So, first off, congratulations! You’ve either just welcomed a new baby into the house, or you’re about to shortly. What wonderful news!
And congratulations once again on getting your older baby sleeping soundly through the night, and taking long, rejuvenating naps during the day! Look at you, absolutely killing it at this parenting thing!
But now you’re concerned that this new arrival might upend all of the hard work you and your little one have done to develop those independent sleep skills and get them sleeping on a consistent, predictable schedule.
Well, it’s not often I’m able to give such a definitive answer to any kind of paediatric, sleep-related question, but in this case, I can pretty confidently tell you that… yep, you’re in for a challenge.
I’m not saying it’s 100% for certain, but bringing a new baby into the house is very likely to impact your older child’s sleep habits in one way or another, and there are two big reasons why.
1. Your newborn is going to wake up numerous times a night and make some noise, which is likely to wake up your toddler.
2. Your toddler’s going to be jealous of the new baby.
So, let’s look at number one first.
There’s going to be a noise factor when your newborn wakes up crying for nighttime feeds. There’s very little that can be done about that, and even if there were, you probably wouldn’t want to. Newborns cry for a reason most of the time, and most of the time it’s their way of letting you know they’re hungry, so even if there were some way of muting the noise, it wouldn’t exactly be beneficial for your baby.
Your best bet here, if possible, is to keep your newborn in your room and get your toddler into their own, in a cot, preferably down a hallway as far away as possible from your newborn’s sleeping area.
Let me just take a beat to stress the “in a cot” clause there, because you’re likely going to have an easier time of this if your toddler’s still in a cot as opposed to a big kid bed. Regardless of whether or not there’s a new baby in the picture, I recommend keeping kids in the cot as long as it’s safe to do so.
A white noise machine can also help to drown out the noise. Just make sure to keep the volume level under 85 dBA, and keep the machine a minimum of 30 cm away from your little one’s ears. The obvious goal being to keep your toddler from being woken up by the sound of their sibling stirring in the night.
Depending on their age and comprehension skills, it’s also a great idea to just have a conversation with your toddler about the fact that their sibling is going to wake up crying in the night sometimes, and let them know it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just something that newborn babies do and they don’t need to be concerned if they wake up and hear their baby brother or sister making a fuss.
That’s the easy one. Number two is going to require a little more finesse.
Unless you’re exceptionally lucky, your toddler is going to get jealous of their sibling. After all, newborns require a lot of attention - attention which was all directed at your toddler up until their brother or sister came along.
Jealousy is likely going to cause a regression, prompting your toddler to crave the comforts they enjoyed when they were the new kid on the block.
Such as…
● More requests for cuddles
● If they’re in a big kid bed, they may ask to go back into the cot
● They might want to sleep in your bed or in your room
● Neediness and clinginess during the bedtime routine
The most common reason this can affect sleep is because one or both of the parents start feeling guilty about the fact that they don’t have the time and energy to dedicate to both children, so they try to compensate by making concessions, and those concessions frequently show up around bedtime. Extra stories, longer cuddles, getting into bed with them, and so on.
Let me just say, I get it. Parental guilt is a powerful motivator, and we’ll do almost anything to ensure our kids know that they’re loved, cherished, and secure. If a couple of extra stories at bedtime will help assure our babies that they’re still #1 in our hearts, why wouldn’t we accommodate them?
Kids of this age test boundaries almost incessantly, but they don’t test them in the hopes that they’ve moved, they test them to ensure that they’re still in place. It gives them a sense of security to know that the rules and expectations surrounding them are constant and predictable.
I know it doesn’t feel that way sometimes, but I can assure you that the more you give in to those demands, the more they’ll ask for. It often gets to the point where your toddler feels like they’re running the show, and that can actually be very distressing for them. They feel much more secure and relaxed with the confidence that their parents are in control.
So if and when this situation comes up, I would recommend that you keep everything around bedtime exactly as it was before the new baby showed up. Same bedtime, same bedtime routine, same number of stories, same sleeping conditions. If you start moving boundaries, it’s only going to reinforce your toddler’s suspicion that things have changed, and that’s likely to bring on more insecurity.
During the day, however, I would suggest carving out a chunk of time reserved just for your toddler. It doesn’t have to be long, even 10-15 minutes is great, but make sure that your attention is focused solely on them. Let them decide what they want to do with the time, and feel free to just smother them with love and attention. This “you-and-me” time works wonders in reassuring your older child that they’re still at the centre of your universe, even if they’re sometimes sharing the space with someone else.
Remember, when that sense of guilt starts to creep in, you’re not being a bad parent by refusing to bend to your toddler’s will. You’re doing what’s best for them, and staying firm and sticking to the rules is the secret to a happy, secure, firmly-attached child, even if your gut tells you otherwise in the moment. Making those tough calls for the good of your kids is what being an awesome parent is all about.