Has anyone put a baby and toddler in the same room to sleep

[TattooedGrrrl]

...when the baby doesn't sleep through?

I don't know if it's a daft idea, or worth a try. We have a small 2 bed house, DS2 is 7mths and still in our room. He wakes a few times a night, and i usually bring him into our bed around 1am.

I think our creaky bed / floorboards / us coming to bed might disturb him more, and wonder if he'll sleep better in a dark, quiet room with his brother. DS1 is almost 2yrs, sleeps through, and he can sleep through DS2 crying in the day.

When DS2 wakes at night, he doesn't cry v loudly, and as soon as he's picked up / breastfed, he's asleep again.

Is it a stupid idea to try them in the same room, or worth a go?!

I have no personal parenting experience, but my brother moved into my room at six months when I was about two and a half years old and my mum says it was never a problem. I might wake very occasionally but generally I'd sleep through him waking all the time.

Well i've just put his cot in DS1s room (gulp!) DS1 seems chuffed.

I may be in for a terrible nights sleep...

My 2 shared a room from the off. Ds1 was 3.2. Yes they both disturbed each other to start with, but it took a matter of days for them to get used to each other.

Let me know how you get on, I have a similar dilemma

will do clareybee

Hoping it'll be a day or 2 of disturbance for DS1 at most.

I must be mad

We have had this since dss were 1 and 2 and unless one is breathing in the other's face or "broommmmiinng" a car over the other ones head they dont wake each other up, after the first couple of nights.

LOL @ "broommmmming over the head"

i think you've just got to go for it and accpet that they may take a while to settle

i recently put my 21 month old in with my 5 year old and they've been fine overnight though still take a while to settle in the evenings

interestingly, my 21 month old who's been a fantastic sleeper seems to really hear her new baby (4 days old) and will wake if she cries in the next door room. I'm thinking she's just a bit thrown by becoming a big sister and hoping this'll pass soon.

TG - Will be interested to hear how it goes as we're in same position. Ds2 in cot for a few weeks now but still in our room as didn't think it fair to put him in with ds1 until he sleeps through. But maybe we should tr it: ds2 might not wake up so often if he can't smell me....

I'll happily be a guinea pig then

Glad nobody has said it's a mental idea- was hard work getting his cot into the next room!

when DS2 was 6 months old and DS1 was 3, we put them in the same room together.
Baby still wakes up and shouts but his brother ignores him or shouts shut up, but generally it was nicer for the older one who seems to quite like it.

Do it! I asked for advice on here before taking the plunge.
We held off for ages but it made the baby sleep better. When she was in our room I think she knew we were there so she woke up alot, even when not hungry.
They are 3 and 18 months now and go to bed together - it makes life so so so much simpler.

Should be fine.
Dd was in with ds from when she was 4 months & he was 22 months. They get used to each others' snuffly noises & end up being able to sleep straight through yelling/nightmares/everything.

The tricky bit for us was when they were 2-and-a-half and 4, and going to bed became a cue from More And Wilder Playing. But that was solved by a 20-minute stagger in bedtimes.

They have separate rooms now (7 and 9) but they still think the best bit of going on holiday is getting to share

When DS was born DD (11 months) was still sleeping in a cot in our bedroom. DS slept in the moses basket in our room too until 3 and a half months. By then he was too big for it but was not yet sleeping through the night.
We needed to move him into a cot but didnt want DD to feel like she was being pushed out so we moved them both into their own room together.

DD was used to DSs crying by then and never woke up and within a couple of weeks DS was sleeping through too.

well, i put DS2 to sleep in DS1s room after DS1 was asleep. He woke shortly after and needed settling- not a peep from DS1. I put him back down in the same room, until he woke at 10.45pm- still not a peep from DS1. I brought DS2 into our bed this time, but tonight i'll leave him there for longer. Went really well!

Good news, well done. Maybe we should rearrange the railway track to allow sace for the cot to go back into DS1's room again? In fact, we were thinking about swapping rooms so the boys' one would be bigger, so perhaps this is the trigger we need to sort that out.

ooh I am interested in this too - DD 2.5 and Ds 6 months but not sleeping through - glad 1st night was a success - let us kow how the 2nd night goes..

We moved our two together when ds was 1year and dd 3, so later than you.

We were surprised how easy it was actually, a few minor teething troubles though.

The first night we went up to find that dd had filled the cot with books, there must have been about 30-40 and there was ds curled up in the corner fast asleep - she'd been trying to help him get to sleep and he likes books

We had a chat.

The next night she very carefully selected only soft toys and filled his cot with them.

Once again we had a chat.

But aside from that it's all good.

Similar issues to Slur. As well as piling toys in, you may need to spell out to the older child that it is not okay to get into the younger one's cot. Ahem.

Ds used to stand in his cot in the morning and throw soft toys at dd1 to wake her up. When she moved into her own room (she was 8, he was 4) he was devastated, having never slept on his own. He used to come downstairs and whisper to me, "Mummy, I's lonely". [heartbreaking but cute emoticon]

Luckily we had dd2 a few months later, and she moved in with him at 4 weeks (she was a good but very noisy snuffly sleeper) and he was happy again. Occasionally dd1 (now 13!) even goes and sleeps in the spare bunk in their room. There's somethings v. sweet about a roomful of sleeping children, with little stereo snuffles and snores. They almost never wake each other up in the night, even if one has screaming strops or a major vomiting episode -- it's as if they know it's nothing to do with them, so it doesn't register. Wish I could say the same.

Hi TatooedGrrl, we have recently put DS2 (6 months) in with DS1 (2.6) and it's the best thing we ever did. I worried and worried about this for weeks, and posted on MN for advice. DS2 was in with us before this and waking at all hours randomly through the night!! I was sure we were disturbing him by coming to bed, turning over etc etc. Anyway we put him in with DS1 3 weeks ago and it's the best 3 weeks sleep I have had since he was born! He is now sleeping through or waking briefly at 5-6am but if I pop his dummy in he's usually back to sleep in 5-10 minutes. Like you DS1 is a very sound sleeper and when DS2 wakes in the early hours it hasn't disturbed him so far - which was my biggest concern - dealing with 2 grumpy lo's from 5am every day!! Seriously though - would def recommend it.

same as last night- he woke twice, DS1 didn't. Tonight i'm going to keep returning him to his bed, rather than ours, and see how that goes.

SiL had the experience of siblings singing together at 5am - personally if this baby and my toddler both go through to 5am without waking me I'm grateful even if we do get a rousing chorus of the 'wheels on the bus'.

mine generally wake anywhere from 5am-6.30am anyway, and if they BOTH sleep all night until then, i'd be loving it too!

tattooedgrrl - I followed your example and DS woke only once all night and didn't wake DD. Then we were woken at 6.30 by DD singing twinkle twinkle to DS who was grumbling for his next feed - very cute. Thank you for putting the idea in my head - it would never have occurred to me otherwise. Isn't it great having your bedroom all to yourselves again - might even manage a bit of sex if DH plays his cards right

PS did you used to be pregnantgrrrl?

i did indeed!

it's nice putting the main light on to read, and not being afraid to cough, i know that much. Maybe sex will be next?!