M
MLBW
Guest
I have friends who have a 19-month-old and a 4-month-old. They also only have two bedrooms in their house. Before the arrival of their second child (well in advance--probably 4-6 months) they transitioned their older child into a "big boy" bed.
Then, they used a rolling bassinet for the younger child when he was born. Since the bassinet was easily transferable, they would put their newborn son in it with them in their room and when he fell asleep they would move the bassinet out into the hallway, just outside the door (the bassinet sits up on a stand so it is not on the floor).
Sure, it's not a really "fancy" arrangement but it's practical and also affordable. Also, for us, it was helpful to not have the baby in the same room with us while we were sleeping--even though I had to get up to breastfeed (son was never okay with breastfeeding in a lying position) it was a lot better to just have a break from baby (especially on a mental level) by putting him outside the room--I could easily hear him if he started to cry. We definitely needed our own space--even from an early age with baby.
Another option is co-sleeping with a special co-sleeping baby bed. Personally, our family does not work well with co-sleeping--we did that in the beginning with our son as it was winter in HK and we only had one heater so we all slept together to share the heat. However, neither the baby nor we slept well at all. So, we do not co-sleep anymore and our quality and quantity of sleep is much better. Every time we have tried in the past to do the co-sleeping thing again it has been a miserable failure.
I don't think it's a good idea to put two young children in the same room together (initially) as if the newborn cries a lot it disturbs the older sibling and the older sibling may be so curious that he/she actually disturbs the newborn by investigating the younger sibling. Once the newborn has a better sleep schedule and the older sibling has adjusted to having a younger brother or sister, it should be fine to introduce them into the same bedroom.
Then, they used a rolling bassinet for the younger child when he was born. Since the bassinet was easily transferable, they would put their newborn son in it with them in their room and when he fell asleep they would move the bassinet out into the hallway, just outside the door (the bassinet sits up on a stand so it is not on the floor).
Sure, it's not a really "fancy" arrangement but it's practical and also affordable. Also, for us, it was helpful to not have the baby in the same room with us while we were sleeping--even though I had to get up to breastfeed (son was never okay with breastfeeding in a lying position) it was a lot better to just have a break from baby (especially on a mental level) by putting him outside the room--I could easily hear him if he started to cry. We definitely needed our own space--even from an early age with baby.
Another option is co-sleeping with a special co-sleeping baby bed. Personally, our family does not work well with co-sleeping--we did that in the beginning with our son as it was winter in HK and we only had one heater so we all slept together to share the heat. However, neither the baby nor we slept well at all. So, we do not co-sleep anymore and our quality and quantity of sleep is much better. Every time we have tried in the past to do the co-sleeping thing again it has been a miserable failure.
I don't think it's a good idea to put two young children in the same room together (initially) as if the newborn cries a lot it disturbs the older sibling and the older sibling may be so curious that he/she actually disturbs the newborn by investigating the younger sibling. Once the newborn has a better sleep schedule and the older sibling has adjusted to having a younger brother or sister, it should be fine to introduce them into the same bedroom.
