I’m busy thinking up nursery ideas lately. Cohen and babygirl will be sharing a room and while we already have most of the furniture(dresser, toddler bed and rocker), we’ll need a few more things and a new theme. I’m not set on a color scheme yet, but I do know I want lots of colors. I’m definitely not going to say no to either pink or blue just because there will be both a boy and girl in the room. I’m still deciding if I should paint. And what color? Or maybe a wall of stencil? So many decisions! It’s really fun to think about.
We’ve changed Cohen’s crib into a toddler bed, so we’re going to get a mini crib in white for the new baby. She’ll likely be in our room for the first few months anyways, so I love the idea of a tiny little crib.
Do you have any tips for a shared nursery? The more I think about it, I’m a little nervous to have two kids in one room. Will they ever sleep?
My nieces shared a room for a while…. but Nikki was a colicky baby, so it didn’t last long because all of the crying made it impossible for Grace to sleep. We’ve got a new baby coming, too, so the shared room will be tried again! Probably, Grace will be getting a big girl bed and Nicole will inherit the Princess toddler bed so that the new baby can have the crib.
My family had six kids and lived mostly in 3 bedroom houses, so shared rooms are doable and not really that difficult! Grace is in PreK now, so she doesn’t spend most of her time here anymore *tear* (she’s growing up so fast!) but Nicole still spends about half of her time here with me and next summer, so will the new baby while Mom and Dad work.
I know it’s not quite the same as two babies but we have a 10 year old and two year old sharing the same room and they do great! We have a pretty small house and it just works for them to share the big room/bathroom combo. Even bedtime isn’t so bad.
http://one-girl-vs-world.blogspot.com
My kiddos share! My son’s duvet is made from Alexander Henry’s 2D Zoo in Chocolate, and he has those giant green leaves from IKEA above his bed, along with some other zoo-y details. My daughter’s crib bedding is made from a Riley Blake Sugar N Spice in the green and pink prints, so the green pulls their room together. I’m re-painting a dresser for her that will have green ombre drawers and they will share it for now, but when my son is older and they are no longer sharing, he will get new darker furniture while she will keep the white baby stuff and just get a new bed.
As far as sleep…my daughter is 9 months and she goes to bed at 7, while my son is 3 and he goes down when she has been good and asleep for about 10-15 minutes. Usually that is by 7:30. It is rarely a problem. They both sleep through each other. My son talks in his sleep and thrashes around and she never wakes. When she is teething, or when she wakes in the morning earlier than him, I go get her and he sleeps through it. It was rough at first, but only because we were trying to put them down together. When we transitioned her into her crib, we moved his toddler bed into my husband’s office for a few days until she was sleeping well. In fact, the biggest problem we had was moving him out of the office, which he looooved sleeping in.
Every now and then, she will quiet down and not make a noise so we will think she is fast asleep…only to have her sit up, pull herself to standing at the rail, and giggle when we take our son to bed. Then we get to hear him talk to her and her giggle for a little bit. I give them a few minutes, then go lie her down and tell her to go to sleep. It’s adorable :)
yellow is such a nice gender neutral color..those curtains are lovely
such cute combos! I’m also debating the mini crib idea…love that it has wheels to move from room to room. Anyone know if this crib travels well? I see that it folds but is it practical to use in place of a pack n play? I’m with you…two kids in one room scares the crap out of me for naps/schedules.
I shared with my brother until we were 9, and we were 16 months apart. We slept ok (it definitely got better as we got older), and we made so many fun memories.
Shared rooms work out. Sure some nights go bad but figure a routine and it will work. I suggest getting a big boy bed and putting a bed rail up instead of buying a temp. crib for the little baby. Both of my girls went from cribs to big beds when each baby came and it was worth the money up front instead of using/buying on a temp bassinet/crib that would go unused shortly. But transition to a big bed BEFORE baby comes so that there aren’t too many changes all at once. It’s hard if they get booted out of their bed when the baby is here and could feel resentful about the new addition.
I shared a room growing up, but I have a twin so I guess that is different. My boy and girl don’t share a room, because we had enough space for both of them (although I got booted out of my craft space and no longer have “my own space”, but that is another story), but they do find ways of keeping each other company, like getting to the edges of their beds and talking to each other down the hallway. I let it go for a couple of minutes then I try to get them to lay down and talk later. I’m sure if they shared a room they would have good memories, as well as tears, I’m sure some fighting over toys or books would occur resulting in injuries.
Hi Kate! First of all, I have been following your blog forever and I love it! You are so creative and you motivate me to break out my sewing machine more often than I typically would!
I also have one little boy and a girl on the way. So fun. I can’t wait to see them play and interact with eachother. I loved your ideas for the nursery and especially the cute curtains! Just thought i’d say hi and congratulations :)
I can’t assure you that they’ll sleep, because I have no experience with that. More than likely my kids will share a room too, though, and I have the same thought. My son is used to sleeping in a VERY quiet environment. He doesn’t sleep with any noise. So wow. It could be interesting. But everyone says it works out!! Cute nursery ideas, I like the stenciled wall idea! I bet it is fun to be able to do things to your place, as opposed to apartment living, which is where I’m at right now.
I love that tiny white crib! My boys have been in the same room since Eliot was 7 months. For a while, I put him to bed first, then Milo would go to sleep (usually with some help from me snuggling him) about 30 minutes later. Now, 8 months later, I am finally putting them to sleep at the same time and letting them figure it out. It doesn’t take more than 30-40 minutes for both to be soundly snoozing.
Good luck!
You are so brave haha! I keep thinking about putting my boys together but my sleep is too important, I’m thinking when they r 2 and 3 and both in beds it will be better… How far apart with your little be? Do u read apartment therapy? They had the BEST article a few weeks back about baby toddler shared rooms
I love that you won’t shy away from pink OR blue so they both get a decent dose of both! I definitely wonder about how it works with two kids – please let us know how it goes or if you have any tips. I’m sure that’ll be the situation in our home (someday).
How old will Cohen be when the baby girl is born? My twins used to sleep in one of those Ikea repurpoused crib and I just changed them to a regular bed because they won’t fit anymore. And they are not even 3 yet! I would recommend you get one of the bigger Gulliver beds instead of the crib, he’ll be out of it sooner than you think!
I am so nervous about putting Charlotte in with Sadie! It gives me the hives so I don’t think about it. ;) I love the curtains!!
We had a boy 4 months ago, and we also have a 5 year old girl. My husband is adamantly against them sharing a room. I think it would be fine until she gets closer to puberty, even good for them. He’ll probably be staying with us in our room until he’s a year and we live in a two bedroom apartment so I dunno what will happen. Right now they absolutely adore each other, I hope it stays that way!
We have two boys, 2 and 4 years old. When the little one was about 8-9 months we put them in the same room. After that I realized I wanted their room as my sewing room *s*, so they moved to the guest room, now sharing a double size bed! It works…. ok. :) The older one has always been a good sleeper but the 2 year old is extremely attached to me so whenever he wakes up he comes to our bed. ;) at least I got my sewing room. *lol*
About the colors, you don’t have to have blue = boy or pink = girl, why not green and make it a jungle theme? :)
/Agneta
i have the grayson crib for my little girl (in grey) and it fits perfectly into the closet we purposed for her little sleeping area so we could keep the queen sized guest bed and also fit in a dresser and a rocking chair. Love the crib – recommend it to everyone.