Do We Move Our Son's Room Before the Next Baby Comes?

I would do it now and make it all about him. For instance, tell him that he is getting a bigger, better room because he is a big boy now and needs more space. Don't make any mention of the baby needing his room and that being the reason for the move. He will be nice and settled in by the time the new little one gets there. Good luck!

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J.,
I only have one daughter and plan to keep it that way, she is almost 4 and the light of my life, my husband and I just decided we only wanted one after a ruff pregnancy. Our friends have 2 kids that are 2 years apart, and when they moved her bedroom was right before her little brother was born, and they made a huge deal about how she was getting the big girl room and they gave her a big girl bed also. I think this was the key to a smooth transition. Good luck!
M.

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Hi J.,

We went through the same situation. We talked to our oldest, 2 at the time, and asked him if he wanted to move over to the next room with a big bed and the baby would have his old room with the baby bed. He was super excited and very willing. He even helped move his toys to the other room.

So I suggest go ahead and handle this situation now before the baby comes, he just may be super excited like mine was.

Best Wishes,

J. H.

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Hey J.,

We have two boys, currently 1 and 4. We moved the oldest to a different room for the same reason, we wanted the baby closest to our room. We went ahead and did it several months before the baby was born, specifically so Gabe (oldest) would not associate his move to be caused by the baby. We painted his new room and showed it to him. Then we moved his furniture in and his bed. And we play in there for a while that day, to get him used to the idea, and reinforced that he was becoming a big boy and big boys need big boys room. That night, I kept the door to his old room closed and walked him to his new room. I laid with him and told him his new room was really cool and that I would love to have a room like that. He was pleased and I kissed him goodnight. He slept in there without a problem! After that, for a while I kept the door to the baby's room closed. We also repainted that one, so he wouldn't associate it with his old room. When Luke (youngest) was born, he never once said he is in my room. I think it's because we moved him in advance. I hope this helps!

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I would move him now. I did that with my two older kids each time we had a new baby coming. First my son moved into a new room when my daughter was born. Then my daughter moved into his room and he to a new room when my youngest was born. We just had fun painting it, getting new bedding,etc., that really the fact that the baby was taking their room never even phased them! I think he will surprise you. Good luck!

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I would suggest making it fun for him. Emphasizing that this is his big boy room and letting him help decorate, maybe pick out the wall color or a few pictures for the walls or something. Something to make it HIS room and not make it seem like the baby is taking over.

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I have 17 month old twins and one due in January. We just moved the twins into a bigger room down the hall and keeping the nursery for the new baby that is coming. The transition went GREAT!! When it is bedtime or naptime they still go to their old room, but as soon as they see their cribs in the next room they go right to them. We made their new room "FUN" for them so i think that helped the transition. The twins are both boys, so we did a TONKA themed room with trucks and Bright blue paint with trucks on the walls. I would suggest doing now instead of waiting until the new baby comes so he is not confused.
Hope this helps and Congratulations on the new baby and Good Luck!!!
S.

We had the same issue and doing the change early is the best thing to do. That way they are in their new environment for quite some time so they don't feel like they got kicked out of their room for the baby. I'm sure he will do fine with the change if you do it at least 3 months prior to the new baby arriving.

Hi J.! I say absolutely go ahead and move your son's room now. My children are 27 montsh apart and know if there is going to be a change in our house, it has historically been best to make the change gradually and as much in advance as possible. Especially where new baby brother is concerned. If you go ahead and move him now, he won't associate "losing" his room to the baby. He'll have so many changes to adjust to anyway, whatever you can do ahead of time will be a plus, in my opinion.

Best wishes to your family!!

We did this with each of our children. The room closest to ours has always been known as the baby's room. So to make the move more special, we picked out new bed sheets and/or decorations for their new big boy or girl room. We always started the move several months before the new baby came, gradually by letting them nap in their new room, while still sleeping at night in their old room. After a few days of comfortably doing this, they moved completely into their new room, while we left the old room unchanged for a while. Then when they were comfortable and happy in their new room, we cleaned out their old room and re-set it up for the "new baby" and the room became the baby's room. Our kids never seemed to have problems with the change over and because we did it several months before the baby came, they really weren't considering the baby's room as their own anymore, it was now just the baby's room. Good luck with the move!

I am due at the end of next month with my second. DD is 3. While we didn't move her room we did take her furniture to give to the baby (had the changing table and matching crib). I did this over a month ago and made a big deal about her new "big girl" furniture. It didn't seem to phase her, thankfully.

