Toddler & Preschooler room sharing?

[Biscuits & Gravy]

DS1 is 4, and DS2 is 16 months. Until recently DS2 slept in his crib for the first few hours of the night, then came to bed with me. Now he has started sleeping more and is almost in his crib full time. He has been waking up about 2 times each night, which is much better than before. We are talking about moving to a different rental home soon (2 months) and I would love to let them share a room. This would open up possibilities for different home layouts. If they share a room we could use another bedroom as DH's office, or as a dedicated play room. DS1 wants his brother to share his room and asks about it each night. My only hesitation is that DS2 does wake up a couple of times still. I don't want him to disrupt DS1. I am wondering, however, if waking up and seeing his brother would be beneficial and help him go back to sleep on his own.

Any thoughts or personal experiences that could help me figure this out?

[mamadelbosque]

No thoughts, but I'm definetly interested as well! My boys are 3 and 9 months, and while DS2 still co-sleeps full time, I'm already looking forward to tranisitioning him to DS1's room and his own bed. Eventually I plan on getting them bunk beds to share, but initially ds2 will probably just have the crib w/o one side on (so it'd be more 'toddler-bed-esque' )

[karkli]

Our kids, ages 4.5 and 2, share not only a room but a bed. We moved them from separate rooms into a shared room with a double bed a few months ago and have had absolutely no regrets about the arrangement.

I think that they benefit from having each other in close physical proximity. Plus, their sleep habits have improved as they a) seem to go back to sleep on their own even more easily than they did before, and b) sleep more soundly/deeply. Neither of of them have ever had problematic sleep habits, but I still think being together has improved their sleep experiences.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Originally Posted by karkli

Our kids, ages 4.5 and 2, share not only a room but a bed. We moved them from separate rooms into a shared room with a double bed a few months ago and have had absolutely no regrets about the arrangement.

I think that they benefit from having each other in close physical proximity. Plus, their sleep habits have improved as they a) seem to go back to sleep on their own even more easily than they did before, and b) sleep more soundly/deeply. Neither of of them have ever had problematic sleep habits, but I still think being together has improved their sleep experiences.

This is what I was hoping to hear! I would love to eventually have them in the same bed, too, but DS1 is a really rough sleeper. He hurts us, so I hate to think of what he might do to his little brother. DS2 climbs into big brother's bed every night and seems to wish he could stay there. I think once he sleep is more consistent we'll think of moving his crib in there.