Has anyone kept cosleeping with a toddler when a new baby arrives?

[Daydream Believer]

We have kept co-sleeping. DD was a bad sleeper & was still waking 2-3 times a night for BF before DS was born. Since he's been here she's resettled herself & gone back to sleep. Im a light sleeper so as soon as DS stirs I feed him. We only get up if he is crying for a while. We have plenty of room though because DF refuses to sleep in the bed with us because he is a deep sleeper & is scared of rolling on them

[Fig]

We did. Its musical beds in our house so not every night is not the same around here. But when DS was first born DD slept in the middle of me and DH and DS slept between me and edge of bed. When he was tiny he slept cuddled in my arms so didn't take up too much room. As he got bigger I took the side off his cot and put it next to the bed so we all had more room - that worked brilliantly for us!!

Now that DS is 1 he sleeps in the middle and my DD creeps in to our bed in the middle of the night. She is suppose to be sleeping in her own bed - but thats another post!!

Over the past year we have had so many different sleeping arrangements. With another 7 months to go things may change for your family as well....

[*Ash*]

We did a bit of a modified version.

We were co-sleeping with DD, but in the months leading up to DS1's birth, we put a single bed right up next to our queen bed. We thought that DD would sleep there, but DH usually ended up there! By the time DS1 arrived, DD was sleeping in the single bed. She was still right next to me. DS1 was between me and DH (in the Queen bed). When DS1 was a few weeks old, we rearranged our bedroom and DD's bed was moved to the other side of the room. It was lovely to still have her close though. When she was 3 (DS1 was 6 months), she asked if she could sleep in her room (the room where we kept all her clothes and toys). She transitioned to her own room so easily, no dramas at all. She was ready and I felt so happy that we had not forced her to sleep independently before she was ready.

[Honeybee]

Thanks everyone for your experiences. Hmmm I'm thinking that four in a bed may be a bit unrealistic. We have been considering buying a king sized bed, but not if it won't be ample room for all of us.

Ash - I like your idea of having the single pushed up next to the queen - we could do that without having to buy a new bed. Sounds like a really easy transition for your DD. How did you encourage her to start sleeping in the single bed when it was still next to your bed?

Thanks again everyone, lots to think about.

HB
xxxx

[appletree]

We also put a bed between ours and the wall for DD, and it works great for us! We started off having her bed a few feet away from our bed and trying her in it, but she really wanted to be up with us so we moved it in next to us instead. We didn't really have to encourage her at all, she was more than happy to sleep in it as it is still right next to us. We did get her some cute sheets for it though which might have helped?

DS doesn't co-sleep, he has always been happier on his own sadly despite my best efforts! To be honest though, i am so much more comfortable at night now that everyone is in their own beds!

DS started in a bassinet at the foot of our bed but is now in a cot in the spot DD's bed was in. I can't bring myself to put him in his own room though i think he would probably sleep better without the 3 of us making so much noise all the time! His crying never wakes DD, but she has woken him a few times now. He also wakes when DF gets up to go to work, however DD sleeps through it.