Need advice: moms of 2 sons/2 daughters!

emmasue18 · August 2011

I am not 2U2 but I thought you'd know best!! My son will be barely two when our second son arrives in February. We have three bedrooms and are trying to determine what to do about room arrangements. We put so much work into DS's room and a lot is personalized--I love it. Since finding out the sex of the baby, DH and I have been thinking about whether or not to have the boys share or decorate the third bedroom to be another boy's room. The problem is we only have three bedrooms and if we get pregnant with #3, then what? I always shared a room with my sister, I'd love to give the boys the same experience but I think having a newborn and a toddler would be hard for sleep schedules.

WWYD? What did you do when having two children of the same sex. I am worried about making another room as cute as DS's, especially since we spent a fortune! Ha ha. Any advice you have or personal experiences--please share! TIA!!

Daisy22 · August 2011

We have a 3 bedroom house and for right now each boy has their own room. We actually put DS2 into the nursery then put DS1 into a new room before DS2 was born. We moved DS1 into the new room with a twin bed and new furniture then DS2 got all the old nursery stuff. We are going back and forth on having a third. If we do it'll be next year and we'll move DS2 into the room with DS1. We'll do it once DS2 is ready for a twin bed.

emmasue18 · August 2011

Daisy22:
We have a 3 bedroom house and for right now each boy has their own room. We actually put DS2 into the nursery then put DS1 into a new room before DS2 was born. We moved DS1 into the new room with a twin bed and new furniture then DS2 got all the old nursery stuff. We are going back and forth on having a third. If we do it'll be next year and we'll move DS2 into the room with DS1. We'll do it once DS2 is ready for a twin bed.

Is your nursery gender-neutral? We have DS's room all personalized, so DS#2 can't really use it and of course NOW I am thinking that was so dumb because now DS#1 and DS#2 can't use the baby bedding! ha ha.

Nanna · August 2011

We have a 4BR house and we gave each boy their own room. We actually moved #1 into a new "big boy" room and kept the nursery set up as is for the new baby. We did the same thing when baby #3 arrived, again keeping the nursery for her (it was pretty gender neutral so we just switched out accessories to girl it up a bit).

meredith anastasia · August 2011

emmasue18:

Daisy22:
We have a 3 bedroom house and for right now each boy has their own room. We actually put DS2 into the nursery then put DS1 into a new room before DS2 was born. We moved DS1 into the new room with a twin bed and new furniture then DS2 got all the old nursery stuff. We are going back and forth on having a third. If we do it'll be next year and we'll move DS2 into the room with DS1. We'll do it once DS2 is ready for a twin bed.

Is your nursery gender-neutral? We have DS's room all personalized, so DS#2 can't really use it and of course NOW I am thinking that was so dumb because now DS#1 and DS#2 can't use the baby bedding! ha ha.

We're doing things similarly - DS was moved from the gender-neutral nursery to his new bedroom this past weekend. The new baby will sleep in the nursery until about 6 months or STTN, then both kids will be in the same bedroom. We're undecided on a 3rd but want to convert the nursery to either an office or if we decide on a 3rd then we'll leave it set up as a gender neutral nursery.

hellopoppyseed · August 2011

We have a 3 bedroom and two boys. They are in different rooms. I'm keeping it this way as long as possible or until they want to share. Ds2 bedroom was a guest room until he was born. It is a nice room but not babylike except for the crib. I hung some pictures of racecars but it's not all decked out as a nursery. Ds1s room is a retro airplane theme. The toys are in there and the boys play in there. We may TTC in the spring or summer and after we are ready to move #3 into a room, we will put the boys together. I was really against moving ds1 or changing his environment at all due to DS2.

howleyshell · August 2011

We did a new nursery.

Some reasons I'm glad we did:

1. Mine are so close in age that now that they're older their infant years kind run together in my mind. I'm glad that I had a whole new room for the 2nd baby so all of those nursing and middle of the night snuggle memories are VERY separate in my mind from #1.

2. There's no way in hell I'd put an infant and a toddler in the same room if I could avoid it. As it is we had white noise machines in each room, a bathroom fan and a box fan in the hall trying to help with things like sleep training and protecting the toddler's sleep from the baby's crying.

3. When we ended up pregnant with #3 it didn't seem like that big a deal to re-do one of the rooms for the third child and combine the 2 boys into the same room.

