5 Year Old and Newborn

I agree w/what these moms have said. A baby can sleep through anything. I let all mine sleep in the living room when they were newborns. My oldest was 3 when my second was born. I also have 2 that are 14months apart and my last one is 20 months apart from my 3rd one. They are used to the noise and if they want to sleep they will. :0)

I just let them be normal. I would try and get my two older ones to play at their friend's houses during my youngest's naptime (there is a 5 year age span between my middle and youngest daughters), but if everyone was at our house, I would try and get them to keep the noise down when baby was sleeping. It never really worked that well and my youngest was never a great napper. Not sure if one caused the other! I still use white noise in my youngest's room (she's 7 now), because her big sisters get up an hour before her for school. The bottom line is that it all works out in the end, and you don't want to be the mom whose house no one wants to come to because she's always shushing everyone! :-) Best of luck with the new baby.

They get used to the noise....or rather, they already are hearing it in-utero! We have 4 kids and they were all born at home, so there was no transition...it just was. #4 sleeps through fighting over toys, etc. When #2 or #3 wake up yelling for us in the middle of the night, no one else wakes up, except me. We remind them that the baby is sleeping, but it's NEVER completely quiet at our home.

mostly allow them to adjust to the noise or a quieter activity while nursing, include them, read to the older one, do a puzzle...

It just depends if you want your new baby to always have to have it quiet in order to fall asleep. My second could fall asleep anywhere because he was used to a noisy sister. I'm assuming he heard all the noise while in the womb and was used to it... If he did wake up from something loud and startling, he was able to fall back asleep. If your baby isn't able to fall asleep again, then you might have to temper some of the noise.

Just let things go as they normally would. My kids are also 5 years apart. I let my son do what he typically did. My daughter has always been a good sleeper and takes alot of noise to wake her up.

I'd go about 50-50. The family can still talk and do things around the house, but loud games, tv, running around, etc.....not during nap time.
My parents always wanted it very, very quiet in the house when I was a baby and sleeping. I am a very light sleeper. Every little noise wakes me up.

For my younger sisters and brothers, I think my parents just let things get much more casual around the house during naptime. As adults, they are much better sleepers than I. Not sure if this is coincidence or not.

My older 2 were in school when #3 came along, so it wasn't much of an issue then, but with my older 2, they were only 3 years apart, so that was not an issue either. I would wait and see what temperament your baby has. If they are going to be a baby that will sleep anywhere- great. But if they need the quiet, then adjust accordingly.

I let my son be loud because he is a loud kid. I tried to teach/encourage being quiet, of course, but trying to teach this 3 year old to be quiet is like asking a dog to stop barking. When my daughter was napping in her room, I would be sure to try and entertain him. This would keep the noise level down and he cherished the one on one time. I couldn't always entertain him so sometimes he woke her up. We had our moments where I was frustrated but that's just life with two (it's different). For whatever it's worth, my daughter isn't loud, even though she was exposed to the chaos of her big bro.

I just let things be, both of my kids are very good sleepers, and I think it may have helped that I was never worried about keeping things too quiet.

Your baby has been hearing big sis in the womb all these months already, don't change anything.

With my oldest, I was CRAZY about trying to keep the house quiet (my in-laws lived with us and were SO LOUD). With my middle child, I still emphasized quiet, but not as much. With my 3rd, it is pretty much always loud in the house, so I use white noise in the bedrooms to block noise. I use a humidifier fan, so it has a high & low setting.

My baby actually does really well in noisy environments--he can fall asleep in loud restaurants, as long as he is in his infant carrier carseat & I close the canopy.