Toddler Interrupted

I have a newborn and a 3yo. The newborn screams like a banchee when he's hungry and he's never woken the 3yo up. And we live in a small townhouse. His changing table shares a wall with the 3yo bedroom and she sleeps through it all.

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i have 3 boys. Oldest will be 3 in march, and the twins just turned 1 year old on thanksgiving day. I was worried as well. they get used to it really fast. there have been plenty of days that my toddler slept like a log through those super ear piercing screams. (no I do not let my children scream and scream, but you know how sometimes they start with the extreme crying) I wouldnt worry to much. you can always keep them in seperate rooms for the first few months.

My boys 3 and 5 share a room and my oldest never had sleeping issues due to his brother crying. If he did wake up, he learned to put himself back to sleep. I think they get used to it and if she can already put herself back to sleep when waking up, it probably won't be a problem with the new situation. They learn to deal with it.

I have 2 kids.
My oldest is my daughter and I have a younger son.
4 years apart.
When I brought home my son.... PRIOR to that and all during my pregnancy with him, I fully explained, to my eldest, how it will be or may be... when her baby brother comes home.
SO that, she knew what to "expect."
A child... needs to hear this.... from his/her Mommy. Kids like, a head's up.
It helps them to situate, themselves.

So with that in mind, no, my daughter did NOT have a hard time with sleeping or naps, after her baby brother came home nor with all his wakings and feedings and/or crying. Because... my daughter, "knew" what to expect and knew, what a baby was. Because, I explained this to her. Not "assuming" that a child knows everything.
I explained to her that a baby wakes/cries/nurses ALL the time, day and night, no matter what time. But it is MOMMY... who takes care of this. Not her.
So, a couple of times in the beginning after her baby brother came home, she did also wake at night when my son would cry and I nursed him. And it was because, she "worried" about her baby brother. But she knew that "I" was taking good care of her baby brother. So then, that satisfied her and because of all the time I spent on talking with her and explaining to her... how life changes, when there is a new baby at home and what he will do. Cry/wake/cry/nurse/cry/change diaper/cry & wake any ol' time day and night.

My daughter, could still nap and sleep at night, despite that.
Because, I talked with her about it all. In a nutshell.

My two year old sleeps right through the screaming and crying f her baby sister, but I think she would sleep through a tornado too! I run fans in both of their rooms for white noise to help block some of the noise out.

My oldest was 18 months, and had barely started sleeping through the night when our second baby was born. I thought for sure he would wake up every time his brother cried! But, luckily, it never happened :-) He slept right through it every time!

My newborn woke my toddler (22 months) up a couple of times, and he was groggy and irritated looking, and then he went back to sleep on his own. Mostly, he just got used to it and slept through it.

They have been sleeping in the same room for over a year, and rarely wake each other up.

Hi, M.:

Life is full of changes. Don't worry about the 2 y.o. being
awaken. If she wakes up and doesn't fuss. Let her alone. She
will go back to sleep.
Good luck.
D.

My children usually woke up the first or second time with a new baby, but were oblivious to the noise after that. Even with a colicky baby in the house, the others never noticed. (Only one of mine was colicky)

I have twin boys that just turned three. My six month old's cried have never woken them, and we live in a pretty small house where the bedrooms are close together.

I agree about running a fan in the toddler's room, and definitely about explaing to her as best you can before the baby comes. I only have one child for now but I can guess that your daughter will get very used to the sounds and learn to block it out for a good night's sleep. Maybe at first she'll get upset but at 2 years old, I'd guess she'll just roll over and put herself back to sleep, not wanting to get up to see what all the fuss is about when she's so tired. :)

Hi,

My two boys share a room. Olders one is 3 and baby is 10 months. When the youngest one wake up during the night, the oldesr sleeps through it all. Until resently (and all this happen with big brothers eyes closed, and him being half asleep); (and this is so cute!!) he first say "shh my baby brother shh, go back to sleep my Kiaannie" (that is his special name for his brother) and then he sings to his brother. He sings Twinkel Twinkel or (keeping in time with Chrismas) Jingle bells. And this works for all of us, as baby brother normally goes back to sleep, normally....

Don't be anxious, just relax and things will work out from self.

Our kids all shared rooms so they were in with a newborn usually. Rarely did one wake and if they did they went back to sleep and that was it. They get used to it and usually sleep through it. Don't worry about it at all.