Sharing a bedroom

ta78 · May 2012

A little early, but I am trying to figure out what we should do when #2 comes. We have 3 bedrooms. Master, DS's room and a guest room.

In your opinion. Do you think it would be better for the kids to share a room and keep a guest room, or give them their own rooms and have no guest room?

DS will be 2.5 then and in a toddler bed. His room is a little small, but has enough room for a twin size bed/crib/dresser and bookshelves.

ktsnshn · May 2012

We have a three bedroom house. Our children will not share a room because I think a baby would disrupt my toddler's good sleeping habits. I also like the idea of everyone having their own space as they grow up.

littlemermaid · May 2012

Until the baby sleeps through the night I think the baby should have it's own room.

Aurora_Borealis · May 2012

How often do you have guests?

If it's infrequent (like less than 20 nights per year) I'd do own rooms and get your son a double bed instead of a twin when the time comes. That way you have the flexibility of the double bed if guests really need it, but don't have a room essentially sitting idle unless you are hosting people.

We dispensed with our guest room even before DD arrived since we realized it was a waste of precious square footage to dedicate a room to people who didn't live with us (or pay our mortgage!). So we had a den, office and MBR. We now have DD's room, office and MBR.

kacelle · May 2012

I'd put the baby in your room or in the guest room until they STTN (or at least close to it). I'd hate for the baby and the toddler to wake each other constantly. I've heard some moms say that they learn to sleep through each other's noises, but I couldn't sleep through DD's grunting in her sleep as a newborn and crying when she woke for months after that.

ariel06 · May 2012

My boys have shared since DS2 was 4 months old. He was waking up 1-2 times a night at that point. He rarely woke DS1.

ModernJune · May 2012

My boys share and have since my youngest was about 6months old. He rarely woke my older son up at night. I think if you have the space go for it but I dont think its a huge deal for them to share. When we moved we gained a room and asked the boys if they wanted their own rooms and they both said no. This next baby will be with us for at least 6 months and then move into either our daughters room or in with the boys.

babypuplove · May 2012

It totally depends on the children. Our previous house had three bedrooms, and we thought it would be great to keep a guest room, and have the girls share. Well, DD1 was really rough with her new baby sister, and the baby still doesn't STTN regularly (at 21 months old). So, we gave up the idea of a guest room, and when I found out I was pregnant with our third, we put our house on the market. I have nothing at all against kids sharing a room; in fact, I think it can be a fun bonding experience for them. But for my girls, it just wouldn't work.

kcisthebombdotcom · May 2012

We had the kids share. To separate them means to move them to a different floor than the master BR. Plus, having a guest room on a separate floor is convenient for guests or if DH or I need a night of uninterrupted sleep for whatever reason. We also use the guest room for extra storage space as well.

I have not had a problem yet with them sharing. They sleep through each other's cries. I was never a mother who made the house perfectly quiet with a sleeping baby so they are well adapted to backround noise from birth. If you have a child that wakes up to the sound of a pindrop, I would do separate rooms.

ta78 · May 2012

Thank you to everyone.. DS sleeps pretty soundly, but we also don't have guests very often. I guess we will need to think about it some more.

Would it make a difference to you if you were to have 2 boys/girls or one of each?

lisamoe · May 2012

I would have them have their own rooms. Unless, you always have a crazy amount of visitors, that you would absolutely need a guest room.

EnglishMajor03 · May 2012

My girls share. Rowan slept with us for 2 months and then transitioned to Parker's room. Parker has rarely woken up because of Rowan. I love that they share. It's really great to put them to bed and eavesdrop on their conversations before bed. It's so precious.

Arnegard · May 2012

My older girls share. In June we will move Alex to her own room and Taylor & Dylan will share.

We have the option of a spare room downstairs and 3 bedrooms up, so we never had the girls share as babies.

kacelle · May 2012

ta78:
Thank you to everyone.. DS sleeps pretty soundly, but we also don't have guests very often. I guess we will need to think about it some more.
Would it make a difference to you if you were to have 2 boys/girls or one of each?

No, it wouldn't.

CalBears · May 2012

My girls share a room. They are about 2.5 years apart. They started sharing a room when the younger one was about 17 months old. My older one loves having a "roommate." I like hearing them giggle and talk to each other in the morning. They rarely wake each other up. When the girls are older, they will probably need more privacy and space. For now, I think it is a great experience for them to share a room.

celiabwatson · May 2012

Ours have been pseudo-sharing since the baby was 2 months or so. We wanted to keep our guest room because all of our family lives far away. While they don't visit often we'd like them to visit more and we hope that continuing to have a guest room will encourage that. We also intend to have more kids down the road and therefore our children will be sharing at least for part of their lives and we'd like them to be used to it.

My toddler is a terrible sleeper and still wakes at least once/night, and even on the rare night that he doesn't wake in the middle of the night he wakes for the day super early. My baby sleeps through the night most nights but also wakes earlier than my toddler sometimes. Neither has ever woken the other.

We do keep a bassinet in the guest room for now. We use it for naps because their nap schedule is not aligned right now. Also, we have our changing table in the bedroom so while the baby is sleeping so much we don't want to not have access to the changing table. Finally, my son would totally burst in on her (while going to get toys or something) while she was sleeping if she slept in the bedroom. Anyway, if you decide to have them share you can always have a bed of some sort for the baby in the guest room just in case.

Finally, it doesn't matter to us that they're boy/girl. In the long run we'll probably have our kids share by gender when they're in elementary school etc but as babies it doesn't matter. My rule is that as long as they're bathing together they can share a room.

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