# Advice for 18 month and 3 yr old sharing room



## mimiharshe (Oct 16, 2006)

Ok, I have a 3 yr. old daughter and 18 month old son. They both co-slept for a year before moving into their room. When I moved ds into the room w/his sister he started sleeping GREAT! My daughter was up every night for 3 weeks







: ...I was exhausted, but she got used to it. She used to fall asleep on our bed, while he fell asleep in his playpen in their room, then we'd move her in there later. Well, about 4-6 weeks ago, we re-did bedtime routine for them and lay them down at the same time together and it's working wonderfully!!! We make a new "special" bed on the floor by the playpen for dd and she'd sleep by her brother. Now she's in her toddler bed w/the playpen pulled up w/in a few inches of the bed. Like I siad, *they love it*. Ds won't fall asleep at night without her. (BTW...naptime he sleeps in their room and she sleeps on our bed b/c she thinks it's special).

Ok, now that you have the background....DS CAN CRAWL OUT OF THE PLAYPEN AS OF TONIGHT! Already!







: Dd did this at 21 months after ds was born. Well, with her one of us had to lay with her at night for a while and long story short....she only wanted to fall asleep on the couch and we were doing anything for survival. We got her to move to her bed and if anyone wants to know how they can PM me. She's always been a sensitive sleeper and would probably co-sleep until 18









Here's my question: Well, now that ds is apparently not going to want to sleep in the playpen, WHAT TO DO? Sould I get them a big bed to share or a toddler bed and pull it up next to dd's bed? I was thinking of putting a baby gate not at the door, but in the hall by her door so that they will stay in the room together. It's this or lay w/them every night, but I'd like to avoid that if possible.
BTW...dd does crawl out of bed in the mornings and gets into our bed and I love it!


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

When my twins first moved out of cribs, we got them 2 beds. They always wound up one matress on the floor so we went with it. They sleep on a queen sized air matress. Rivka sleeps in a small crib, but she is tiny and has plenty of room to stretch out still. When she is tired of the crib I'll plop her in bed w/ them.

I read them a story at night and they play around for a while and go to sleep. If they come out I just give them what they want (usually a kiss or more water) and they go back. I tell them it's bedtime and they are pretty good about it. If they wake up after beign asleep they usually want in our bed and that is OK with us too. Usually by 2am both girls are in my bed and the baby is alone in her room but that is how she sleeps best.


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## mimiharshe (Oct 16, 2006)

Thanks for your reply! It also made me realize that I need to stop threatening to take something away from my daughter if she gets up. She usually just wants some more attn, then goes back to bed.

My son is only 18 months, but he unerstands quite a bit, so we'll see.

I still have to decide about the beds though....


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## TinkerBelle (Jun 29, 2005)

Nothing wrong with a baby gate, IMO. Especially at night, when you have a little one who could get into trouble while you are sleeping.


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## ndakkitten (Jul 1, 2006)

I too have used a baby gate in the hallway. My now 25 month old was moved into the other room with his 3 year old brother when he was about 20 months old. At first, he had the habit of wandering out in the middle of the night and getting into stuff, so hence the gate. After a few weeks, I took it down when he started sleeping for longer periods. We haven't had a problem since. The only wandering he does is to come crawl into bed with me, which is right across the hall.

As for beds, they have twin sized bunk beds. The room is too small for any other setup because we also have a changing table/dresser in there. My older son of course has the top and my 2 year old has the bottom with a guard rail. The rail is more to keep him out of the shelves (this is one of those combo desk/dresser/bed type bunk beds, so it has shelves on one side of the bottom bed and a wall on the other). We picked this bed out specifically because it was way better built than your regular metal bunk bed. The whole thing is solid wood and the top bunk has a big, solid railing on it, and there was no way my son would fall out.

The only problem I have actually had is that I had to take the ladder away for a few nights at one point because my 2 year old would climb up into the top bunk and steal my older son's blanket and pillow. This upset my older son a great deal. He is grumpy when he is sleeping, and heaven forbid anything wake him. Plus my younger son is very touchy feely, even when he is sleeping, and will snuggle right up or caress you in your sleep. This drove his brother nuts. So I took the ladder away at night for a week or so. Soon my younger son left the ladder alone (98% of the time anyways).

Now I am so far along in my pregnancy that I barely sleep at night anyways, so I can hear if he goes near the ladder. I just go in and tuck him back into bed. Otherwise, he just comes and crawls in bed with me.


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## scorch_dc (Jul 31, 2005)

Hi!

I have a 3 year old and a now 24 month old. We all co-slept until a few months ago. Now, the two boys go to sleep together in the same room, sleep there for 6 or 7 hours, then come into bed with us when they wake in the night (not at the same time).

For beds we have a toddler bed for our 3 year old, and put a crib mattress on the floor next to his bed for the toddler. The 3 year old is growing out of the toddler bed anyway, and we are planning on getting him a full size bed, and putting the toddler in his toddler bed. The mattress on the floor for now is great though, as the toddler does roll around and wiggle alot, and he is close to the floor that way. It is easier to put them to bed at the same time - and they love having each other close by.

We do have a gate up in the hallway. They can get up and come into our room whenever they wake up and wander in to us, but not make it down the stairs. We also put a grip lock type of cover on our bathroom door, so they cannot get in there without us knowing either.


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