Currently my two oldest children have their own rooms, but I have added a newborn to the mix who is now 5 weeks old and he is currently rooming in with my husband and myself. When he is ready to go to the crib after he outgrows the bassinet I'm torn as to put him in the room with his 4 year old brother, who has slept thru the night since he himself was around 5 weeks old, or to put my 2 1/2 year old daughter in the room with my 4 year old and allow the baby to have his own room for a while.
Both my son and daughter sleep thru the night and had previously shared a room during home renovations, but have been in separate rooms for over a year. I'm not sure if it will be too much of a disruption my daughter to move her room in with my oldest and then move her back in the future and put the boys together.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated or past experiences others have???
thank you.
So we decided to make the move and put the baby at 14 weeks in the room with his 4 year old brother, so far so good!!! The baby has been sleeping thru the night from about 7a to 7p, with one exception of waking around 4a this morning, but big brother just rolled over and went back to sleep after the baby was taken out of the room.
Thanks for all of the advice and suggestions.
I would put the older children together until the baby is older and the risk of suffocation from siblings "sharing" toys in the crib is gone.
I agree with everyone else, put the older two together until the baby gets a little bigger. They will be fine sharing a room.
Have you asked your kids about it? I agree, having the baby alone is probably the best option, UNLESS your older kids hate the idea of rooming together. If they hate it, it may introduce sleeping problems for them. Don't ask them unless you really don't care about the arrangement, because then they may object if you decide against their wishes. You're the boss, it's your decision.
My daughter has always been a heavy sleeper, so when we moved her little brother into her room (after he started sleeping through the night, around 9 months, she was 3) there were no problems. Is one of your kids the heavier sleeper? That may help you decide too. Good luck!
If it were me I'd have baby in his own room. Your oldest might be a great sleeper but what happens when his baby brother is teething, sick, having a gowth spurt, etc and wakes up several times or doesn't sleep as well as your other children did. I would not want the other two waking up it will make a house full of grumpy overtired kiddos.
Which arrangement is likely to allow every one the most sleep? If the older kids sleep thru the night I'd put them together because the 5 week old one isn't likely to sleep thru the night. You wouldn't have to actually move them together. Put both beds in one room but allow them to each have their own room for toys, etc. However, at 2 1/2 and 5 they probably won't mind sharing a room.
My daughter moved her baby in with her 8 yo. He and his 11yo sister have separate rooms. At 11 she really does need her own room. However, the baby wakes up the 8 yo who isn't getting enough sleep. So they moved his mattress into the 11 yo's room for sleep only. In all other ways he's sharing his room with the baby.
Put the crib in your room so you are close to the baby until he gets older, then you can consider a different type sleeping arrangement.
Why not keep baby in your room for at least a year?
My son (5) and daughter (2 1/2) share a room and have since she was about 6.5 months old when we moved her out of our room. She started in a co-sleeper then we set up her crib in our room, then moved her into his room when she was consistently sleeping through the night. That said, if both of your older kids are sound sleepers, I would put them in the same room as others have said. They can share a room for quite a while before you need to make other arrangements and they'll probably like it. Baby's sleep patterns are just so unpredictable...Good luck : ).
