Is it okay for newborn and 2 1/2 year old to share room?

I have a 2-year-old daughter and am expecting in July. I am trying to decide if it is okay for them to share a room. I will keep the new baby with me in a bassinette for about 4 months - until she (hopefully) sleeps through the night. My oldest would be 33 months by that time. It would be so much easier for many reasons as seperate room would mean giving up the home office, save money (more furniture etc.) keep the baby closer to me since that room is next door to us and and I think help them to bond if they could share a room, but my mother in law has me worried that my oldest could accidentally hurt the baby. My oldest is a loving child, though she does like to climb, but hard to consider how she will be a year from now. The other option would be to put the crib in the office until the baby is a year or so and then move them together? Does anyone else have a new baby sharing a room with a sibling? What did you do and what was the timing - was it okay?
Thanks for any insight!

If you're concerned about the climbing, they do have nets that go over the top of the crib (like domes) that are usually intended to keep the baby in the crib from climbing out, but I bet it would also make it tough for siblings/pets to climb in. It might be better to keep the baby in the office if the sleeping patterns don't match. You don't want to set your older up to feel resentful of your younger for waking them up all the time (especially if you are ever going to let the baby "cry it out"), nor do you want to end up resenting your older for waking up the baby during naps and so on. Once your younger is to the point where they're really sleeping deep all night and you're ready to move them to a bed (out of the crib) that would be a better time to move them in together.

With regards to the toy sharing mentioned by another mom, I think it is important for older kids to have toys that are big kid toys that are "just theirs" that the baby is not allowed to play with "unless it wasn't put away" when the big kid was done playing with it. Then you can say "Well, that's a baby toy, we bought it for you when you were a baby. We'll share that one with the baby because it is a baby toy, but your big kid toys belong to you." As time goes on, it is important to make it clear which toys are owned by which kid and which toys ar shared. It is so much easier to share when your ownership is respected. I find that kids who know they are allowed to say no are much more likely to say yes (but never let a child bring out a toy and not share it with a guest). Oh I could go on and on and on about the sharing thing.

Ofcourse it's fine. I would talk about safety issues with your two year old. Remember, people have had to have their children in the same room for ages. I would just worry about their sleeping patterns. You wouldn't want them to wake each other up. Practice with them. It will work out.

I think it would be fine...and hopefully by the time the baby is ready to sleep in the room with your daughter she will learn its not ok to climb on things...it might make it harder for your 2 yr old to sleep if the baby keeps crying though....when I was 9 I had to share a room with my 1 yr old sister and she kept my up constantly..which made it harder for me to wake up for school...but when we have another child I wouldn't want them to share a room just for that reason....

I would just wait until the baby arrives and see how your daughter reacts to her new sibling. I see no reason why they couldn't share a room, especially since you're not planning to have them do so until the new baby is sleeping through the night.

I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old. I think it is okay - unfortunately neither of them sleep in their room, they sleep in the bed with me. The problem I am having is, my oldest child does not like to share his toys with his baby sister.

Don't listen to your MIL. Your daughter will MOT hurt the baby. Get your daughter a Baby Alive doll and show her how to feed and diaper a baby. There are two different kinds, one that just takes a bottle and one that eats food. If you get the one that eats food you will have to deal with the "Poopy" diapers, but with the one that only takes a bottle (Just use water) they pee. She will get used to a crying baby and learn how to change a diaper and she can help you with diaper changes so she feels she is involved and won't be as jealous. Using the same room is just fine. I shared a room with my sister until our brother moved out when I was 12 and my sister and I have a very close relationship.
If you catch your daughter doing anything dangerous around the baby you NEED to punish them instead of just removing them from the room. Putting a blanket over the baby's face could KILL them and they need to learn that is NOT proper behavior.

I'd recommend not sharing a room until your oldest is a little bit older. My almost-3-year old cannot be left alone with my newborn. He's also very loving, but he does things like puts a blanket over her (including her face) if he thinks she's cold, and sometimes he'll try to pick her up and move her. My son is also a climber, and there's been a couple of times I've had to grab him up so he didn't land on her. I think when you're new baby is about a year old might be a better time... then you won't have to worry about those things, and your daughter will be used to being careful around her sibling.

as long as the baby doesn't keep the 2 year old awake and the 2 year old isn't harming the baby.

Well i think personally you should try to keep the new baby in your room until it learns to sleep through the night without crying. once that happens i think you can put them together. but if before that, what if ur baby wakes in the middle of the night, starts screaming and causes ur other daughter to scream too? thats the last thing u need. congrats and good luck!!!

I would've thought this would be a problem, but then I started nanny-ing for a family with a 3.5 y.o. girl and a 1.5 y.o. boy who shared a room, since the boy's birth. The parents said it had never been a problem. They said most of the time, the girl slept through the boy's middle of the night crying.

Watch for signs of jealousy from your daughter, or if she tries to hurt the baby at other times, and let that help you with the decision. Almost all kids show some jealousy in the first few months, so wait for that to pass before merging :)

Listen to your Mother in Law .During my lifetime I have personally known two families that lost a baby due to an accident involving the older sibling .
They really shouldn't be left alone together unsupervised until the youngest is old enough to walk .

I'm friends with someone who has her toddler sleeping with her youngest who just turned 1 yr old. It works for her, but I wouldn't do it. better safe than sorry. I would have my toddler sleep with new baby when new baby is at least 1 yr old. Before age 1 seems dangerous. What if the toddler wants to be nice to the newborn and throws a teddy bear in the crib falling on the newborn baby's face suffocating the baby. the toddler would think they're being nice, sharing, etc. also the toddler could share their blanket which will definitely suffocate a newborn. And the toddler might want to play with newborn and climb into their crib accidentally slipping falling on top of the newborn. Then the toddler might want to share their lollipop with the newborn causing the newborn to choke. lots of awful possibilities.

Congrats!on the baby. I think all of the baby's fussing would be too much for her and wake her up at night. What happens when they get older? And they might be different genders. If you have the room, please PLEASE give them seperate bedrooms. And it actually might make your daughter more resentful. The baby will be getting all this attention(children are jealous at this age). Your daughter might feel that not only is the baby taking "her" family, but also the only place that is hers. I understand about those issues, but I think it would be better for everyone to have two bedrooms. And it will be easier too, when they get older. Trust me, some siblings fight more because of being in one bedroom. But I guess it depends on personality. Good Luck!