But we also have begun bringing down all the baby gear and that has been affecting her. She wanted to get in the crib one day for a nap, crawl into the carseat, and began saying how she's "little" and a "baby". I'm really glad we are letting her get used to having this stuff around.

I just think it would be too much to throw the baby into this mix. A slow, steady stream of changes, in my opinion, is better than waking up one day to a complete life-change (which is really what it will be for them).

I try to remember that while this is our second baby, it's her first... so the adjustment is a big one. If you're going to change his room, I'd do it now. And I'd make a big deal of it and how it's "so much better" or a room for "big boys".

Our boys are 5 years apart and we moved our oldest into his "big kid room" about 2 months before the youngest was born. He was old enough to understand why he was moving and we involved him in the process of picking out paint and material for curtains. Someone gave us a set of bunk beds too, so he was all about the move! Your son is quite a bit younger, but you could still try letting him pick out something special to decorate his new room so he can feel some ownership over the room and some control over the move in general. Maybe a switchplate or some new curtains or sheets?

All our babies sleps with us, until another was on the way. I have a few suggestions, which may have been suggested already. This only works if you have the $$ to do it.

Though your child is young, have him help you pick out things to make the new room "his". (No painting for expecting mom, though). Is there a character he really likes? Put borders around the upper or middle of the room. Make the bed to match, within reasonable costs. I took material and made all the accessaries...which can also be expensive. Buy his own child bed, in the color he likes. Make this move a special time for him. Leave the "baby" room as is, even if you have a girl. The baby has to use the old stuff while the older one gets new stuff. If it's within doing, go as a whole family to pick out the new things. Of course if your son wants certain things from the old room, help him adjust to the new, or move them with him.

What I did for one of my grandson's who had a baby sister come and take some attention away from him, he was about 18 months old, I made a quilt and applicaed his name on the top, added material "pictures" on it...one area was speckled frogs on logs and I used a permanent marker to write down the words to "one little speckled frog" under them; I found some glow-in-the-dark material of stars and planets, cut it out and sewed it in the center. There were other things on the front, and there wasn't really a theme to put them together, but it's been a few years ago.

The back was some material that was printed with a "town", with roads and such. Oh, yeah, I put a couple of pockets on the front for his small cars. So he could play with his cars on the back side of "his" quilt from grandma. My son said the little one would take his quilt off his bed and sleep on it on the floor before the night was over, but he soon grew out of that stage. Later I had to make one for his sister, but there haven't been any more babies come along!

Good luck with this. Aren't children wonderful!!!

Jan A in MO

J.,

Yes, I would move him as soon as possible. I would make a huge deal of it letting him help decorate/paint. When I got pregnant with my 2nd, I immediately moved my first. He didn't seem to mind. I did not tell him the baby was getting his old room. I told him he was moving to a big boy room with bigger toys, blah blah. Good luck. One he is adjusted to that he might want to help in the baby room.

Have you talked to your son yet? He may need to feel like a big guy first.
Would you like to have your new room before the baby come or after? Do you have any idea's of how you would like to decorate? Can you help pick out somethings that you think the baby would like?
Then appreciate- You are such a big help. Thank you, you are going to be such a great big brother.
When the baby comes get a gift from the baby to your son. When your son see the baby for the first time have your arms free. Have the new baby in the bed... focus on the the fact that HE has a new baby brother or sister and oh look the baby got you a gift.

I have two kids now 17 and 13 they are close friends. They both have the gift from one another from the hospital. My son has been a great big brother to our daughter.

I am currently in the same situation as you are and our new baby will be arriving a few days after my son turns 2. I have debated on this and talked to our pediatrician and we decided it was best to leave our son in his room and make the other room for the new baby. My son LOVES his room and I can't imagine trying to get a 19 month old to understand why he has to move out of the space that has always been his. We need the crib for the new baby so we are getting him a twin bed but will keep his room as much the same as we can. We will be switching beds in the next month or so as recommended by the pediatrician. This will allow him to adjust before the new baby comes and not see the new baby as the person that took his bed. Right now he does not even grasp that a new little person is coming. I think that will rock his world enough so I will leave his space as much the same as I possibly can.

I would love to talk more about this and the other issues that we will be facing in the coming months. Feel free to contact me if you woudl like!!

K.

