as you go but the first important step is to get the older one in his own room. If you do that now, you'll all be better rested later.
Move your son to his own room. Be sure to make it a very special "event." Go buy him something he adores, and/or a large stuffed friend he can cuddle with.
Start moving your toddler to his own room. Do it now so that he is used to it by the time baby comes. He will be fine on his own. You and Dad should share a room, and for now keep the baby in your room. It sounds like you might be a little more anxious to separate from your kiddos, which is totally understandable. But, remember that it's perfectly healthy to have kids sleep by themselves. Good luck!
The older child is old enough to go in the toddler bed. If he were in childcare he would already be sleeping on a cot during nap time. It is often a good time to transition them at home when they are doing that in child care so I always started my grandkids in toddler beds around the same time. They were all sleeping in theirs by 15-18 months full time. It seemed to me that the earlier they were sleeping in the toddler bed the less issues I had with the playing and stuff. But truthfully, if their room is baby proof they can get up and play as much as they want, as long as there is a gate across the door that confines them to their room and not access the rest of the house.
I would sleep the baby in your room at first, I never could sleep at night if I could not hear the baby breathing, especially after my friend lost her baby to SID's. Once the baby is older they can go into the next room with older sibling. They are close enough in age that they should not have very different schedules.
As for daytime hours and when you are needing to sleep at night. During the day if you need a nap I would have hubby keep the baby in the farthermost room from you for the day and let the baby sleep in the pack and play instead of the baby bed. At night time I think the baby needs to be with the adults for at least 3-6 months.
