Tips for moving baby from their parents bedroom to their own bedroom
Are you thinking of moving your little one to their own bedroom soon?
I am sharing my top tips in this blog.
The most common age for parents to move baby to their own bedroom in my experience, is between 5 – 9 months. The good news is that for babies of this age, the transition from room sharing to their own bedroom can be quite seamless with some preparation. However, if your baby is slightly older, don’t worry, a smooth transition can be achieved.
The HSE recommend room sharing (note; room sharing is different to bed sharing) until baby is at least 6 months, however the timing is very much a personal choice for parents.
The best piece of advice I give to families I work with in my capacity as a Certified Child Sleep Consultant, in preparation of moving baby to their own bedroom is for your child to spend time in their new bedroom during the day. So, if for example baby is sleeping in a crib in their parents’ bedroom, and you have a cot set up in baby’s new room, I recommend placing baby in the cot with some toys (supervised) in the days and weeks leading up to the move for short periods of time. Playing with baby in their cot and having lots of positive time in their soon to be new sleep environment will help work towards a smooth transition. An additional way to spend time in their new bedroom is to have your nappy changing station in there, so when you are changing baby in their new bedroom, it affords your little one a further opportunity to get used to the new setting.
Ensure the bedroom as sleep inducing as possible. Keep the sleep environment as dark as possible with black out blinds/curtains. Ensure the room is a suitable temperature and your child is appropriately dressed for the temperature. I recommend a quiet sleep environment except for white noise, which is ideal for soothing baby and also to drown out environmental noises inside or outside of the house.
You may be concerned that you are moving baby from a crib to a cot, however this is generally quite a smooth transition and babies tend to enjoy the extra space. The cot should be completely empty apart from a mattress with a fitted sheet. A suitably sized sleep sack/grow bag is safest for baby to sleep in rather than loose bedding.
The nap and bedtime routine becomes even more important as it can really help baby start their nap/bedtime on a positive note, further reinforcing the positive association with their new sleep space. I recommend starting the nap and bedtime routine in their new room and consider adding some lullabies/books into the routine as special bonding time to relax baby.
Some parents wish to room share until baby is much older, and parents need to make the decision that is right for their family. However, if your child’s sleep is unsettled, I do not recommend holding off moving baby to their own room for this reason solely. It is not uncommon for parents to tell me that their child has started to sleep better in their own bedroom, as often we as parents can disturb our child’s sleep despite our best efforts not to when going to bed at night in particular.
When you are considering the timing of moving baby to their own room, something to be mindful of is by 9 months, children have object permanence and separation anxiety can peak. You can still have a smooth transition at this point, however baby may be more aware of your absence. An option here is to sleep in the room with baby for the first 2 – 3 nights in a separate bed to help them adjust to their sleep environment, however I recommend trying night 1 without this additional support and seeing how baby responds. This can be a contingency measure if required.
This transition tends to the toughest for the parents as it can be emotional, and quite seamless for babies once you prepare in advance. I recommend not allowing new sleep associations creep in during this transition that you do not want to sustain.
Best of luck,
Colette McCann
Child Sleep Consultant