Baby Number 3 - Fairfax,VA

I have 6 kids. I suggest you let the older to help with the baby in little ways. If you breastfeed it is easy to read a story while you are feeding the baby. As for sleep it is easiest to just sleep with the baby. If you put the baby in with her sister then don't do the cry-it-out thing. I would just relax and enjoy the baby. everyone's routine will change some when the baby comes. You will find a new normal. I have found the more I roll with the punches the more fun parenting can be. All children will eventually sleep on their own so I would not stress too much about the sleep thing. No one goes to therapy as an adult because their mom rocked them to sleep too many nights or held them too much it is more likely a lack of holding and hugging that leads to future emotional and social issues.

Hi J.

I had my 3rd baby in June & I found it easier than going from 1-2 as I was already used to dealing with more than 1.

My eldest(boy) was 5 and the middle (girl) was 2 1/2 and then I had another girl , once the baby was sleeping through the night (around 4 months) I moved her into the same room as my daughter & so far I have had no problems with one waking the other , there have been the odd occasion when one of them has been unwell & they have woken the other but it's not a regular thing that happens.

As yours are closer together in age than mine & if your son & daughter already share a room then it may be better to keep it that way as that is what they are used to , the main reason I kept my son in a room to himself was because of the 5 yr age gap.

I had a little bit of jealousy from my daughter as she was used to being the 'baby' but that lasted for only a few weeks & she has been fine since , you just need to try and keep the other 2 as involved as much as you can and when the baby doesn't need you for feeding/changing put her down and do something with the other 2 , even if it's sitting with them to watch TV.

Hope this helps

K. H

Yes, I had baby number 3 about 22 months ago. I have 3 boys -- 4-1/2, 3-1/3 and 22 months. We now bunk all 3 together in TRIPLE BUNK BED believe it or not!

I would wait till the baby is maybe 6 months old before moving the baby in with the older ones. But you will be amazed how the older ones sleep thru the LOUD CRYING of the baby!! And vice versa!

Email me if you want with any questions. V. bvdorder at yahoo dot com.

Best wishes!!

Hi J.! Congratulations on baby number 3 :). Three kids is a lot of work, but more fun than anything in the world! My daughter was 3 months shy of 4, and my son was 1 month shy of 2 when my third was born, another son. He stayed in our room until he was about 4 months old and sleeping well at night, and we moved him into the room with our older son. He did not do well with going to sleep, my older son, so we had him move into the room with our daughter and they ended up sharing a room for about 8 monhts 9 months before we moved into a bigger home. All of the kids have their own rooms now which is more ideal, but the sharing would have been fine if my older son went to bed easier :).

The transition was not bad at all. I had heard it was worse from 2 to 3, but 1 to 2 was a much bigger shock to me. Bringing home the third baby was more routine than not. Good luck!

Hey J.,

Congrats on your upcoming birth! I have five children ages from 13 years to almost 12 months. The best recommendation I can give is be organized. It doesn't matter if you have 1 or 5, a schedule is an absolute must. My two boys ages 11 and 4 share a room and my girls ages 13 and 5 share a room as well. My youngest has her own room. Each child has a single bed, even though my oldest daughters bed is a futon bunk bed, I just feel that it's a safety hazard for my kids to sleep up there in a emergency.

We found with the baby we had to have one room with the frequent feeding at night. Just try to make it fun for them and even have them decorate the room that best fits their needs. Best of luck!

www.jenniferzaranis.com

I have 3 girls. The oldest will be 5 in March the middle 3 in Jan and the baby 1 in Feb and they all sleep in the same 12 X 14 room. I kept them in the cradle until they were each 4 months than moved them into the room. They sleep through everything. The baby still nurses at night and they never hear her. We have a 3 bedroom so they will always share but they both wanted to sleep with the baby so we just kept them all together.
I think going from 1 to 2 was harder 2 to 3.

Congratulations on the birth of your third! When we brought home our third son my oldest daughter was a new 3 and my older son was 19 months. The transition was not bad. We had the same situation with the sleeping arrangements. My youngest son slept in his bassinet in our room until he was 3 and a half months old. By then he was sleeping throught the night. (Luckily he was a good sleeper) We then moved his crib into the other boys room. (The older one could sleep through a hurricane so it worked well). That worked out for a while. We went on to have another baby girl once he was 2. That was really an easy transition. By that time you are just adding another member to the team. LOL