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Sleep

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Original poster

Have you put your baby and toddler in the same room?

13 replies

Geegee1985 · 05/03/2023 09:27

Hi everyone,

I'm considering putting my baby in my toddler's room with her. DD1 is 3yo and DD2 is 6mo.

Usually DD1 sleeps through the night and wakes a bit early in the morning. Totally manageable. Recently she's had two nights' of waking and then refusing to go back to sleep for 2/3 hours. Pretty tough.

DD2 only wakes occasionally and it's always just a case of putting the dummy back in and she goes straight back to sleep.

Have you got experience of putting a baby in with a toddler? We have the space for the baby to have her own bedroom but I'd love it if they shared, especially if it meant they slept better. I'm more worried about the effect on the toddler's sleep than the baby's.

Please let me know how it went if you have tried this.

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Emptycrackedcup · 05/03/2023 09:32

I don't understand why you would do this unless absolutely necessary, your toddler and baby deserve to have a good sleep and not interrupted by each other

percypercypercy · 05/03/2023 09:32

We have the space for the baby to have her own bedroom but I'd love it if they shared, especially if it meant they slept better.

Why would you love them to share? Aside from the idea that they will sleep better (not sure about this)

I didn't make mine share because we had space so they got a room each, when the 3rd came along we got into a sharing situation and tbh it was an absolute pain in the arse because I then had 2 children with no real space of their own.

WashableVelvet · 05/03/2023 09:39

Yes, from the same ages. We’d planned to start sharing later but DC1 was keen to start right then! We’re now two years in. It’s been great - weirdly when one wakes at night they don’t wake the other one. They do sometimes muck about and chat after lights out though 😂

Original poster

Geegee1985 · 05/03/2023 10:05

Percypercypercy - I want them to share because DD1 likes the idea. I shared with my sister and loved it. There's also a part of me that thinks it's fair: I get to (have to ) sleep with my husband so why should she have to sleep on her own? I'm hoping it might reassure her and make her feel less lonely. And therefore help her (and us) sleep better.

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Original poster

Geegee1985 · 05/03/2023 10:10

WashableVelvet thank you for sharing your experience. This is what I was hoping for.

OP posts:

WinterMusings · 05/03/2023 10:12

Nope, I wouldn't. There's plenty of time in the future if they want to share.

3 year olds can be very 'helpful' and cover the baby up with bedding, put unsuitable things in the cot etc.

percypercypercy · 05/03/2023 18:33

Geegee1985 · 05/03/2023 10:05

That's really weird to think why should your own child get to sleep on their own when you have to share. You are a grown adult and choose to share with another adult.

Emptycrackedcup · 05/03/2023 18:40

Geegee1985 · 05/03/2023 10:05

I agree with PP. This is weird reasoning. I would think it would be good to have individual rooms for quality of sleep, but also when they are older you don't want them to be scared of sleeping on their own. I know my DC slept better when I wasn't in the room as it's disruptive.

1000yellowdaisies · 05/03/2023 18:51

I would wait until they are both a bit older. I know 6mo is the age where they recommend a baby can move out of the parents room but its not a rule...
We have a 2 bed house and baby stayed in with me until they were over 1 for this exact reason

RedChooChoo · 05/03/2023 18:57

Following with interest as we are in a situation where 2 of ours will need to share for a few years until we can extend. But we are waiting until the baby reliably sleeps through as he is very unpredictable atm and will sleep through 1 night and be up half the night the next.

DevantMaJardin · 05/03/2023 18:58

Mine are 1 and 3 and share. The oldest can't get to sleep as youngest is too loud so he has to go to sleep in our bed and be moved to his own bed later in the night. It's a right faff and I wish wish wish we had a 3rd bedroom where we could put one of them.

pbdr · 05/03/2023 19:05

I'd be very worried from a safety perspective here. A toddler is unlikely to properly understand the danger of 'helpfully' putting soft toys/blankets etc into the cot with baby/ climbing in to share the cot. At 6 months safe sleep is so important.

And to give a different perspective, I shared a room with my older sister (similar age gap) and absolutely hated it, we both desperately always wanted our own space. It caused a lot of conflict in our relationship and I remember us using skipping ropes to split the room to mark out our 'territory'. I also remember being resentful of my parents because we had the space in the house for us to each have our own room. So it's not always the lovely sibling bond that you are imagining.

Cotswoldmama · 05/03/2023 19:11

I did and my toddler never woke to the crying of his brother! We were lucky that he mainly slept through. But even when he was screaming the house down my eldest just slept through it! I guess he slept through it before when he was in his own room as he still would have been able to hear it but not as loudly.

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