A lot of questions that come up when parents are looking into sleep training have to do with siblings who share or will be sharing a room.
Sleep training and sharing a room IS possible and many families have taken this on whether with multiples or just kids of different ages. I wanted to add a few tips to help make things a little easier on the parents and the children involved.
Train separately, then bring together. While the end result is having them sleep in the same room together, different methods may take longer for your child or children to get used to. Training them separately allows the parent to focus on one child, give them what the sleep training method calls for, and once they are sleep trained, you can bring them back together.
3 sound machines. Consider using one sound machine per child and one to keep by the door. Sound machines will be yours and their best friend! We love that it drowns out noise and if one child has an off night, the sound machine will help to drown out the noise.
Consider sharing your room with your child. If you have a baby and a toddler sleep training at the same time, consider bringing the baby into your room to sleep train. Toddlers take a little longer to sleep train, and we want them to get used to their own space.
Make their room boring & safe. Toddlers have their own opinions and want to do their own thing. Making their room boring by removing all toys, will allow for them to just focus on sleeping since the distraction of toys isn't there. You also want to treat their room as a giant safe space. Keep anything dangerous out of their room, and if things are able to be attached to the wall, do so (especially for when the baby comes back to the room).
Aim for similar bedtimes. Chances are it's usually a baby and toddler who will end up sharing a room, so lining up bedtime allows for them to fall asleep together. If you have an older toddler (3-4 years old), you may want to put them down first since it may take them longer to fall asleep. Consider doing the younger one's bedtime routine in your room so they don't disrupt their sibling.
Adjust & set your expectations. If you're training your baby in your room, know that things will change with what goes on in your room until they are sleep trained and back into their room. This means staying out of sight, not watching tv, showering, etc. Nothing that has extra light or noise. You're in your room to sleep and that's it.
Be consistent!! Things will get easier as the days go by.
These are just the main tips for sleep training siblings who are going to be sharing a room. Every child is different and there are plenty of methods meant to fit their personalities.
Have questions? Don't be afraid to reach out!