Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 how do/did you do bedtime? We have three bedrooms. DDs 6 & 8 share and love it. Right now DS2.5 is in his own room and the baby (8 months) is in a crib in our room. We co-sleep about half the night, but it seems like he would sleep longer alone if he didn't know that I am RIGHT THERE. He's been waking up and not resettling himself like he does when I'm not in the room. We partially coslept with all our babies, but they all transitioned to their own rooms around 6 months and they'd join us in bed in the early mornings. There isn't another place to put DSbaby. So if we move him now into the room that he will eventually share at some point with DS2... how do we do bedtime? Right now they go to bed at about the same time, with separate tucking in. They each need a bit of time to settle. How do/did you do bedtime with littles sharing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) When the kids were little, they shared a room after the baby did not require frequent nursing during the night (until then, he slept next to my bed). The baby had bedtime first. The toddler got to stay up a little while longer in the living room; we were reading books, singing bedtime song, etc, and I put her to bed quietly when her little brother was asleep. Edited November 19, 2016 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) I have four. Two in each bedroom. When my youngest was that age, I put the the oldest three to sleep. Dh kept the baby. They baby stayed up with us for 30 minutes longer. That was enough time for his older brother to fall asleep. Then I put the baby to sleep in his crib. If dh want around, baby came with me to put kids to bed but then left the room with me to rock in the other room. I preferred the one on one time with the little while I nursed. His feeding schedule was part of the reason he went to bed after the others Edited November 19, 2016 by athomeontheprairie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I just did the bedtime routine at a regular time with the toddler and came and went as needed for the baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 They baby stayed up with us for 30 minutes longer. That was enough time for his older brother to fall asleep. Then I put the baby to sleep in his crib. This is probably the most workable solution, given the temperaments of the two kids. We've been enjoying having everyone down for bed together, but flexing a half hour might be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 IIRC, dh would tuck the older one into his bed and I'd get the younger one to sleep in our bedroom, then I'd move the baby later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I moved them into the same room *because* of bedtime! DS who was 2 would want to be with me and didn't want to stay in his room while I was putting baby to sleep. So I moved the crib in there, and the chair. It was a very crowded room! But I could sing to both of them and once baby was asleep I could leave and be done! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 I moved them into the same room *because* of bedtime! DS who was 2 would want to be with me and didn't want to stay in his room while I was putting baby to sleep. So I moved the crib in there, and the chair. It was a very crowded room! But I could sing to both of them and once baby was asleep I could leave and be done! It's a nice thought that they might both be happier! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Thinking further... what did you all do for naps? Both boys still sleep, though not at the exact same times and I'd rather one didn't wake up the other. Pack 'N Play in the basement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Once we aren't cosleeping and nursing all night I put the baby in with the other kids. We have everyone in a. Ink house style bedroom right now to try and eke another two years out of our current house while we build the new one, and it's been surprisingly smooth! People going potty or me coming in and out to get the toddler hasn't been very disruptive, everyone sleeps like logs. When the newest baby is ready we will do the same and bump them in. We use a monitor on the kids to verify there isn't too much silliness or talking, and we will use that to listen for mad hungry nighttime baby issues too. Though we have tried putting the toddler down first it turns out that putting everyone down around the same time works better, less chance of accidentally rousing the baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 We do a lot of divide and conquer. Typically, DH puts down the older 4 while I put down the baby. The baby would **not** fall asleep easily if someone else were in the room. Another idea could be to move the toddler in with the bigger boys for a while? Like another poster mentioned, we have all of our children in one room (nominally), except the baby. They only sleep, dress, and seek out quiet reading times in the kids' bedroom. This frees up another bedroom for playing. We dig this for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 It's a nice thought that they might both be happier! This was the case with my two youngest. When baby was 7 months old, she moved in with her sister who had recently turned 3. I remember being worried about the transition, but that first night my baby's face just lit up when she realized she was going to sleep in the same room as her sister! Nursing was down to about once a night, maybe early morning, and it worked out fine--3 yo did not wake up. The two have always stayed up "chatting" past bedtime, but I don't worry about that. I can't even remember if their bedtimes were ever different--I don't think they were. