Up until this week, we've been co-sleeping with Ruby. I have enjoyed having my warm little bundle next to me as I fall asleep and the ease of nursing without having to be awake for awhile. I know it's helped us bond in a special way but she's big enough now that she ends up wiggling her way over to Brett's side and whacking him in the back with her arm and waking him up a few times a night. It was cute the first time.
In order for all of us to be well rested, we're teaching Ruby to sleep in her crib and fall asleep by herself. I've moved her crib into our room so as not to disturb Sebastian's sleep in the process. She's taken to it better than I expected and almost made it through the night last night. She has been a better self-soother than Sebastian so there's usually only a few minutes of crying before she's out like a light.Do any of you have young kids sharing a room? What did you do to get to the point where they were both sleeping in there together?
xoxo,
Rachel
33 comments:
okay - I don't have any kids, so I can't answer your question, but I just want to say that the look on Ruby's face in the photo under where you talk about how it was funny the first time -
her expression is priceless..almost like she KNOWS what she was doing when she would whack Brett in the back!
We just came to the same conclusion with our 10 month old son. The bed was just not big enough for the three of us and no one was sleeping well! We moved him onto a mattress on the floor of our room so I could still co-sleep with him if I or he felt the need (because I am a giant push-over!).
We eventually plan on moving him in with our daughter. Our basic plan is to just make them stay in bed and eventually they will fall asleep...right? But like I said...I'm a giant push-over!
Our girls are 3 and 15 months, so we are in the process also of figuring out what the best way to go about sharing a room. So far it's been about the same kind of adjustment as everything else has been. We waited until our youngest was sleeping solid through the night before moving our 3 year old in and so far it's been going really well. Now if only they'd both go to sleep at the same time!
My baby sleeps in our closet right now but we're about to move her in with one of her sisters. The 4 year old is a great sleeper so I'm hoping they'll adjust well to each other. I dread the transition but I know many other families who make it work. Good luck with Ruby!
(my little one has that same dress ... so cute.)
Aww good luck!
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I have a 4 year old little girl and a 7 month old little girl. We were co-sleeping with our little peanut until about a month ago. My best advice would be to put your older one down first. I usually have to breastfeed the baby before she goes down for the night (my doctor told us that breastfed babies can go the max of 6 hours before needing to be fed again) so I try to put her down after our oldest. It's worked out really well for us so far. If she does cry for a few minutes our older daughter is in such deep sleep it works out well.
I have to admit I was worried that my oldest would want to talk to the baby, or get up and see her but she hasn't. Even the baby seems to understand that once she's in her bed, it is time for bed.
Good luck to all of you!
we have a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old... after my youngest started sleeping through the whole night at a year (we had her crib in the kitchen for an entire year) we moved them together. And then in the middle of the night if one started crying the other would sleep through it and in the morning they talk to each other it's so fun to listen to them jabbering away. The youngest can sleep through almost anything now!!
your little girl is just too cute! I have two boys that are sixteen months apart and my youngest was SUPER colicky and loud..at around 7 months we ended up putting them in the same room anyway, two cribs and to our surprise they adjusted really fast and now they sleep through just about anything. I would say just give it a few weeks and I bet Sebastian won't even notice!
we are now expecting our third though, and who knows where she's gonna sleep :)
I love your blog by the way, big fan and I'm going to summer camp too. xo
My kids are almost 2 and almost four, and have been sharing a room for almost a year. I started out putting them down separately, but it was a nightmare. As soon as I started putting them down at the same time, our night time routine has been cut in half. Some night they talk a little bit, but most nights they just go right to sleep. My youngest one, until just a few weeks ago, would wake up crying in the middle of every night, but only rarely would his crying wake up his sister.
Hmmm... our 4 and 6 yr old shared for the longest time. We kept our youngest in our room in a small crib, until we couldn't handle it and then when we finally put them together we put the noiser one (baby) to bed first. Then my daughter would go to bed, with the caution to be quiet and not wake the baby or...dun, dun, DUN! Ha!
It worked for the most part and they shared up until ages 5 and 3, and only don't know because we have more rooms.
Good luck!
we're co-sleeping with Delilah as well, and I've really enjoyed it. She's not big enough yet to start whacking anyone, lol, but Ryan remembers when Simon used to.
Once Simon's room is finished, he'll move into his "big boy bed" and D will move into the crib, so they won't be sharing a room.
Good luck with your transition!
ps: adorable photos! xo
We always put the baby to bed 30 minutes before we put my toddler to bed so that way he is already asleep. We do story time on the couch so that way the baby doesn't get woken up with the second bedtime routine and it worked like a charm for us.
She is darling. :) We recently moved our 12-month-old twin boys into their big brother's room (he's 6). We put the babies in their cribs and Camden gets in his bed and we all hang out quietly until the babies are sleeping. Oh and our girls (3 and 5) are in the next room, intermittently being told to quiet down. lol
we live in a one bedroom flat so we've no choice but to co-sleep. It's what I would've done anyway. We are planning to get a king size bed sometime, until then I think we'll put our mattress on the floor once bubs arrives unless I find a side car style cot. Anyway, what I really wanted to say was how gorgeous that second photo is, that is one cute baby you've got there!
My boys are 23 months apart, so we knew that they would have to share a room early on. Our original intent was to have the older boy share a room with our oldest, his sister, at first. She is 28 months older than him. So almost 4 1/2 when the baby came, with the middle child being not quite 2. That would have given the new baby his own room and not unnecessarily wake any children in the middle of the night with feedings. (We co-slept with our oldest. It was wonderful...but it took us until she was 3 to get her into her own bed, so we just opted not to do that with subsequent kids.)
