When Should I Move the Infant into the Room with the Toddler?

I would start with naps in the shared room when you are awake and alert to any problems. This will get them used to being in the same room and give you an idea of how older child is going to react. I kept my now 22 month old in my room til she was over a yr old simply because her older sister would try to take care of her... get her out of bed etc.. One thing to think about was an issue with us- when I kept the baby in my room, I was the only one that got woke. When I tried to put my girls together when the baby cried she woke up the then 3 yr old and then she would not go back to sleep.

My boys are two years apart and have been in the same room since my youngest was 2 months (he's nine months now). They sleep better when they're together because they are used to each other's noises. I've found that both my boys can sleep through just about anything now. When one cries, the other just keeps on sleeping!
Keep in mind it may be rough the first few nights they're together while you're figuring out what works (like who you should put to bed first), but they'll get used to it quickly.
Good luck!

We put pur boys in the same room when the baby was 4 months old and brother was two and a half. (Because I needed sleep!) There were only a couple of days of my oldest being disturbed by crying, but ultimately it worked out just fine. Kids are very resiliant and will adjust accordingly.

Hi,
I have kids about the same age and moved my infant into her brother's room about two weeks ago when she was just under four months. It's gone surprisingly well. He has woken crying and not disturbed her and visa versa. In fact, it even worked in our favor to stop his fears of monsters under the bed - well known fact that babies are poinsonous to monsters and they keep well away.
I had it all worked out to be a difficult transistion though, and once I did it - not a bid difference. Just go for it!

Why don't you try it for a few nights and see how it goes! You can always take the baby back into your room and try again later. I guess for me the indicator for when it is time, is when your sleep is suffering with the baby in the room. Good luck, and enjoy your boys!

Hi E.,
When I had only one room for my two oldest kids I didn't wait too long before having them share a room, I only waited till my son, the younger one, was sleeping through good time spans and for my daughter I got her used to hearing things during the night by putting a radio in her room to listen to instead of a noisey new brother who makes all sorts of grunts and groans and whines and cries as he sleeps. Oh also before putting them in the same room at night I had them take their naps together, to get them used to each others sleeping sounds/noises. I was told by family members that I won't know how well they do in the same room till I put them in the same room, and to not over react when cry, even if they both start crying that it won't last forever and they need to make it through the adjustment. My kids, all 3, suprise me at how much they can sleep through. I hope all goes well!

Hi E.
My kids are just short of 16 months apart and I DREADED moving them into the same room, my panic was huge....and completely useless. When my daughter outgrew the bassinet in our room we moved them in together. So my son was about 19 months and my daughter about 3 months. It was SO easy! My son slept right through her crying at night, neither had any problems. The first night I let my daughter "cry it out"
to put herself to sleep (quite a gew months later), my son fell asleep before my daughter stopped crying. Now at 3 and almost 2 they still sleep fabulous together and don't play at night or anything. I think kids adjust faster than us parents! So relax, I think the sooner you combine them the better...then they don't know any different and sleep through anything!
Best of Luck

When my two oldest were waiting to share a room my pediatrician suggested about 4 months or when the baby was about 12-13 pounds as this is the "Magic" weight as to which a baby has the capability and will start to sleep through the night. (My babies are little so that was about the age they reached that weight.) And for some reason those little babies are so smart they will wake up just because they "know" you are there even though they have no needs to be filled besides being loved!
In my experience the longer the stay in my room, the longer they wake up during the night. When I was talking with my children's doctor about him waking up during the night for no apparent reason (he was still right next to my bed in his cradle) she suggested moving him into the other room and he slept through the night with no problems!
Good Luck!

My boys are three years apart. 6 and 3 now. When my youngest was 12 months I became pregnant again and my son stopped nursing as well. So we instantly put them in the same room. Not only did my baby boy sleep better, him and his older brother bonded like you can't even believe. They now have been sharing a bed (sleeping opposite) even though they have a bunk bed, for over a year. They are two peas-in-a-pod and the best of brothers(well, most of the time) Even at such a wide gap in age they do almost everything together. I think it is very healthy and keeps the family knitted close together. We are moving soon to a three bedroom and I am almost wanting to put my daughter(12 mo. now) in the same room as the boys just for those reasons. (Even thought she will have her own room!!!) I am big on family togetherness though! Hope that helps.

