Sharing Bedroom

K.,

We have the younger one go in and go to sleep first. Then I have one on one time with the older one, do his bedtime routine in my room and have him quietly slip in to go to sleep after the younger one already is asleep.

When they get older, they can go down together, but when this little, it saves the time and hassle of them playing together and keeping each other up.

S.

Ours actually made the transition better by sleeping together in a double bed. You can also connect the toddler beds and put a pad over the mattresses to fill the gap. Quiet music, a bedtime routine, etc. are all part of the process. And if you are blessed to have one fall asleep before the other, you can put one down first and add the second soon after. That worked for us with our toddler (20 mos.)

SAHM of seven

The age span is fine to have them share. I would start slowly. Is your child in a toddler bed already? I would start him in the toddler bed before I put him in the other room with the other child.

Hi K.,
My 3 boys share a bedroom. We made it a fun event when we put each one in the bedroom. For the the first pairing, I found two toddler race car beds at sales and on Craig;s list. The two boys were so excited about their beds it went like a breeze. They also were excited about getting to share a room and after we put them to bed, they would sing the alphabet song and such. It was very sweet.
Now, all 3 of my boys are in there. We built a triple bunk bed, putting the 2 1/2 year old on the bottom. We called it their 'fort'. they all love it. If you have the beds already, so out and get some fun sheet sets.
I am sure everything will go fine, and the boys will love being together.

A.;)

WE just accomplished this last month. First we made a big deal about him being all grown up, a really big boy who gets to sleep in a bed instead of the crib. Then we made sure the bedroom he would be sharing was all clean and pretty (to boy's standards) and had him help us make his new bed with his sheets and blankets and pillow.

Then we tucked him in there, but if he came down to join us or sleep in the crib, we let him fall asleep there and then carried back to his bed. This happened for about a week before he understood that his bed was in the other bedroom. Now he even will go to his new bed to take a nap :)

You might want to start with having him take some naps in his "new" room over a couple of weeks, leading up to "the big day" when he moves in.

If he has pictures or any kind of room decorations he is fond of, you might want to have him "help" you move them to his new room, even letting him choose where to put them so he feels like the new room is "his". Try to impress upon him that the toddler bed is "his", and I agree with the advice to treat it as a privilege because he's a "big boy now".

L.

Hi K.
I would start telling your son that he is a big boy now and gets to sleep in the big boys room with his brother. Make sure you move him long before the baby comes though so he dosen't feel put out. I also would talk to your older son about how fun it will be to share a room and let him help in the move. :)T.

I don't rememeber having made a big deal out of the kids sharing the room. I know my mom bought my younger son sheets for his birthday and he loved them. There is 5 years difference between my sons so maybe that is why it didn't seem like such a problem. My son was 2 and would tell me "rock-a-me" when he was tired. After he got his big boys bed, he liked to go get into the bed himself.

Chances are your son will be excited for the new bed and sharing with his brother. You probably won't have to much trouble with the change over.