# Where children sleep after infancy

**Where should our child sleep after the baby years?**

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.

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.

- Area: Sleep
- Evidence: Your call
- Best settled: Toddler
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/sleep--where-children-sleep-after-infancy

## Where children sleep after infancy: what are the options?

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:

- [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-too-old-to-co-sleep-with-your-child-the-research-might-surprise-you-188145)

## 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?

---

General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=sleep&topic=sleep--where-children-sleep-after-infancy