hi- I have questions...

Seannon

so two quick questions- not sure why I'm thinking about this stuff now...but here it goes.

 our 2 youngest will be 17.5 months apart. the plan, because we dont want to buy another crib, is to keep Owen in his crib until about 20 months while the new baby is in the bassinet. at 20 months, move him to a bed against the wall with a side rail. though- the bed we want to move him to is a queen (that's what we have). Is that totally abnormal? do you think that will be ok? Baby will then get Owen's crib and Owen moves into his own "new" room. I will add that my oldest son moved out of his crib at 2...

2nd question- where do the two car seats go? who gets the middle and who gets the window? or do they both get a window? just a regular sedan.

 Thanks in advance... I know its early...my mind is racing with all this stuff.

HarrietNJMommy

I wouldn't move a toddler out of their crib unless they were climbing out or they were at LEAST 3YO (whichever came first). My friends that have done this to not have to buy another crib have regretted it. You then have a toddler that can get OUT of bed an come wandering and looking for you in the middle of the night. Just my $0.02.

As for the carseats, when I just had the girls, and my sedan, each one got a window. The youngest ALWAYS goes behind the driver and the older one behind the passenger.

GL! 

easterbaby

Your oldest might feel tossed to the side having to give up his bed to the baby and have his own room. When we moved into our new home our kids shared a room for a couple of weeks while we were doing home improvements to the new nursery. That didn't work because the oldest was keeping the youngest awake at night. We thought our 2.5 yr old was ready for her big girl bed and we set it up and moved the baby into our bedroom temporarly. That was a HUGE mistake. Our oldest started having night terrors and cried for her crib. She was also mean to her sister and me during the day and I spoke to her pedi and he said she was jealous that her sister was in our room and she felt pushed away being in the room by herself while the rest of us shared a room. I thought it would have made her happy having a toddler bed and her own room. We gave her crib back and moved her sister back into her room for the time being and her mood changed overnight. Right now they have seperate rooms and both have their own cribs, they are 2.5 and 1.5. I would wait moving your oldest into a crib until 3, we bought a crib tent to make sure our oldest wouldn't go down the stairs at night if she climbed out. It's the best purchase baby wise and we feel safe knowing she's safe and can't get hurt because she doesn't understand yet that she can get hurt wondering at night. I would say keep things as normal for your oldest as possible and get another crib. You might find a cheaper but safe crib on craigslist until your oldest is ready for a big bed and then sell the cheaper crib and put your youngest in the better crib. If they are going to have seperate rooms, move your oldest to the new bedroom before the baby gets here. Let your oldest be a baby as long as he needs, I just learned that the hard way.

madhatter2003

I just bought a 2nd crib....I wanted to keep DD 'contained' as long as I could.

We have DD behind the driver (forward facing) and DS behind the passenger (rear facing of course) since I can't drive with a rear facing seat behind me (I'm tall) and the seats won't fit middle and window in my car.

nhole121

I guess I am different from every poster so far. I got preg with DD#2 when DD#1 was 9 months old. I knew I did not want to purchase a second crib, so we converted DD#1's crib to a toddler bed when she was 12 months and changed her to a twin bed with side rails at 16 months. We did leave her in her bedroom so she would feel at home.

She transitioned unbelievably well. The only problem we have had was she learned how to open her bedroom door. Solved that by putting a door knob cover over the handle- hated the idea at first, but it has worked great for us. If you do plan on changing rooms and/or beds, do it sooner rather than later to get them used to the new situation.

 As far as the carseats go, each DD has their own window. DD#1 behind passenger and DD#2 behing driver.

Heather&Scott

We moved our first born into a twin bed with 2 rails when he was 18 months without any problem.  We didn't count on it being so easy and borrowed a crib just in case.  But with all the talking up we did about his new big boy bed and his new big boy room, he was really excited to give it a go. It took about a week to transition (we slept with him a couple of nights before we felt comfortable enough to leave him) but after that week, he went back to sleeping like a champ -- 12 hours/night with 2-3 nap in the afternoon.

We have a minivan and they both go into the captain chairs.  If I had a sedan, they'd both get a window.

 

FWIW, we moved our son into his new room and into his new bed when our youngest was just 2 months old.  So we did it AFTER the baby came, not before.  I originally projected all kinds of hang-ups on to him -- that he'd feel displaced in a new room/bed, that he would think he was being pushed aside for the new baby, etc etc.  But he was more resilient than I gave him credit for.  Sometimes, I think we overhink things too much.  

roshybride

We moved #1 into a toddler bed at 16 months (about 2 months before #2 came). I regret not getting a second crib. For the first few months, he would fall asleep all over his room. We had put a gate up in his door way (his door does not latch). Now he is learning to climb over his gate, but doesn't climb out of a crib  (he sleeps in a crib at my mom's). There has been many times in the last 7 months where I wanted to go buy a second crib. So it's up to you if you want to move him or not

As far as moving him into a Queen bed, I wouldn't. I think it is too big and he will feel lost in it. I'd either buy him a toddler bed or a twin bed. Small children like the boundaries of either a crib or bed rails when they sleep.

As far as carseats, you should put them both on the sides. Neither should be in the middle unless you need to have someone sit back their with them (it is hard for an adult to fit between the seats). We have #2 behind the driver and #1 behind the passenger. I'm not sure it matters too much which one is where. If you cannot big the rear facing baby comfortably behind the driver, then definately put the rear facing child behind the passenger. It is very important that the driver can fit in their seat comfortably.