Siblings starting to share room - advice

[MoreThanRubies]

Looking for advice on how and when to transition siblings to sharing a room. What worked for you?

DD1 (4, nearly 5) and DD2 (nearly 2). DD2 is still in a cot and likely to remain using a cot until at least 2.5. Both are good sleepers, night wakings are rare. DD1 is sensible, and they get on well.

It would be good for our family for them to share while young (>10). DD2’s cot is currently in a home office.

How did you manage to the transition? Any lessons learned? It will be significant work to switch the furniture round so we won’t be able to switch back easily. OK to wait a few more months.

What does bedtime look like in a shared room? DD2 is usually asleep by 7:45 but DD1 often faffs around in her room and falls asleep a bit later.

We moved our DD in with our DS when she was 2 years and 3 months, and he had just turned 5. She was very excited and moved into the bottom bunk with a bed guard. We kept her cot up for a month or so in case and considered moving it into the room but she didn’t want it. We put her to bed first and he would come to bed half an hour later even if she was still awake, but he falls asleep quickly and is a very deep sleeper whereas she was (or still is) our faffer!

This is very interesting because we've just (this week!) moved our just 5yo in with our 2.5yo. Both boys, they've been keen to share a room for ages as they're best mates! I think our major challenge at the moment is managing the younger one's bedtime, as the older one tends to faff and go to bed later (sounds similar to you) and as a result, the younger one has been going to bed too late this week.

Generally bedtimes have been a bit chaotic for a while and it's something we need to work on, so we're going to try putting the younger one to bed while the older one has a story on the sofa downstairs, although this is only possible when my DH is home from work on time as we also have a baby. The older one could then creep in (although he's not very sensible, so I don't know if this will work.)

Thankfully they both sleep well with no wake-ups so I'd say once they are asleep it's been the same as before.

I'd say generally it's gone well - just some minor tweaks needed. They love sharing which is very sweet.

Mine shared when they were 2 and 5 until 5 and 8. I found it was easier to get both ready for bed at the same time but then put the youngest to bed while the eldest wasn't in the room. They would keep each other awake but if one was asleep they would be respectful and leave the other alone.

had my 4 year old and baby together since around 15months

i put baby to bed first and then read books with big girl in my room and then we go down to her room

she has a high sleeper bed and the baby can’t actually see her if he does wake up which helps i think 😆

it’s rare he wakes up and if he does half the time she doesn’t even hear him

sometimes she turns her light on, listens to her Tonies box and plays - it doesn’t wake him!

I think they are used to each others noise

My children shared from 1/4 through 4/7 - my son was in a cot to start and then was in the bottom bunk from around 2. I’d read them a story together and then my daughter would take a book into our room while I settled my son. By the time I read her a second story and had a cuddle my son was sleeping and we’d just quietly settle her. Sometimes something would go wrong but mostly it was fine - he was too young for an opinion and she wasn’t interested in waking him up

they did get up suuuuper early in the morning though as they’d see each other and want to play. It was mostly adorable. Mostly lol.

My two boys were in the same room from age 2 and 4.5 when we moved 200km. We would put them to bed at the same time and they would fall asleep (youngest first). We moved from that house 18 months later and bought a bunk bed at their request.

Nearly 8 years later they are still sharing. Been trying to put them in separate rooms but they (more youngest) don’t want to. They have decided to stop sharing when youngest starts secondary school (1 more year in primary).

Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing your experiences. Sounds like something we can try.

If you started sharing with one child in a cot, did this cause any problems? (Climbing etc.) DD1 is sensible so I’m hoping this won’t be an issue - I happily leave them playing together in the day.

My daughter would climb in with my son sometimes. Or climb in and push him out so they could play. The room was baby proofed so either was fine but she was 4.5 by then so not too young to do this sensibly.