Sharing Bedroom - Norman,OK

I to have two daughters that are five years apart. For about the first 6 or 7 months my youngest sleeped at night next to my bed. I had a crib in my oldest room and that is where my youngest would take naps. I breastfed so it was just easier for her to be next to my bed at night, but as she got older and sleep though the night more I moved her into the bedroom with her sister. My mom had a fit because she thought that is was not far for my oldest to not have her own room, but my oldest did not mind and wanted her little sister to sleep in her room. They are now 7 and 2 and still share a room. We moved into a bigger place about a year ago and since they share a room they got the biggest room in the house. It makes it so much easier to keep there stuff organized and they like having someone there when they sleep at night. Hope that helps good luck.

When I had my second child, he slept in our room in a bassnet until he was about 5 months old. I did have a room for him though with a crib in it, but he did not sleep in there though. I would put him in his crib in the day sometimes during awake time while I would put away his clothes in his room, to help him get use to the crib. When it was time to put him in his crib, he would just cry. My husband and I thought that maybe he just did not like being alone. So we put his crib in his big brother's room with him and he was fine, he just did not like being alone. So my advice it to let the baby sleep in your room for the first few months at least and then put the new baby in the big sister's room. Putting them in the same room has been a good bonding experiece for my two boys.

Congratulations!

I agree with the majority,if at all possible I would keep the baby close to you at first. We have two older children, 12 and 13 and a baby 16 months old. Even though we kept him in our room he would wake up the whole house each night. Baby's wake up frequently at first through the night and can get loud in the bed with me or in bed beside my bed. This helped some.

If you have a bassinet or bed you could keep it by your bed and place baby in playpen in Sissy's room during the day.This might help transition the baby to the bed in her room.
*But sissy might not like this on the weekends or during summer vacation because she might want to play in there.
So, with the playpen you can be flexible and move it out of there if she decides she doesn't like the baby in there.

With older kids I have realized it is MUCH easier for the baby to nap when they are at school, because my baby is a light sleeper in the daytime. We tried to let him get adjusted to our household without tiptoeing around, but we soon realized nap time has got to be quiet. Phones turned to silent, the house quiet, and some white noise playing in the background for nap time to be successful.

Good Luck!

I have a 6yo and expecting her little sister, due date July 26th. They will definitely have separate rooms - even though my DD says that the baby can sleep in the room with her, etc.! Actually, baby will be in a bassinet in our room at first because she'll be waking and needing to nurse so often.

As for later, of course that's your choice as well! :) I can say firsthand, though, that my sister is 6 years younger than me and when we were kids my mom tried us in the same room. Didn't work. I was 8-9 or so, trying to get to sleep, and my little sister who was 2-3 yrs was excited to be in the room with me and would want to talk, play, etc. Drew all over my "nice" walls too, LOL. But I think that also depends on the kids - I have always been able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat and my sister has always had erratic sleep schedule. So it may just be that for our situation it just didn't work!

I found it was easier to keep the baby near me during the first couple of months when the baby is up a LOT at night. But after that I would move her to her sister's room. I have three little ones who all shared rooms. You'd be surprised what they can sleep thru. None of mine were ever disturbed by the baby crying.
Good Luck.

K.

I would keep the baby in your room until she is older and wont disrupt the older daughter too much.. Maybe even letting the older daughter have some kind of responsibilities when it comes to her younger sister so she does not feel left out, and make her feel part of the team.

D.

We did it pretty much the same. The crib was in their room and I kept a co sleeper in our room. The baby napped in the crib and slept the night in our room. Then when she moved to the crib at night it wasn't such a transition because she already slept there during the day. Congratulations!!

My daughter is almost 5 and shares a room with her 9 month old brother. He moved in with her when he was about 3 months old and starting to sleep more at night. Even when he does wake up it never bothers my daughter. At one point we considered taking the baby out of her room and putting him in with his older brothers (3 & 7). My daughter got very upset that we might take baby out because she likes to "take care of him". I think letting kids share a room can be a wonderful bonding experience, but would definitely wait a couple of months to get through the sleepless nights. Maybe go ahead and put the crib in with big sis and put a playpen or bassinet in your room. Then you can make the transition a little at a time. Hope this helps. Congrats on your new lil one and hope the rooms work out!

A.

The baby is going to be waking up a lot at night at first, and I would be concerned that it would disturb your 5-year-old's sleep. So, I'd have her in your room, perhaps in a cradle for a while until she is sleeping a little better.

Keep the baby with you. It's best to even have the baby in your bed. Learn more at askdrsears.com and by reading The Sears Baby Book or the Sears Nighttime Parenting Book.

Have fun with your little ones :)