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Another idea could be to move the toddler in with the bigger boys for a while? I would be totally up for this, but it's two girls and they have such a nice dynamic together. After everyone is in bed and the toddler is falling asleep, the two of them have quiet reading time and the older often reads aloud to the younger for a while. I would hate to mess with that. Plus, the bedrooms are tiny and there would be almost no walking space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 This was the case with my two youngest. When baby was 7 months old, she moved in with her sister who had recently turned 3. I remember being worried about the transition, but that first night my baby's face just lit up when she realized she was going to sleep in the same room as her sister! Nursing was down to about once a night, maybe early morning, and it worked out fine--3 yo did not wake up. The two have always stayed up "chatting" past bedtime, but I don't worry about that. I can't even remember if their bedtimes were ever different--I don't think they were. Aww, so sweet! This makes me want to give it a go!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Dp Edited November 19, 2016 by indigoellen@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 We do a lot of divide and conquer. Typically, DH puts down the older 4 while I put down the baby. The baby would **not** fall asleep easily if someone else were in the room. Another idea could be to move the toddler in with the bigger boys for a while? Like another poster mentioned, we have all of our children in one room (nominally), except the baby. They only sleep, dress, and seek out quiet reading times in the kids' bedroom. This frees up another bedroom for playing. We dig this for now. That's exactly our layout and it works SO much better than splitting the kids between two rooms like we did before. All the toys and books in one space makes for an actual play area and the sleeping room is just for sleeping, which creates much less nap time drama for the two who need naps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 All the toys and books in one space makes for an actual play area and the sleeping room is just for sleeping, which creates much less nap time drama for the two who need naps. Do they not distract each other/wake each other up from naps? My 2.5yo often plays in his bed and sleeps and I'm wondering if that will seriously limit the baby's napping. Or if the baby's crying will have the toddler up before he's ready to be done a nap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilma Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 We put 3 together (they were 6, 4 and 2) for a while when the baby was too little to be a good roommate. The bedroom was smallish, but it worked out! Sent from my XT1094 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykidsrmyjoy Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 (edited) We have 3 DDs (7, 5, & 4) in one room and 2 DSs (2.5 & 9 months) in another bedroom. I moved the baby in the toddler's room when the baby was 4 months old. Toddler boy would go to bed at 8 and baby boy would sleep in our room in a pack n play until around 10, when I would nurse him and then put him in the crib in the boys' room. Around 6 months I started putting baby boy to bed in his crib around the same time toddler boy goes to bed. We really haven't had any problems. They both just seem to accept the fact that they are sharing a room, and even when baby has fussed a little before going to sleep it doesn't seem to bother toddler boy. For naps, I put one of the boys in the pack n play that's still in my room and the other boy sleeps in his bed. ETA: A white noise machine is a must! Edited November 20, 2016 by mykidsrmyjoy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Do they not distract each other/wake each other up from naps? My 2.5yo often plays in his bed and sleeps and I'm wondering if that will seriously limit the baby's napping. Or if the baby's crying will have the toddler up before he's ready to be done a nap. With naps they do pretty well but I sometimes have to go and poke my head in and quiet everyone down. My solution for naps is to put the baby down first and then quietly move the older sibling in. Very rarely does this wake up the baby but white noise machines help very much. At bedtime it's different, but only two or three nap at a time so it's more manageable to stagger it. And no, once the toddler is asleep baby noises don't wake them. They all sleep like the dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Thanks everyone! This has been helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 My son was the best sleeper of all my babies and I think it was because he has company. He'd roll over and see his sister and go back to sleep Because he wasn't alone. I wish I'd put all my babies with a pal even when they were small. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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