I need advice on putting a baby in a nursery with a 18 mth old ?

Question

I have a 18 mth old boy, perfect sleeper goes from 7 till 7. I am due to give birth in 10 weeks obviously will have the baby in with me for first few weeks, but then they will be sleeping in the nursery together, I am worried about the baby crying and waking my son, has anyone else been in this situation, how did it work for them??

Answer 1

I would put them together at first during nap time, so the older one gets used to the movements of the little one if he is a light sleeper. Then I would start in the later half of the night after the night feeding and gradually work towards the full night.
Fortunately for me it only took about 3 nights as my older one slept through the baby's cry and so I had worried for nothing.

Answer 2

My two kids are about the same distance apart as yours. Really I think you will know if it will work or not once the baby comes. You do not know what the new baby will be like, mine are night and day. Also, your 18 month old will be going through a major transition, and may act out in certain ways to gain more attention. Mine are suppose to share a room, but often my second ends up in bed with us before morning. Right or wrong, I do that just to keep the peace. Not sure if this helps, but just don't fret about it, it will work itself out. Remember in the "olden" days when houses were smaller and families larger, kids shared rooms all the time. Good luck and congrats!

Answer 3

I would keep them separated for a little bit. My son was 17 months old when my daughter was born. He did not go through any jealousy stage or anything, but he still could have hurt her by possibly wanting to play or anything. I personally would not leave the 2 alone together. But I was also fortunate enough to have a 3 bedroom home shortly after she was born. I would at least wait until the new baby is sleeping all night long.

Answer 4

I don't know for you personally, what kid of a sleeper your child is. My daughter sleeps through music, babies crying, dogs barking -- even the fire alarm :(. If your child is a heavy sleeper, I wouldn't worry about it. Do be careful though, that the older child doesn't get jealous of the baby and knows what is and isn't allowed. While I don't believe a child will do anything to a baby with a malicious intent, they don't fully understand how something as simply as providing a toy or blanket could be dangerous.

Answer 5

I have an 18 month old son and a 7 month old daughter. My daughter never wakes up my son, but if he wakes up and cries he will wake her up. We need to turn our office into a new bedroom for one of the kids, but until then it has worked out fine with them sharing. I don't think you will have any problems, good luck!
After reading what other people said about your son climbing in the crib I thought I'd tell you what I did to prevent my son from doing that. I switched him over to a toddler bed ( he was cllimbing in and out anyway, I was afraid he'd hurt himself ) and left the crib up. He became used to sleeping in his new bed, and I taught him he was by no means allowed to go in the crib. It worked well, I have never found him bothering my daughter while she is sleeping, or any other time for that matter. It's easier to make the change before the baby is born so your son isn't stressed out. Just teach him he is a "big boy" and doesn't need a crib that is for babies.

Answer 6

I would keep the baby separate from the 18 month old, until the baby is a least 6 months old and sleeping through most of the night. It is not fair for the older one to lose sleep because of the baby. They can share a room soon, just put it off a while until the baby is in a set sleeping routine so not to disturb your older child's sleep.

I kept my baby with me until she was 9 months and then she began to share a room with her older Sis.

Answer 7

After my son stopped falling asleep together as nursing, (around 6 months or so) I purely began to place him in his crib for bedtime and naptimes. I were laying him in his crib after he'd nod off nursing already, yet now he would cry, and each oh, 10 minutes or so i'd go in and rub his back, kiss him, lay him backpedal etc. this would go on till he fell thoroughly asleep. Now he's 14 months old and does not cry better than 10-quarter-hour on undesirable nights/naps. There are nonetheless some circumstances the place I rock him to sleep for a sleep regardless of the undeniable fact that purely because of the fact i like to snuggle :)

Answer 8

Is your son a heavy sleeper? My oldest can sleep though anything. I would try it for a night or two and see what happens. Otherwise it might be best to keep the baby in your room until he starts sleeping through the night.

Answer 9

Your first born (and you) are going to have difficulty for a while. Your 2nd born, however, is going to be able to sleep through anything once he starts sleeping through the night. If you can, keep your infant in the room with you until he starts to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time, otherwise, you are going to have a horriblly cranky 1 year old. Best of luck to you.

Answer 10

I kept my son's crib in my room with me for the first 9 months for several reasons. The main one was my daughter was 6 y/o and she needed to get her rest for the night cuz she had school in the morning. Try it letting them share a room, after the first few weeks, and see what happens. If it doesn;t seem to bother your oldest. Then why not keep your baby in with him.