Where children sleep after infancy
Where your child sleeps once they are past infancy: their own room, a room shared with a sibling, or your bed, and whether they may come into yours at night.
Where should our child sleep after the baby years?
In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Own room early; Open door, child may come in; Family bed by choice; Siblings share. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: toddler.
Where children sleep after infancy: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.
1. Own room early
Your child sleeps in their own room from a young age.
2. Open door, child may come in
Your child has their own bed and is welcome to come to yours in the night.
3. Family bed by choice
You choose to keep sharing a bed as a family.
4. Siblings share
Your children sleep in the same room.
Where children sleep after infancy: what does the evidence say?
Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide.
Research on co-sleeping with older children is mixed
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
As babies become toddlers, families settle into different arrangements: separate rooms, a shared room, or a family bed. Night-time visits to the parents' bed are common. Agreeing what you are both comfortable with avoids arguments at 2 a.m.
Questions to ask each other
- Where would we like a toddler to sleep, and where do we think we will end up?
- How do we feel about a child coming into our bed?
- What would we do if a sibling arrives?
More in Sleep
First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.