Thoughts on sharing a room with a sibling

Re: Thoughts on sharing a room with a sibling

• TinyPinkBug member

  January 2012

  I think it depends on the kids.  My parent's house is very old and my father was always remodeling one part or antoher, so we moved around rooms a lot (there were 5 bedrooms).  Several different times, my parents tried to put me in a room with my sisters, it never worked out.  I ended up sleeping in the corner of our living room for a yr or 2 when I was about 6.  They tried again when I was older, in a much larger room with a divider and it still didn't work out.  Finally around age 11 they put me in my own room and left me.  I am just a terrible sleeper and couldn't sleep with ppl around me.  I also really liked having my own space and privacy no matter how small it was.

  Unfortunately, my kids have inherited my poor sleeping.  They wake in the middle of the night and scream waking the other.  It is a vicious cycle.  We actually don't travel nearly as much as we would otherwise because they cannot sleep in the same room.:-(  So I think you will just need to go with your gut on this one.  Otherwise, I would probably add a 300 sq ft addition to your house.  Probably cut right through your current bathroom leaving the 2 bedrooms and make a master suite with a new bathroom, and laundry area.  I don't think your house is so large that you would regret a master suite addition.  When the boys move out, one room would be great for storage and the other for a guest room.

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• goosh24

  January 2012

  How big is the 2nd bedroom?  I never shared a room so I'm no help otherwise but it would be super tight to put both kids in any of our other bedrooms, but our house is old.  The only thing about having them share a space and having the family room as secondary space is that it will probably look like a toy space for a long time, since you probably lose toys going into the bedroom (but our kids will have their own rooms and the toys will still be in our living room so IDK if this really matters). 
  

  

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• Telyco

  January 2012

  Do you have a first floor bedroom now?

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• BethPSU member

  January 2012

  I shared a room growing up and never thought twice about it.  I didn't get my own room until my brother went to college and then still shared with my sister when he was home visiting or during the summers at our cottage.  We fought a bit, but honestly I liked it and adjusting to college with a dorm rooom and roommate was not big deal.  We are considering moving Pierce into Reed's room in a few months.  We feel like they are so close in age and Reed's room is really spacious that it could be a good thing and it might give Reed the comfort he needs to actually turn off the light at night which would ultimately help him sleep.

   

  We have 4 bedrooms and an office on our 2nd floor so sometimes I feel like it would be a selfish move for us.  We love having a guestroom for my parents to stay when they visit.  The nursery is pretty small so I don't think it would make a great room for a child growing up, but I love it as a nursery.  Ideally, we will move Pierce in with Reed for a few years while #3 lives in the nursery.  Then #3 will move into the guest room or make the nursery into a bedroom and let them each have their own room.  Overall though, I think sharing a room can be a really good thing.  It is sort of a foreign concept to DH since he never shared and only had 1 sister.  He always says "but don't they  need privacy"?  My answer, "why"?   

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• prncsstp

  January 2012

  We lived in a 2 BR ranch growing up...

  I dont know what its like for boys... but I know I HATED sharing a room with my sister and brother - I desperately wanted my own space. When my parents got divorced and I lived with my dad and my sis and bro went with my mom, I loved having my own room.

  For little kids - sharing a room is NBD - but its more about the privacy they want when they get older... it also depends on how well the siblings get along. My sis and I fought CONSTANTLY, and so having a shared room led to a lot of fights, although we did have fun times too

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• mrsoc

  January 2012

  Goosh:  It is fairly big, and there are two full baths.  

  Telyco:  We live in a 2 bedroom ranch.  All of the rooms are decent size.  

  Thank you all for your input/experience!  Definitely a lot to think about, and lots of time to think about it, thankfully! 

  PHOTO Credit: Meryl

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• preggersin2011 member

  January 2012

  My sister and I shared a small two bedroom for over 10 yrs. We had bunk beds because there wasn't enough floor space for to beds. she's 6 yrs younger than me too & i would always get in trouble if i woke her up when i went to bed or when i was getting ready for school.... honestly some people can't afford to have a room for every kid. I think it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. you really just use the bedroom for sleeping & storing clothes. I have a friend who's kids are two years apart and they decided to move in together even though they have separate rooms. at some point they'll have to share anyways maybe at camp or in college.
  

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