When new born baby cries at night does your preschooler get disturbed in sleep? Does he wake up? I m planning to share same room for new born and my 3 year old. How convenient is that? What are draw backs?

I have a friend who decided to let her baby and toddler son share the same room as well. She did not do this immediately after the baby was born. For the first eight months, her baby was sleeping in her room in order to meet the feeding demands of the baby through the night. Her son (3 years old then) was attending preschool. Hence, she did not want to disrupt his sleep. During that period, she started preparing her son that his little sister will soon be occupying the same room as him. She brought him along when she bought the cot for the baby and involved him when she was placing the baby’s stuff into what used to be “his” room. At eight months old, my friend felt that it’s the appropriate time for the transition as the baby is more or less on a regular sleeping schedule. Baby still sleeps earlier so she would put her daughter to sleep first, and spent some alone-time with her son. This greatly aided the change. No doubt there were some protest from her son initially as the change took place. But with some patient explaining and lots of cuddles, her son adapted quite quickly. During periods where one child is sick or if baby was too fussy, she sometimes would sleep with them in the living room instead. In general, this arrangement worked well for her and she felt that her children quite close (though unsure if it is because they share a room). Now, she would give them some time to play by themselves before bedtime in their room and could her them chatting and playing happily.

Depends on how good a sleeper your preschooler is. My friend's 3 year old is such a sound and deep sleeper, it doesn't bother him at all when his parents mobile phone rings or beeps. That being said, some kids can be really light sleepers. I suggest you give the arrangement a trial run over a weekend and see how your older child reacts when baby cries. If it's difficult to get both of them back to sleep, best to let your older child sleep in his own room since he has to get to school the next day.