[Imonion2]

My DS will be almost 4 when his new brother will be born in January/February. He is an Ok sleeper, he occasionally gets up in the night and crawls into bed with dh and I. After he falls back asleep, one of us usually gets up and carries him back to his bed.

My DH is really worried about what it will be like when it comes time for him to share his bedroom,though. I plan on keeping the baby in our room for a while, but eventually, he will have to sleep in his crib because we don't have a big bed.

Do you have any suggestions about how to make the transition easier for DS if it turns out his baby brother wakes often during the night?

Thanks,

 

[Chelly2003]

Wow, I'd like to see answers to this. My son is 4 and his sister will be born in about two months. I'm planning on the baby sleeping in our room for a while, until probably around 6 - 9 months old....
My son generally sleeps like a LOG, so I'm hoping he'll just get used to all the baby sounds.

 

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Since all children (babies and older children alike) are different, you may not have a problem. Our daughter slept in our room until she started sleeping through the night. Turns out that was at about 3 months. After that we could have moved her in with her big brother without a problem for either. Actually, our son is the one who wakes up each night and comes into bed with us! You never know, maybe it will be a lot easier than you expect. Of course, if its not I expect that lots of people here will be ready and willing to offer advise.

 

[Mommiska]

Our girls have separate rooms, but one thing that helps when we are on holiday and sharing rooms, either at someone's house or in a hotel, is that we have a sound machine on at night.

You can get them with all different sounds, but we always just used white noise. That tends to cover the random noises the kids make while asleep (or waking up!).

We've never had too many problems when on holiday with one child waking the other one up...

 

[kindmomma]

My girls had separate rooms until they decided they wanted to be together! I was so thrilled because Joshua was on the way. We did some home re-modeling and had them in the same room, and when we were done and picking paint colors they didn't want to be split up. My 3 year old is VERY loud, but Jessica sleeps right through it. We have never had a problem, no matter how loud it gets. They are used to each other. I keep things loud around here on purpose, my children will sleep through anything!!!
Good luck with your new babes

 

[woo27ks]

mine started sharing a room when dd was almost 1 and ds was 2.5 years. it's a year later and they're fine. they totally get used to sleeping through the other's noises. my dd will not go to bed without her brother. it's hilarious. luckily, they're so close in age they go to bed at the same time. now, i don't have them nap in the same room- i've tried and it hasn't worked. so, ds and i lie down in my bed and dd sleeps in their room. it works great and i get a nap too.

good luck -

 

[Imonion2]

I appreciate all the responses!! I guess I *know* one way or another, it will work out, I just have that major pg thing going on--everything has to be planned out down to the letter. It's driving my family bonkers! LOL

The white noise is a good idea. If we end up with a frequent night-waker and DS is tired, we might try that. Im really hoping the new baby will be so used to all the noise in our house that he sleeps like a log. Wishful thinking, yeah, but I can hope, right?

 

[HRC121799]

We're keeping the baby in with us until he's done breastfeeding, and then he and our older ds will share a room. Right now our older one still comes into our room a couple times a night and sleeps at the end of the bed, so he's used to the baby waking up and fussing etc. I think they'll just adapt to eachother when they're sharing a room. We also play light classical music all night, and run a fan for white noise. Good luck and congratulations!

 

[mingber]

My children didn't share a room until recently, when we (I) decided that the toys needed their own room.

HAHA.
So, I put the children in the same room - DH wasn't too happy about this since they are 3 years apart and different sexs. I said, lets try it, and see how it goes, we can always change it back. So, we did and 3 months later, it's still working fine. They both sleep through the night (B'H). The only problem is DD hates to go to bed at the same time as her little brother, so I have to do them seperately. No biggie though, I try to time it right and it seems to work. When one is sick and awake during the night, I just bring that child into my room until they go back to sleep or they stay the night. I gave DD the job of "keeping an eye on her little brother to make sure he was fine and slept". She has a responsibility and enjoys feeling grown up so that is an extra plus for me. She goes and checks on him before she goes to sleep and when she wakes up if it's before DS. They are both really good about not waking the other one in the am.
Good luck.

 

[chicagomom]

Is it possible to put a futon mattress in his room? If so, I might sleep in there w/the baby from the beginning, then try to transition the baby to the crib in that room. That way, older ds will be accustomed to the sounds of the baby from the start.

Good luck!

Carolyn