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

[Honeybee]

Hi everyone

Just looking for advice on whether it's realistic to expect to keep cosleeping with our toddler when our new baby (hopefully, all going well) arrives?

It sounds like a good idea at the moment, but would like to hear from other ppl who have actually done this. What happens when the baby wakes up crying? Does it wake up the toddler as well? Is it safe for the baby?

DS currently sleeps between me and the wall, I want to start moving him to the middle so hopefully he can start being comforted by DH during the night. Then the cosleeper bassinet will go on my side for the new baby, so baby won't actually be in the bed, s/he'll be in the cosleeper.

Our other option is for DH and DS to cosleep in another room, and I stay in the bedroom with the baby, but DS is so reliant on me for comfort during the night that I'm not sure it'll work.

Any advice or experiences greatly appreciated! If this pg works out we've got 7 months to sort it out.

HB
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[Phteven]

We kept co-sleeping with a new baby.
For the first few months DH slept in one bed with the toddler (16 months old when the baby arrived) while I slept in the other bed with the newborn.
When DS2 wasn't so newborn any more and DH was away I would sleep between them.
Once DS2 was a toddler they slept together in a double bed. Now they have bunks but most nights they choose to sleep in the same bunk head to toe athough we still play musical beds. DS2 comes in with me most nights at the moment because DH is working away and DS pops in for snuggles in the morning between waking up and getting up.


If you have 7 months you can use the time to get your DS more used to sleeping with your DH.

I don't think it would be safe having a baby and a toddler side by side without an adult between them. I think that 4 in a bed is just too many to be comfy - we've got a king sized bed and 4 is great for snuggles but a proper nights sleep is impossible when it's that crowded.

[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
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[Tegam]

Most nights i have all three of mine in bed with me and i dont expect that to change once the baby comes. We have always co slept. I just find it so muc easier to "be" there for everyone all night if they are already with me. I dont find that they wake when the baby wakes and even if they do it only takes a shhshh to put the toddler back to sleep while you feed the baby!

Good luck and just do what feels right for you and your baby!

Congrats on the pregnancy!

[boomba]

We continued co sleeping when bubs came along......Ds2 was in a crib next me while he was tiny tiny then we made his old cot inot a side car bed...so took one side off and had the beds pushed together ..does that make sense...so he had his own area and DS1 wouldnt kick him lol I will pm you a link of a blog which shows you how to set one up if you like. x

[Honeybee]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I've measured our beds, and we can definitely fit a single next to our queen. Not sure that I can also get the cosleeper in there (our bedroom isn't very big), but will give it a shot.

Thanks again for the feedback.

HB
xxxx

[kitten2b]

we kept cosleeping when my dd2 came along, we had dd1's single bed attached to our double. dd1 was in her bed, then me then dd2 and then DH on the outside closest to the door. We had room constraints in our tiny unit thus they all stayed with us till we recently moved to Canberra and finally are in their own bed (well sharing a double together in the next room).