Cosleeping with both

[jbell157]

My two year old still sleeps in the bed with us. He will start in his own bed but just ends up with us in the middle of the night. We really don't mind it, it won't last forever.

I am worried, however, about what to do when the baby gets here in March. The baby will be sleeping in a side crib, like arms reach cosleeper, on one side and the two year old will sleep in the bed, on my other side. I'm worried though about the baby crying and waking up the two year old. Will this be a problem? Any advice from btdt moms?

 

[Take2]

You are right, it won't last forever, but my friend had a 9 year old in her bed when dd2 arrived and she regretted not attempting to move her eldest years earlier. So many bodies in the bed with different sleeping habits and nobody slept well and they were all very stressed and over tired! Good luck, you have time to try and get your 2 year old settled in his own bed before no.2 arrives, it might be hard but will be near impossible with a newborn to deal with too!

 

[SarahBear]

We don't use a co-sleeper and just have both kids in bed and have since day one. Violet was 2 years 4 months when Leo was born and I was surprised by how little his crying disturbed her at night. Her sleep was thrown off for other reasons though. I wouldn't expect your older one to get perfect sleep during such a huge life changing event, but I think there's a good chance you'll all settle into a workable routine. One thing I found was that I am much more consistent with Leo's routine than I was with Violet's when she was a baby. The reason for this is that Violet needs a routine and therefore Leo gets dragged into the routine as well. There are challenges, but I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[kajastarlight]

My neighbor has a "family bed" and I asked her one time if they really got any sleep because she had 3 kids under 5 years old and all three of them still nursed and she said that it is only really hard for the first week or so and then here and there but everyone just learns how to deal. My impression was that it probably helped them have a much better understanding of how to be considerate of each others needs. I don't know, I could be reading too much into it.

 

[EcoMama]

Your 2yr old won't be woken from newborn's cries. Newborn is so close to you, and guessing that you're breastfeeding, it'll be pacified before you've even opened your eyes!
My 6yr old and 2yr old are still in our bed. Ds was 4 when dd was born and we had a side crib for a bit 1st, then me, ds and dh at the other end. It works well x

 

[SarahBear]

Your 2yr old won't be woken from newborn's cries. Newborn is so close to you, and guessing that you're breastfeeding, it'll be pacified before you've even opened your eyes!
My 6yr old and 2yr old are still in our bed. Ds was 4 when dd was born and we had a side crib for a bit 1st, then me, ds and dh at the other end. It works well x

Some newborns do cry more than others and diaper changes aren't always pleasant... Crying happens.

 

[misspriss]

My 2 year old wakes the baby, not the other way around. We make it work just fine, I get plenty of sleep. We have the same arrangements except all in the bed not cosleeper.