What has your experience been with having a baby share a room with an older sibling? I am considering it for my 6 month old and 3 year old. The older child has expressed alot of interest in it and I'm wondering if another being in the room will help settle my little one. After 2 months of sleeping thru the night , my infant starting waking up once a night, then twice a night. I can deal with that but sometimes it becomes a battle to get her back in the crib without her waking up immedietally or 5 min. later crying where I feel like I'm up for an hour and a half trying to get her back to sleep sometimes. If you've done this, what were the benefits and drawbacks of room sharing with a baby involved.
Tried it last night by butting the baby's pack and play up against my older daughter's bed with a railing. Success beyond what I expected! For the past 3 months the baby has not slept more than 4 hours at a time and is often difficult to put back to bed after waking. Last night she slept from 9:30 to 6:15 with one cry or two at 4:00. I didn't even have time to get out of bed to check her! I am so happy! Thanks!
My two youngest share a room. They've been in the same room since the baby was 3 mos. At first my older son would wake up when the baby would cry, but he got used to it over time. The baby is now 2.5, and he will still occasionally wake up at night and cry for me. His brother hardly even stirs now, so it's worked out well.
Hello!
My girls shared a room from the time the youngest was 6 mos. They are just over 3 yrs apart. The older was kind of excited about sharing and when it came time for me to get the room set-up she had input. They both loved the room since it was theirs. Had the oldest color choice (pale pink) all over and some of her artwork. It also had table and chairs for them to play and a rug and lots of toys. I actually liked being in their room too since it was very comfy and big enough for them and me and others to play. I think it's important be big enough for them to interact in too. Good luck!
My two kids are 19 months apart, and they've shared a room since the younger one was about 6 m/o (he was still co-sleeping with me sometimes then, but grew out of that pretty much by 9 m/o).
Drawbacks: in addition to the possibility of the baby waking up the older child (which probably won't happen much -- the older child will likely get accustomed to the noise and won't wake up unless the crying is major and/or long; a fan or white noise machine will help) -- if you keep their toys all in their room, and they have different nap-times, they won't have anything to play with while their sibling is asleep. If you have a play room or lots of toys in the living room, this won't be an issue; but if you try to keep your room clear of toys, it might.
Benefits: they get used to sharing a room, so later it won't be a big struggle or ordeal to get them to share a room.
My kids share a room from the time the baby was about 4 months old and the older one turned 3. It's been over a year and it works out fine for me. They rarely wake each other up, and one or the other does wake up and call out for me at least once a night (to go pee, get resituated in the blankets if it's cold, bad dream, etc).
I kind of like that the whole bath/bedtime routine can all take place in one room- the dressing, undressing, reading, tucking in.
I haven't experienced any negatives yet :)
Depends on the kid. My 5 yo crawls in the crib with the baby if I take my eyes off of him. He doesn't realize how small she is and will get on her. He also tries to help-- but is rough about it. I won't let him share with her until she is old enough to defend herself. My older 2 share a room and wake each other up all the time. Both are light sleepers. For room sharing to work well at least one kid has to be a deep sleeper.
My three girls started sharing a room when the oldest was 4 years old and the two little girls were about 4 months old. There has never been any issue so I have no drawbacks. :) Best wishes!