I think it a wonderful idea to move your son's room way before the new addition arrives. Make it a fun exciting time for him since he is such a "big boy" now. When I moved my 2 year old to a different room before the birth of her sister, she had no idea the reasons behind it and was clearly proud of her "big girl" room. We mad it a bid deal and for weeks after the move, her room was the first stop to any visitors in our home! She would proudly lead all to her new space to show it off.

Hope this helps and good luck!

HI,
I just went through the exact same thing last year, I did move the bedroom before the new brother came along. I explained to him that his brother was going to need this room and that he was going to get his own new room, I let him choose what he wanted to decorate with, and what new curtains and bed stuff he wanted. He was 19 months at the time and we had such a good time together going through catalogs and picking stuff out. We are on a tight budget so once he picked a theme we went to yard sales and I have a friend that can draw really well and we made a huge farm scene on his wall that we painted. He actually started asking when he was going to be able to sleep in his new room before it was even finished! Good luck to you.

I understand that you want your baby closer to you but I don't think you should move your son at all. He's already going to be adjusting to not gettting all of you and daddy. Everyone will coo and aww over the new one and your son will likely start feeling left out and that the baby is now more important or more loved than he is. Taking away his room would only add to that. He needs things that are his alone, things he doesn't have to share or give up (a special blankie or toy for example, and his room). If your place is big enough that you worry about not hearing the baby, invest in a set of baby monitors and keep one in your room and one in the baby's room. If your place is not big enough to warrant getting monitors, you'll hear the little one just fine.

We were in almost the same situation, except that we had to move our daughter all the way upstairs! We did it when she was about 15 months old and she had ZERO problems with it. She's 20 months now and her brother will be here next week...so as far as the part where she adjusts well or doesn't to him is yet unknown. But I don't think at this age after she's been in her "new" room for as long as she has that she would ever make the connection. I say move her sooner than later so he has the chance to adjust and forget the other room was ever hers! Good luck!

Good Morning J., If it were me I would leave your little guy where he is and get a very good baby monitor. Our son & daughter in law did the same as what you are asking and it is ok now he is 3 1/2 his baby brother is 9 months. But when Zane went to his baby room he was upset as he took His room.
So I think it depends sometimes how you might explain it to a 18 month old. Corbin knew he was having a brother, and would kiss momma's tummy every day when she left for work. But that was His room. and it did upset him for a while.

Best of everything to you and yours
K. Nana of 5

I would really consider not moving your son at all unless the other bedroom is really far away. Is it worth the work of doing two rooms? You know you can hear your baby crying a mile away!

Imagine that your husband comes home one day with another, younger woman and says, "Honey, this is my new wife. I still love you and we are all going to live here and be happy!" Now imagine that he asks you to give up your room!

we did the same thing and made it all about his 'new big brother/big boy' room- mine was 18 mo when his brother was born so it didnt really matter to him overall- i think at 2 it's still easy enough to change things without a big issue!

My sister had the same question. Her daughter was 2 when she moved rooms. She moved her before the baby came. She got new furniture because baby's sleep in cribs. She was OK with all of it. She also had the habit of taking a sippy cup of water to bed with her at night. She told her that big girls in big girl beds did not take sippy cups to bed. She never complained about it. It was more traumatic for my sister than for her daughter.

I agree with the other moms, I would also have him paint a picture, frame it and put it on the baby's wall as a present for the baby. Having him help out with the baby's room will help too, after he's moved into his big boy room.

Hi J. - Congrates on the new baby!! My husband and I faced the same issue. Our girls are 23 months apart and we were going to move our oldest to a big girl bed and the larger room. I had talked to our doctor about it and he asked 2 questions 1) does baby #1 sleep good in her crib and room and 2) can we afford to get a 2nd crib. The answer to both for us was yes. He then asked why would we want to mess with baby #1's sleeping habits when we're getting baby #2 who won't sleep. We kept #1 in her room and her bed and then we only had to deal with #2 not sleeping. Our doctor said that even if we moved #1 to the new room a couple of months before #2 came the first one would still feel like we were taking her stuff away and giving it to the baby. And those first borns have enough trouble when that new baby comes, so I suggest that you leave the first one's room the same if you can.

Good luck!!!