And FWIW all my kids rooms were very labor intensive and specifically decorated so I understand that you're not just talking a coat of paint here. My 5 yr old's room is fish themed with 7 layered stencils and realistic looking ocean creatures all over his room. It easily took me over 50 hours of painting. My 3.5 yr old's room has a floor to ceiling giraffe mural, elephants, zebras and a 3-D tree that's literally a real tree branch mounted to the wall/celiing with plastic leaves and fabric, etc. I traded a king sized bed we needed to get rid of for the muralists' time to paint the room.

I really do think that prepping the room for #2 helped give me some time to focus on him and get excited for him. The second pregnancy goes by in a whir and there were times I'd forget I was even pregnant. The room was a good nesting opportunity for me.

As for sharing rooms? My kids do "sleep overs" with each other when we have out of town guests and while they love it they get less sleep because they're up giggling, talking and playing. It's fine from time to time but I prefer they get as much sleep as possible on a regular basis.

We will consider them sharing a room later if they ask to do it but for now we're grateful for separate rooms.

kcisthebombdotcom · August 2011

My 2u2 are boy/girl, but I have them share a room. I also have a 3BR house.

Honestly, I think it's silly to decorate a 2nd nursery, then have to redecorate it again if you have a 3rd child that happens to be a girl. My kids have shared a room from day 1, and my oldest never woke up to the baby's cries. Some kids only wake up in the first week, but quickly adjust to the noise and are able to share a room even with a baby that doesnt STTN. If your oldest can't deal with the crying and it messes with his sleep, you can always have the baby stay in your room until he's STTN, then move them in together.

If you're really adament about keeping the kids in separate rooms, I would make a gender neutral nursery so if your 3rd is a girl, she can use it and you don't have to redecorate.

Bride2b2004 · August 2011

howleyshell:
There's no way in hell I'd put an infant and a toddler in the same room if I could avoid it. As it is we had white noise machines in each room, a bathroom fan and a box fan in the hall trying to help with things like sleep training and protecting the toddler's sleep from the baby's crying.

This... absolutely.

I would do a gender neutral nursery and, if you become pg with #3, you can combine the older two at that time or decide if you want one to share with the infant (which, personally, I would never do unless I had to). Right now you have the luxury of each having their own room and I would take advantage of that.

MammaBear81 · August 2011

When we had our first two they both had their own rooms. When DD1 came along we redecorated DS2's room and DS2 moved to DS1's room. They get along so well that they didn't mind sharing a room at all, and now that they are older (and have bunk beds) they love it.

I would put them in their own rooms and if you decide to TTC again you can change the arrangement. If you don't, then they each have their own room. GL!

SouthFloridaMommy · August 2011

We had a similar situation. I put a ton of time and money into DD1's room. It is personalized and perfect for her. We also have lots of guests come and visit us during the year so we didn't want to give up our guest room. DD1 is a noisy sleeper so while I eventually want to have the girls share a room, we just aren't there yet. We ended up putting DD2's crib in the guest room and moving around the furniture to accommodate it. We also changed the top of the dresser into a changing table. All in all, it has worked pretty well. Not ideal, but better than expected.

We will definitely be moving in the next year and are looking for a house with 4 bedrooms, but until then I think we are managing okay. Once we are in our new house they will each have their own room decorated and personalized just for them.

mjcleve · August 2011

We moved DS1 and gave DS2 the nursery. Eventually I hope they want to share a room but that just doesn't work out with a baby!

anukindaluv · August 2011

Our DSs are 15mos apart and they each have their own room. We have a 3bd/2bth apartment.

memali26 · August 2011

We have 3bd, and our girls will be about 19 months apart. We JUST moved in, so we thought through our options before painting any rooms. Our 3rd bedroom is temporarily an office, but we painted it the colors we would like for DD1's "big girl room." Right now she's in the nursery (which is gender neutral) and will stay there until January, when we plan to move her to the new room and a toddler bed (she'll be almost 2 then). DD2 will be in a PNP in our room until we move DD1, then she'll go in the nursery.

Once DD2 is out of the crib we'll probably move her in with DD1 regardless of whether we have a third child. I shared a room with all 3 of my sisters for years, and I think it's a good experience for a child to have.

holly321 · August 2011

We just started ttc lo#2, but if the next is a girl too, they will be sharing a room. DH uses the 3rd bedroom as an office, and it is significantly smaller.

BrittKav · August 2011

We have 3 rooms upstairs- ours, DD1's, and DD2's. If #3 comes along, we'll put the girls in a room together. Until then, they can enjoy their own space.

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