DD (2.5 years) has never been a co-sleeper; from a young age always pretty much in her own bed all night long (and sleeping well as she got older) an arrangement all seemed happy with. However with the arrival of DS 4 months ago things have gone out the window a bit, with some classic sleep regression stuff; getting up in the night etc. nothing too dramatic.
I thought she was getting over it but 3 weeks ago she started getting up in the night, crying and saying she wanted in our bed. Fine, neither of us really mind, especially as it hasn't really happened in the past. But already I can see this is fast becoming a habit that will be hard to break. I can't blame her...she is well aware that the rest of the family (us and DS) are together in our room ( and he is often in our bed by the morning as well) and in some ways quite like having a snuggle with her, but I don't want it to happen every night (would be fine if eg it only happened after a bad dream/illness etc) especially as DS is a crap sleeper so far...I have enough disturbing me without being woken by her as well. Plus it's a squash with all 4 of us!
My question is, is this likely to last if so how long? Is there an age by which children typically decide to stay in their own bed (ie can we just leave it for now in the hope it will sort itself out in the not too distant future) or are we going to have to coerce/bribe/train her to get her out of the habit? That won't happen for a long time, once DS is settled at night, as neither of us can face nighttime screaming from a toddler when we have a crying baby too.
Would be interested to hear from others in a similar situation...any advice?