So as I'm WTT for #2, I am keeping myself busy by planning out how things will change in my house. I was wondering if maybe you ladies could give me advice on my dilemma. We have 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 bedrooms downstairs. The master upstairs is ours and the other bedroom upstairs in my sons, he is 18 months. I am torn as to what to do with a new baby. The 4 weeks will be in a pack-N-Play bassinet next to our bed, after that we would like to transition to crib.
I would like you guys to weigh in or maybe vote on what you think the best solution would be. Other suggestions are welcome, get creative. Okay here are my options:
Nursery In Our room - which is fine for the first few months but gets hard when they are older, making noise when we go to bed or if we want to watch TV in bed (I know, first world problem). Keeping my husband awake at night breastfeeding or whatever during maternity leave.
Nursery in Son's Room - My son will on his way to 3 years old by the time we have a new baby. Nap times will not match and baby crying in the night will wake him up, or vice versa. Not really sure how safe it is to leave them alone together at night, since my son is a monkey and can climb anything.
Nursery in Bedroom downstairs - It's down stairs. Bathrooms and Kitchen are upstairs. It's colder than upstairs. And it would mean I would have to sleep downstairs while breastfeeding, or until we can combine the kids rooms.
I don't really see moving my son downstairs by himself as an option. Heck I'm scared to be down there by myself. Baby is too young to be scared so it's doable with sound and video monitoring. IDK!
EDIT: Thanks everyone! This was actually very helpful
@jacklemyapple Highly recommend cross-posting at r/beyondthebump.
We happily welcome people waiting for #2, #3 or beyond, but a high percentage of us aren't parents yet (or at least the more active members aren't) so can only give hypothetical advice.
@jacklemyapple Not sure if this helps or not, but my sister and I shared a room until I was 16 and she was 14. It didn't cause issues for us because my parents also used their room for naps! My younger siblings also share a room now and are very close.
@intertraveler This is a good point - you can have a little bassinet in the master bedroom for baby's naps, and when the older one gets bigger and starts complaining about sharing a room, you can suggest moving him downstairs.
@intertraveler That would totally work, just separate rooms for naps if they don't coincide and when they both sleep through the night they can bunk together.
@jacklemyapple I can tell you what my best friend is doing. Her oldest just turned two and she had a baby 2 months ago. Baby is staying in a bassinet in their room until he's 6 months and then her two sons will share a room until their roommates (her brother-in-law and his GF) move out and then the older son gets the bigger room. Maybe you could adapt something similar for your situation? Keep the younger in your room until they sleep through the night and then have your kids share a room for a bit until you feel comfortable having someone sleep on a different floor?
@jacklemyapple I don't have any advice from a mom's perspective since I don't have kids yet, but I shared a room with my sister until she was at least 2 or 3 and I'm pretty sure we got along fine. I was about 3 when she was born. I don't even remember having a problem with sharing a room until she was out of her crib and walking around, since that's when she started messing with the stuff on MY side of the room. : P
@jacklemyapple Set up the official nursery in sons room. Put the pack n play in your room.
When you no longer want baby in your room, move pack n play downstairs. This way if baby has an inconsolable night, there is an option to go downstairs away from everyone else.
@anviet212 It looks like this is where I am leaning. Depending how my son is by that time. I will try around 6 months to have them share a room, but if my son is too active at night then I will keep him in mine until he is around 1.
@jacklemyapple Can't give you any first hand advice, but my SIL's two boys shared a room from when the youngest was a newborn until he was about a year and they didn't run into any problems that I'm aware of. The boys were slightly closer in age (a year and a half apart) but that might not make that big of a difference. Hope that helps!
@jacklemyapple What about putting baby in sons room and a toddler bed in your room and making downstairs the play room where all toys are. I've heard of people doing this because new baby's need more nighttime attention and your older son will sleep better away from crying baby. Then move them together once new baby is sleeping through the night.
I put a twin bed in my nursery. I sleep in my bed until baby wakes then just sleep in there the rest of the night.... but I don't think I'd want a baby on a different floor in case there was a fire.
@whitneyahk I think the toddler bed would be harder in our room. Our son wakes easy, and I think he would try to get in our bed if he had the opportunity.
@jacklemyapple Have you considered moving your bedroom downstairs, having the baby in the other bedroom down there and your son upstairs? If he isn't moving rooms he probably won't be scared and it's less likely he'll be woken at night by the baby crying. Plus it will make it easier long term to move the baby into the upstairs when he's done.