Well, that didn't work. Those 2 were like night and day. One wanted the nightlight. One wanted it dark as midnight. One wanted the door open. One needed it closed to block out noise. One liked a fan. One wanted a blanket and no air movement. It was ridiculous. So we thought, well...these boys have to get used to each other sooner or later. :)
So after the baby outgrew the bassinet (in our room) and moved into his crib, we threw caution to the wind. And had no problems. I guess all of a sudden the middle child wasn't our light sleeper anymore and his brother's midnight feedings rarely bothered him. I guess we got lucky!
Good luck to you! I love the pics of your little girl in her crib. :)
oh my goodness i love the second pic. she is so precious!
i am kid-less and thus have no advice to share, but i'm sure enjoying reading through all these experienced mamas comments! *taking note for future*
good luck!
we moved our son out of our room when he was 9 months old. when i found myself slithering out of bed just to go to the bathroom so he wouldn't see me, i knew it was time to move him out and reclaim my space. what worked for us as far as sharing a room, was putting the little one to bed first, having one on one time with the oldest, and then puting her to bed. this has worked for several years now. they are 5 1/2 and almost 3 and we have been putting them to bed at the same time. some nights are smoother than others. lots of bike riding to ensure a fast and quiet bedtime routine. we have #3 on the way and my oldest wants the baby to sleep in there with them. ;) so cute to hear their late night talks and shenanigans. not so cute when they keep coming out of their room tag teaming mom & dad. ;) good luck!
My boy & girl share a room.. 5 years a part.. And let me tell ya, it's almost ALWAYS the older one keeping the younger one awake!
Gosh I wish we lived closer together - we are going through the exact same thing with Ella (down to the fact that she routinely beats Ben on the back!). I'm finding it really hard to move her into her crib - but I think it's in part because it's in another room... I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and move it into our room. Good luk to us both!! (and if you have any tips for me on how you are transitioning Ruby - I'm all ears!!!)
to me that bottom picture just reads "so maybe i did hit daddy in the back...but look at how cute i am!"
she has some of the most expressive looks i've seen on a baby!
he he. What a cutie! :) And I have no kid advice, because I am kid-less - but my mom likes to tell me the story about how I used to share a room with my baby sister when we were little, and I would poke her so she'd cry and mom would come in the room to see her - and, therefore, me. lol. So hopefully Sebastian won't be the one disturbing Ruby's sleep? lol. Perhaps I was just a troublemaker...
Just do it.... I moved my baby girl 3 months in with my boy 23months and it worked great! By then the baby only woke up once to nurse and I put the monitor close to her and me and I walked in took her out to the couch (if it was past 6am maybe into our bed) and my son never woke up. I repeat the process with baby girl #1 and baby girl #2 By a year they slept and woke up and the same time and afternoon napped together. My advice is to just do it! You'll be surprised!
I agree with Sarah..we just did it and it worked out just great, even when my little one wakes. my son sleeps on.
Our kids have always shared rooms & they've never known any different. First we had a girl & when our boy came along, the two of them shared. Then we had another girl. So the girls shared a room & it was never a big deal that they are 6 years apart. To top it all off, we had another boy. So the boys share a room & the girls share a room. But our oldest daughter is in her pre-teen years & we're seeing that it would be good for her to have her own room. When they're little, I think it's good for kids to share a room. Oh, & the whole baby crying in the middle of the night thing?? The older kids would sleep right through it. It was never a big deal. And we always made noise when the baby was sleeping & after the kids go to bed so that we don't have to limit what we do while they rest. Now, they all can sleep through anything. It's great!
the second picture is priceless!! so great.
she is so adorable :)
I have two year old twins and they've shared a room since they were newbies so I guess they're pretty used to hearing each other cry. It doesn't seem to bother them--they sleep right on through it!
Good luck with the transition--I'm sure it will work out!
My kids have always shared a room. I use a fan for white noise. It is best to just go for it. There will be a few bad nights at first but soon enough Sebastion will be sleeping through anything.
both of our kids have been sharing a room since...hmm..about 12 weeks (well, the second one was 12 weeks). We wanted make sure SHE had HIS same sleep routine before we did it (7AM-7PM),and it has been great. During naptime, however, we have a pack n play in our room that SHE sleeps in while HE plays in his room quietly. If we had them in the same room during that time she would never et her 3+ hours she needs daily, and he would just be getting in trouble. Works for us in a small rental! Good luck!
Sarah M
My daughter (3.5yrs)and my son(2yrs) share a room. We had been wanting to put them in the same room but it happened a lot later than we thought. My son was 20 months old. After a family vacation where they had to share a hotel room they were use to each other being there so when we got home I moved my son into my daughter's room. My son takes an afternoon nap and my daughter doesn't always so we put her in our "playroom" where she can play and nap is she wants and my son can sleep by himself during his nap. At night they do pretty good together, they will talk and laugh and then fall asleep. THey entertain each other in the morning when they wake up before we officially let them out. Hope you get some good ideas.
my 1 year old (Lily) and 4 year old (Maya) have been sharing a room since Lily was born. Maya is such a sound sleeper that she doesn't wake up from the crying - however if Maya has a bad dream and wakes up crying then they are both up and it makes for a long night!
My two girls share, and it took the longest time for me to put Eliza in with Freya as I was waiting for her to sleep through! hmmm we could have been waiting forever. I decided enough was enough and she needed to be in her own space. So we went for it and yes she did wake up and cry and even scream when she was teething. BUT it never once disturbed Freya. She is a good sleeper, but I do think they phase it out and don't hear it.
Good luck!
Annie
My daughter co-slept with us until she was about 1 1/2 (a few months before her baby brother came along). Her crib just stood at the other end of the room collecting dust, she hated it!
Surprisingly she took very well to her toddler bed, thank god.
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