How to Sleep Train with an Older Sibling
Sleep training one child can have its challenges, sleep training your baby while you have an older child can sometimes add additional stress, but don’t worry! Today’s post is going to walk you through how to sleep train your baby with an older sibling.
Some of the biggest challenges we run into when sleep training a baby while having older siblings present is the sheer noise. It is common for babies to protest while going through the sleep training process. Their older brother or sister may find this very concerning and not be happy with how things are going. There are several ways to tackle sleep training your baby without disrupting their older sibling or causing them emotional distress!
How to Sleep Train with an Older Sibling
Schedules
Conflicting schedules can make the idea of sleep training seem impossible! When your baby is on a 3 nap schedule and your toddler takes one nap, what do you do?! One of the best things you can do in this situation is to try and find a quiet activity for your older child while you put their younger sibling down for a nap. Whether it be playing with blocks, reading books or watching a show (yes, that’s ok!) A quiet activity will give you the time to get the baby down. Then, it’ll let your older child have some quiet time. The best part is, once the baby learns to sleep on their own, you now have more time to spend with your older child! If your older child is still napping, try to adjust schedules slightly so that one of the baby’s naps overlaps with your toddler going down. So that they’re both sleeping at the same time. Putting the baby down first, and then the toddler will make things a bit easier.
Routine
The biggest foundation of sleep for any child of any age is routine! When you have more than one child you’re putting to bed, try to overlap the routine so they get ready for bed together. Some great routine aspects that overlap for babies and toddlers or older children is brushing teeth, reading a book, and turning on the white noise machine together (older siblings LOVE doing this for their baby brother or sister).
Room Sharing
Do your kids share a room and you’re worried that you won’t be able to sleep train? Don’t worry, you totally can! The best way to tackle this is to put your baby to sleep first. Let your older child tell the baby good night and put the baby down. Once it’s time for your older child to sleep, do their bedtime routine outside of the bedroom, let them know that the baby is sleeping and it’s time to quietly hop into bed for the night. It may take a night or two for them to understand, but they’ll get the hang of it. You can also make it a quiet game to make things more fun! You may also worry about middle of the night wakings, luckily most toddlers and older children are incredibly deep sleepers and dont have trouble sleeping through the night! Whether you hit a sleep regression or your baby is waking in the middle of the night to eat, don’t worry too much that it will disrupt your older child, chances are they won’t even wake up.
Include Big Bro or Big Sis in the Process!
Explain the process to your older child. Let them know that the baby is going to be learning how to fall asleep on their own. Explain that the baby might cry or protest a bit at times, but they are safe. You might be surprised, but older siblings are usually excited and willing to help the baby sleep however they can! Depending on their age, you can include the older sibling in the baby’s night time routine. Also, depending on the sleep training method you choose, your older child can watch the timer, hold the baby monitor to watch baby’s progress or help you keep track of any notes you may take! Getting your older child involved can help make them feel included, bond more with the baby and make sleep training feel like an overall more pleasant, family experience! Follow me on Instagram for more updates!