I did the transition w/ my boys gradually. I started having the baby take naps in the crib to get used to being there. Once I felt he was comfortable and naptime was smooth, then I moved him into the crib for the night. I used a monitor so when baby was ready to eat I was in there to get him before he woke up his brother. I also felt that between the feedings I got better rest w/ baby out of the room. The feedings should be further spread by that time (3-4 months) anyway, and I was able to sleep w/out being awaken by baby's general "stirring around". Good luck!!

We had a very similar situation and moved the baby into the toddlers room too early. The toddler inevitable woke up when the baby cried during the night. It was no fun, because I and the my older child were tired the next days. We moved the crib out altogether into our office until our baby was sleeping through the night. Then we put it back and things have been pretty smooth sailing since.

We moved our second from co-sleeping with us to his own crib in his brother's room between 4-5 months. They both did awesome. We did the cry-it-out routine with him (#2, I had been nursing him to sleep and wanted to break the habit), with them both put down at the same time, and son #1 feel asleep while he was crying and stayed asleep each night when #2 would wake up. They would often play in the mornings before getting me too, in fact they usually still do (now they're 6 and 3). It was awesome. Whatever you do, be consistent. It may or not be hard at first to switch things around, but they'll figure out this is for keeps and adjust just fine. Good luck!

I am curious to read the responses for the same question.
Thanks!

I was in the same situation last year son was two in may the new baby born in jan. we were to chicken to attempt it because i was just thrill to have the older one sleeping through the night! Now the second is one and still in our room. I dont have any advice but know you are not alone we are having our third in june so that is when i plan on having the older boys together in a room!! sorry i am no help but i feel for you!! could the crib maybe go in the grownup room so the transition into the crib isnt a shock and he wake up often becasue of the change and then you can slowly move him into the other room once he is ok in the crib? thats all i have sorry.

We didn't move our son 11 months now to share a room with his sister 2 1/2 until he was about 8 months old and we wish we would have done it sooner. They do great, They actually both sleep better in the same room. It took a few days of our daughter getting use to the fact she had to share a room but we are so glad we did it. Not only do they sleep better but so do we!!! Our daughter actually sooths our son back to sleep some night by singing to him!

Oh and 90% of the time our son never wakes up our daughter if he wakes in the night. She sleeps so good. It might be the same case for you guys also.

When our daughter was born, our son was 20 months. We kept our daughter in our bed and then in a playpen in our room and she was a terrible sleeper!! We moved her into her brother's room at about 6 months. We'd make sure he was asleep before we put her in there and used a monitor to help with the waking up. Don't know any reasoning behind it, but she started sleeping better right away. When we had our third, we followed about the same and, I think, the first two sleep so much better with her in there from having shared for two years. We just need a bigger house!!

I hope this helped to at least ease any fears. It may be a slightly tough week or so of transition, but stick with it! It'll be better in the long run.

Hello E.,

We moved the two children to the same room when the baby was about 9 months old. Her brother was a little over 3.

We did that with little transition by moving them both into one large room. Sean's room was smaller and the baby had been sleeping in the study for a couple of months because I wanted to make sure that she was sleeping through the night before I moved them together.

Sean resented a little bit losing his own room. Also, he still needs a lot of sleep, she does not. So, somedays she will wake him up unless we rush in to pick her up first. Or, she will still be talking and plying while he is already down.

On the whole, it really was easy, but I think it was a good idea to wait until Mathilde slept through the night. It was not too disruptive that way.

Good luck!

K.

we didn't move our son into his big brothers room until he was 2 years old, part of it might that he was never a good sleeper and we didn't want him waking up his brother (6 at the time) Even when we did move him into the same room, for a few nights if the little one would cry or something, I would find my older son out in the living room sleeping..
I think it would be better to do it when they are young so that they both get use to sleeping with each others noise