I think it would be better considering your son's age to leave him where he is at and put the baby in the farthest room. Buy a monitor so you can hear the new baby and all will be well. :)

Looks like we are all on the same page. Make a big deal of him being a "big boy" and moving to a big boy room and bed. We switched our oldest son to a toddler bed first then to the new room. He helped Daddy put his big boy bed together, he picked out his bedding, he chose the new room theme. Those are big choices for a two-year-old so we only gave him two options. This bedding or that one, this theme or that one, you get the idea. We talked about everything a day or two ahead of time. The entire transistion only took a week, he did really well. Good luck!

My huband and I are in the same situation. Our daughter will be 22 months when our 2nd daughter is born and we decided to move her to the bigger room and put the baby in the nursery. We just got her furniture put together now we just need to get the finising touches and move her pretty soon. I have about 3 1/2 months left before baby comes. Everyone we have talked to has said to move her way before baby comes. We decided to do another crib for now but can be converted to a toddler bed when we feel she is old enough. I have prepared myself that it will take some time for her to adjust to her new room and crib but I think she will like it. Plus her room is bigger and has a bigger closet. In the end do what you feel is comfortable for you and your family on switching rooms. Good luck!!!

I agree with Karen B and even your own sentiments. Your son may feel second best to the new baby and wonder why he's suddenly getting kicked out of his room. Just my personal opinion, but I say let him keep his room and invest in a video baby monitor. They have some great ones out there today. Or you can put a bassinet in your room for baby until you are ready to move baby into his/her own room if that would make you more comfortable.

We had a similar situation. Our children are 15 months apart. When I was due with the second we told the oldest that she gets to move to the big girl room. We had her "pick out" her bedding and made sure she thought it was special for her. As for the baby's room, we told her it was for babies and she was getting bigger so she could have her own room and the baby would sleep in the baby room. We did do this before the baby was born just because then it doesn't seem like the child was being kicked out because the baby arrived. It also give the child time to adjust to the new space before you need to focus most of you night time attention on the new little one.

We also had a similar situation a few months ago. We are expecting our third child and we moved both of our children into a room together before the new one arrives. They are older now and can understand more so that wasn't such a big deal. They have been in the new room for a few months and we still have about a month to go.

I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck!

Move him now and let him be a part of the "new room make-over." Let him get excited about his big-boy room and he'll be in the new room asap! He won't even remember that the new baby is in what used to be his room! The sooner the better! Good luck!

My kids are also 2 years apart. When I moved my sons room to the other room he was excited. We made it his room with a big boy bed, fresh paint and tons of wall stickers of cars all over. He loved it so much and never wanted to go in his old room. I also redid his old room into a girl room. Maybe because his old room did not look like his old room he did not want it back. Or maybe he was just excited about his new room. So I would just try to make the 2 year olds room something special just for them and let your 2 year old be part of decorating it. Good Luck.

I think it's a good idea to go ahead and move him if you're going to as long before the new baby comes as possible. I have a 3 year-old and one on the way (Aug. 28th). As soon as we found out we were expecting, we got the "big boy bedroom" ready and moved my son into it (he was about 2 1/2 at the time). He was so excited to get to move to the "big boy bedroom" with big boy furniture and stuff. I think that the sooner you do it, the better he'll take it. Just don't make it seem as though he's being moved so the baby can have his room. Give him other reasons for switching rooms and he'll probably be just fine. Good luck! :o)

D.

I agree with your logic, it totally makes sense to me. But! An 18mo-2yr old may not. I think you should hold off on moving the room. As it is, your son's territory is already invaded (expanding belly, you probably can't do as much as you used to). But if you are going to move his room, I think you should do it ASAP! Good luck!

I think he may not like the idea at first, but if you let him pick out some of his own room decorations he might enjoy that. It'll help him feel like a "big boy" and he might love the new room.

We did this with our oldest...she was about 28 months I think. About three months before her sister was due, we started fixing up the extra bedroom without her realizing it. We painted it pink and put in a big girl bed, decorated it, etc. One day while she was out with grandma, we moved all of her stuff into it and surprised her with her new big girl room when she got home. We threw in a few new "big girl toys" as a bonus that she could only play with as long as she was using her big girl room. She was so excited and we never had any problems. We did it a few months before in case the transition did take some time. And we didn't really relate it to the baby needing her room, but rather that when you get to be a big girl, you get to have a new big girl room! Hope that helps and good luck!
D.

YES! Move him now and make a big deal out of it! We did just the same thing when my baby was about 4 months till due date. Worked well for older sister who was also 2 when sister was born.