Can an 8 mo and almost 3 y/o share a room?

[GreenMomPhD]

My youngest is almost 8 months and her sister is 2 3/4.  I would like for them to share a room together.  Currently my youngest is in a crib that is in the guest bedroom.  So, the room isn't available for guests like my parents or whoever to come and visit.  We like having visitors on a pretty regular basis.  I have always planned for them to share a room, but I don't know how to go about it.

Currently, we put them to bed around 7-8pm.  If my husband puts the younger one to bed, I BF her first, then giver her to him to rock to sleep while I read a few books to my older daughter then rock her before tucking her in.  She sleeps through the night and is a pretty sound sleeper.  My younger daughter wakes up 2-3 times a night and I will go in and nurse her or rock her. If DH is out of town, I put my younger daughter to bed while the older watches a video on her own in out bedroom, then I put her to bed.   

If they share a room, I wonder what is the best way for putting them to bed?  I am thinking that I should put the younger one to bed 1st then read/rock the older in our bedroom then we would go to their room and tuck her in.  Then I wonder what will happen when the youngest wakes up.  Will she wake the eldest up?  The I'll have two kids awake?  Can anyone whose kids share a room give me any input?  Thanks!!

[Knitting Mama]

Could you wait to have them share a room until your younger baby is sleeping better? I just know from my experience that the first couple of years are rife with sleep changes, and it would be hard for your older girl if her sleep kept getting interrupted by the younger waking up a lot.

[tea_time]

How is your eldest at sleeping?  Does she wake up in the night?  Is she a light sleeper?  

My 3 yo is a VERY heavy night sleeper (but a light napper).  I am planning on putting my next baby (coming this summer) in with her when she's a few months old.  I think that since DD is such a heavy sleeper the night wake-ups won't bother her.

[waiting2bemommy]

Mine are currently 10 months and 3 years 2 months. We have always had a two bedroom arrangement so either they shared a room or the baby was with us in bed. we have never owned a crib. The baby coslept exclusively until around 6 months (whenever she was crawling) when we set up a toddler bed in ds' room. We started letting her nap on it sometimes (mainly so we could dtd in privacy, lol) and around 7 months started putting her to bed on it at night, and then bringing her in to our room when we went to sleep.

The kids have a bunk bed....ds on top and dd on the bottom obviously. They both love it and we have not had major problems with them waking each other up. Now naptime can be tricky, if one or both are in an obstinate mood, then I will put one in my room to get them to sleep rather than egg each other's screeching on! Generally I put an activity or a show on the computer for ds and he watches that for about 15 minutes while I pat dd to sleep. Once she is asleep I get ds, read his stories, snuggle, he goes pee and then gets into bed. He is pretty good about not waking his sister, although sometimes he forgets and calls me loudly and she wakes up.

Overall though, we are very happy with the arrangement. I love that my kids are getting to be each other's best friends. Ds will sometimes ask to sleep on the bottom so he can snuggle with the baby. they are learning to share space and ds is trying to teach dd how to clean up her toys. lol. I think it has worked out great!

One thing about the bunk beds: right now we have dd's bed on the floor inside the bunk bed frame. This way she is lower to the ground, and the sides of the bed (where the mattress would rest on the bunkie board), are like a bedrail for dd, so she can't roll off the mattress in her sleep, but can still get out if she wants to.

[slgt]

I have to say, I think it depends on the kids. DD#1 is a little over 3. If we put DD 8 months in the room with her, boy we would have our hands full trying to keep our older one from messing with her. She loves, loves, loves & dotes on her baby sister - but she would be trying to climb into the crib with her to snuggle her. Or she would try to get her out of the crib if she woke up crying. So, DD#2 is still in our room, partially in a crib and mostly in our bed. I hope they'll share a room when DD#2 is a bit older & sturdier - and a better sleeper!

[my kidlets and me]

We transitioned dd1, then 2.5 years, and ds1, then 8 months, to sharing a room by going to my parents' house at Christmas (for 4-5 days, I think) and us all sharing a room (dd on the floor on a mattress and ds in the cosleeper.  When we got back home, the crib went into dd's room and that was it.  Dd was a very heavy sleeper, so she didn't wake up at all when ds woke in the night.

[camprunner]

I did this. My 8 month old slept better when moved into a room  with her 3  year old sister. The only problem I had was that the baby thought it was a big sleep over and would keep my 3 year old up. Once we caught her doing it, she stopped (very smart one).  We had more trouble when she climbed out of her crib just before she turned two. She would want to sleep on top of her sister instead of in her toddler bed.  My oldest said nothing about it until it was noted that she was falling asleep at school instead of paying attention.  Two year old then began to crawl between my husband and I when she woke up instead of on top of her sister.