How do you feel about shared bedrooms? The current discussion at our home is: Where is the baby going to sleep? And the most likely option seems to be in their brother's room. He will be 2 1/2 when the baby is born.
Am I crazy?
Cause I sure feel like it.
I keep having visions of late night feedings waking up the toddler (he's a light sleeper) and then having to get two children back to sleep during my zombie-like state.
And to be honest, none of it sounds like fun.
I know there are shared bedrooms happening everywhere out there. Would you mind sharing your stories? What has worked for you and what hasn't? I would love to hear them.
Thanks for your help!
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8 comments:
My personal experience has been that every one of our 5 babies has shared a room with a sibling. (and, by the way, never slept in a bassinet in our room or with us in bed...just our personal preference) When our 3rd daughter was born, all three girls - newborn, 22mos, and 4yo - were all in the same room! :) Honestly, my other kids have learned to just "live with it," and I've never had too much of a problem with more than one kid up at a time. If you have the luxury of an extra room (which I've really never had), then maybe giving the baby his/her own room would work best for you. I'm just here to say that sharing rooms is TOTALLY do-able. :)
Small apartment living means my two children (3 years apart) share a bedroom. Within days of our new arrival, the older one started sleeping through the baby's screaming. About 3 months later, the baby would also sleep through the older one's noises (but the other tiny noises will still wake both of them up). It was an adjustment at first, but not nearly the nightmare I expected. In fact, it works so well now that when we have three bedrooms, I still fully plan on sleeping the two together and using the spare room as a play room. Just be optimistic - it will work out with just a little time.
I guess I'll be the voice of dissent. I am all for separate rooms. My oldest was (and still is) a light sleeper in the extreme, so when my second came along, he slept in our room until he was 4.5 months old. He actually slept in our bed in his carrier (he slept better if he was a little bit propped up and having him in the carrier meant I didn't have to worry about anyone rolling over on him -- just hemmed it in with pillows so it couldn't tip and he was good to go). I liked this arrangement because I didn't have to travel anywhere to nurse. We threw a thick, folded towel on my lowboy dresser and called it the changing table and little guy was our roomie until he started looking like he could roll over on his own. Then we moved him to the crib in his own room. Frankly, the stress of dealing with two babies (my oldest is only 22 mos. older than her brother) was plenty -- I didn't want to add to it by possibly waking up the toddler in the middle of the night. Now that my children are older, I think room sharing is fine, but when sleep was at a premium, I protected it as best I could.
First, I have to tell you that I LOVE those curtains in the first room! What a fun punch of pattern and the second room with the mix of linens is so great! My kids have shared a room off and on depending on where our travels take us, but our littlest guy hasn't been the best sleeper and my five year old has a certain affection for sleep. At one point when the baby was sick and crying all night long I just had my older son sleep with his sister. We'll see how it goes in Denmark in a few weeks when the boys have to share again! The older they get, the easier it gets!
I'm all for sharing...grew up sharing and now my two boys share a room. When the younger was a newborn he slept in our room and it made night waking/feeding so much easier. We moved him when his sleeping patterns were much more established. Good luck with your new little one! It always works out.
I guess I kind of feel it's selfish to put a crying baby in with your toddler. At least at first I think I'd let my toddler get his sleep and take the bullet myself. Then after the baby gets a little more stable I think it's fine for the kids to share a room.
My $.02.
I would agree with Heather that sleep at that time is at a premium, that's why I made my 18 month old take the baby in the room with him :) I've just never been able to sleep with a small baby in the same room, every little grunt and sigh would wake me right up and then going back to sleep was impossible, and truth be told I (and everyone else) would rather my toddler be cranky than me. If he ever gets up in the middle of the night I just say, "oh, sorry, it's not time yet." and put him back in his bed. The first couple times were rough, but then he just learned to sleep through us walking into the room (even during nap time! they now take naps together and if she wakes up early he sleeps through me coming in to get her! heaven!).
Thank GOD I found this post and the comments that followed - I found out today that we are preggers with #4 and it looks like any which way you slice it - somebody is going to have to share a room.
My oldest (6 yo) really got upset with the prospect of baby crashing the party and changing his life - AGAIN!!
so...I think I'll be bunking up 3 yo with the newbie - keeping newbie with us at night in the begining when it's crazy..
anyway...thanks for posting this (even though it was a long time ago:)
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