When to put baby number two in number one's bedroom?

[JJSP]

Hi everyone,

I'd be really interested to hear people's experiences and thoughts about when and how to get my two little ones sleeping in the same room. My daugter is nearly 20 months and my son nearly three. He's combination fed, breast and a couple of bottles of formula a day.

She is a great sleeper and is pretty much guarunteed 7 - 7 unless she's ill. I've also been in the habit of popping into her room a couple of times in the evening/night to get her used to the idea of people coming in and out.

He has not totally settled into a pattern as yet, but goes down about 7.15/7.30, then wakes anywhere between 11.30 and 1.30, then depending on when he last woke, wakes again maybe once more between 4 and 6 and often doesn't then settle back to sleep.

I'm desperate to get him out of our room because I know I'll be able to sleep better and I'm pretty sure he'll sleep better too because sometimes I respond to him when he's not actually really hungry. I've got two cots set up in her room but I'm nervous about trying him out in there in case he messes up her sleep patterns (it took quite a lot of work to get her to where she is now).

When is a good time to get them in the same room? What have others done about doing this? Any good tricks/suggestions?

Thanks,

Jane

[Ruth_Baldock]

Mine went in together at 22mo and 3mo. The baby had been in with us, and then we went away to NY, where the two of gthem shared a room without any problems. When we got home, the baby moved in with our toddler. They do occasionally wake each other up, but they've both had to adapt to sleeping through me shuffling in and out to settle them throughought the night; neither of them sleep through although at the moment the baby (now 9mo) is doing better than her brother (now 2y4mo). My toddler is in a bed, baby in a cot.

[Cora]

We have three in the same room. The youngest joined the other two when he moved from the Moses basket. They sleep through his cries.

[Grotty]

I moved my 5 month old in with my just-turned-2 year old last week. The baby still wakes 1-3 times a night but the eldest never wakes or if she stirs she is straight back to sleep. During nap time today the eldest had a major tantrum but baby stayed sleeping. They are much more resilient than I gave them credit for. The mornings are now better as toddler always wakes first and when baby was still in our room she would be woken by toddler coming in and bouncing about. Now she sleeps on for sometimes as long as an hour more. I should have done it sooner!...