When you YOU think it is safe to put baby in same room as a 6 year old boy???

[cheekymonk]

Well its all in the title really. DD is currently 5 months so am thinking ahead. DS is 6 and really wants DD to join him. We are keeping her with us at the moment but not sure whether to change anything when she reaches 6 months. DS is very good with her, very loving, caring etc and hates being in a room by himself. I have to bear in mind dd's safety too however. Anyone any experience or advice on this??
Also what about bedtimes? DS currently goes to bed at 7ish but sometimes is asleep straightaway and other times takes until 9/10. DD goes down at 10, same time as us currently. She is not ready for 7-7 yet but she does sleep 10-7 usually.
Bit nervous about it all so any opinions would be appreciated.

I think it depends on temperament

DS went in with dd when she was 2.5, she was capable of climbing into his cot but is sensible/calm enough that she wouldnt once it was explained it could hurt him. I could also always hear them through baby monitor.

As your baby gets bigger a worry in my opinion is the tiny bits of toys (lego etc). It may be better to keep these in your ds room where the baby is not allowed until they are past the mouthing stage

DS2 went in with DS1 (aged 3) when he was 6 months. I never had any concerns about safety, the baby was in a cotbed with high sides so DS1 wouldn't be able to reach him out. I can't think of any other safety issues, unless there have been other signs that the older child may want to hurt the baby.

As for waking each other up, we always put the baby down to sleep properly by around 7 so he was normally asleep by the time Ds1 has had his stories and going to sleep. DS1 can sleep through anything so that wasn't an issue when DS2 woke up for feeds. They both start the day at around 6 which is a pain but I've accepted it now

Thanks both. Bit worried about ds picking dd up and dropping her! Yes we have wondered whether to try dd at 7 but my instinct is she won't go that long.
yes i was worried about small bits too but she would only be sleeping in room to start with.

Any other thoughts? x

My dd 18 mo and ds 6 have been in the same room since she was 7 mo and he was 5. But she has always gone to bed first so ds could have half an hour to himself before his bed time. They generally both wake at the same time. I was concerned that if dd woke in the night she would disturb him but we soon found out he was a heavy sleeper I think at 6 he's probably old enough to adhere to any rules you make about picking up baby etc. How big is their room. I've separated theirs with panels so that they have a side each, which makes bed time a lot easier at this stage as dd is a chatterbox and they tend to join forces at prolonging bed time.

Thanks sugarbea. The room is quite big and I wanted to separate but ds and dh want joint sleeping area, joint play area etc. Yes I think he would listen to rules. Might give it a try next month! Thanks all xx

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dd(11 months) will have to share ds (6yo) bedroom when she moves out of ours. The only reason she hasn't so far is that she's a really bad sleeper. Ds did sleep through her screams when we all shared hotel room, but its easier getting up to her when she's still in the same room.

I never thought about ds getting her out of the cot (though he probably wouln't if told not too) though god knows what'll happens wrt to his lego and other chokable toys when she's old enough to climb out the cot? We haven't got anywhere else to store them and landlord won't let us put up shelves etc. I think it'll be more dangerous then than now.

Nightmare isn't it?? x