How to Put Multiple Children to Sleep

With the arrival of another sibling in the family, many mothers wonder how to manage putting several children to sleep so that it goes smoothly without major complications and everyone is happy. It will certainly depend on the age difference between the children, on how the older child is used to falling asleep, and whether more than one adult can do the settling or whether the parent is alone. We’ll give you a few tips on how to put two children to sleep.

Putting children to sleep during the day

For daytime sleep there are more options, so settling can seem easier. If the children are 2-3 years apart, then usually the older one waits until the younger one falls asleep and for that one daytime nap you settle them at home.

If the age gap is smaller, you can take a wrap or a baby carrier to help and put one of the children to sleep in it. You can also settle the younger child in a hammock or by breastfeeding while you have the older one, for example, in a carrier on your back or are telling them a bedtime story in bed.

More experienced babywearers can manage to put both children to sleep in a wrap or carrier at the same time.

Outdoors, you can put one child to sleep in a stroller and the other in a wrap/carrier, or you can get a double stroller and settle both children in it at the same time.

Children who are on formula will most likely be put to sleep together with a bottle in bed.

Putting children to sleep in the evening

Evening settling can be more complicated, because you don’t have a stroller available and you need the children to sleep in beds/cots. It also depends on whether one or both children sleep in a room, whether any of them can fall asleep on their own without a parent’s help, and whether each child can be put to sleep by one of the parents.

With the birth of another sibling, the older child may start waking more often at night, not want to fall asleep in their room in the evening, and generally become unsettled when it comes to sleep. For a child, this is a big change, and if you help them, for example by letting them sleep with you for a few days in the big bed, you’ll see that they calm down and then happily sleep in their own bed again. Give them time to process everything and offer your arms whenever they ask.

Putting all the children to sleep at once

You can put the children to sleep at the same time, for example in the big bed (if you all sleep together), where you talk about the day’s experiences, cuddle, or read a bedtime story.

If the children have their own cots (whether in the bedroom or in the children’s room), you can read them a bedtime story or play an audiobook, or give them milk for the night.

If the younger sibling is still breastfed, you can breastfeed them while putting the older child to sleep, or you can wrap them in a wrap (it’s more comfortable because your hands are free and you don’t have to keep checking that the child doesn’t turn or crawl away), while you talk to the older one or read them a book, and after they fall asleep you can put them down into the bed or cot. Some people find it helps to rock the baby on a large exercise ball or soothe them to sleep by rocking in a hammock/Hacca and then put them down.

Putting each child to sleep separately

This happens with a bigger age gap or when the younger sibling is still a small baby with a completely different sleep routine. One child can be put to sleep by dad, the other by mom. Alternatively, dad can play with the older child while mom settles the younger one, and only then goes to put the older one to sleep.

In mom forums, a common scenario is for the mother to put the younger child in the cot, where they fall asleep on their own to the melody from the mobile, and then go to the older child in another room and maybe read them a bedtime story or talk together about what they experienced that day—in short, give them more time. Every child is different, and something different suits each one; this may be your case too.

If you are afraid to put the children in one room because the younger one will wake the older one by crying, for example when waking for milk or for any other reason (stomach ache, teething, etc.), then you don’t need to worry, because after a few days the older child will get used to that sound and it won’t wake them at all.

There are many ways to put more children to sleep. Every family will find what works for them best. It may happen that for several days or weeks you won’t be able to settle them easily, everything will take too long, or people around you will tell you to do it this way or that. Trust your intuition and know that you are not a slave to your children. Although this may now seem very demanding both mentally and physically, this period will pass too, and you will only look back on these bedtime moments with a smile.