Kids sharing rooms

AmberLiz99 · November 2015

We have a 3 bedroom house and are expecting our 3rd kid. I'm curiouse how other families handle room sharing.

For moms who's kids already share, what ages did they start sharing at? Any words of wisdom?

Dd will be 2 and 2 months in June, ds will be almost 5. They have separate rooms now. Should I put ten in together and give the baby the old nersury? Or do we keep baby in our room at first and rearrange once baby sleeps through the night? I've never had a baby sleep in the same room as dh and I, so that would be a new experience.

Any experiences or opinions are appreciated!

mrsb8244 · November 2015

I'm a FTM but my parents had 3 kids and I was the oldest. We had a 3 bedroom house so when it was just my brother and I we had our own rooms. When my sister was born her and I shared a room and my brother had his own room. Our situation was a little different because I was 9 when my sister was born and brother was 22 months aka a crying baby waking me up was better than a cranky toddler lol. My dad worked nights so we all frequently slept in my parents room with my mom anyways. I think whatever works best for your family will be good and it might take some trial and error before you figure it out. Good luck and congrats on baby #3!!

NicknShan · November 2015

I would probably keep LO in my room until they sleep through the night. Then pair up either the ones of the same sex, or probably the two younger ones.

Atlast111 · November 2015

NicknShan said:
I would probably keep LO in my room until they sleep through the night. Then pair up either the ones of the same sex, or probably the two younger ones.

Agree with this. Baby in your room to start and then later pair by sex.

hellomommas · November 2015

I have a 3 yr old and 18 month old. They are 22 months apart. I had them in separate rooms for the first year because I was worried my older one would throw blankets and stuffed animals into the little ones crib. When my younger was old enough that SIDS was no longer a concern and he could use his own arms/legs to move blankets/animals, I put them in the same room. They love it. And I love having the extra "spare" room--- which will now be baby's room. I still plan on keeping baby in our room for the first 4 weeks probably to make the middle of the night wake-ups easier/more convenient. But after 4 ish weeks, baby will go in his/her own room (which is literally less than a foot from our door to his/her door). Mine are both boys though so- it was an easy no-brainer to put them together. While they are still young, it prob wouldn't hurt to have them share and then reevaluate in a couple years where everyone should go when they are a little bit older.

aessary03 · November 2015

My husband and I have been brain storming this. We technically have a 4 bedroom, but the 4th bedroom is downstairs, smallish, and has glass French doors. We use it currently as a play room.

My 12 yo and our 2 yo each have their own room. Obviously 12 yo spends an incredibly large amount of time in her room and wouldn't be sharing. Our 2 yo still sleeps with us so his room is more like a second playroom at this point. We're thinking regardless of the sex of this baby, the 2 younger well share a room for a couple years.

We figure about the time our 12 yo is ready to be heinous teenager the downstairs bedroom will be awesome for her to sneak out the window of or have her little boyfriends sneak in (obviously being sarcastic). I'm hoping for another boy so the baby and the 2 yo ' just share a room until our oldest goes off to college. That'd be ideal! Otherwise, my husband and I will have to develop bat hearing for our daughter's teenage years lol.

Gah, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.

fishwife799 · November 2015

This is us too Baby number 3 in a 3 bedroom house. Both DD and DS slept in our room until they were around 6 months then we transitioned them to the crib. I plan to do the same with this time and then baby will share with DS. DD has a twin bed and two dressers in her room so there isn't a ton of space. Pus DS seems to be a heavier sleeper than her. Depending on the sex of the baby as they grow we will change as necessary.

MynaBird · November 2015

We have four bedrooms but one is my husband's office, and I'm not willing to give up the guest room, so we will just have one kid bedroom for the time being. New baby will sleep in our room until six months at least. After that, s/he will move in with our daughter. My brother and I shared a room until we were four and six with no problems, so I'm hoping this arrangement works out for us until we move to a larger house.

TunieBee · November 2015

I think it makes sense to pair the two oldest until having different sexes together becomes an issue. The possibility of a crying baby waking an older child just seems like a bad idea. I shared with my older brother until I was 8 and he was 11. It was really fun and didn't seem weird at all. We are having child #2 now but plan on having 3 children with the two eldest sharing a bedroom (will be boy/girl).

xaudreyx2011 · November 2015

We have 4 bedrooms, but the 4th is in our finished basement. I just moved my 2 year old in with my 4 year old. The new baby will get the 2 year old's room. They were so excited to be in the same room. Occasionally they keep eachother awake, but after a warning they go to sleep. Once my oldest is responsible enough to know how to get out of the house in a fire, we'll move her to the basement bedroom. I wanted them to start sharing early because I didn't want the 2 year old to feel like she was being replaced and feel jealous of the baby being in "her room". So far it's going great

Corts · November 2015

I would keep the baby in your room until about a year and then move the 2 of the same sex into the same room. Not a fan of a brother and sister sharing a room, no matter how young.

TunieBee · November 2015

Its not easy having an older baby in your room (unless of course that's your parenting philosophy and then it's a totally different story). Our LO was in a nook of our room until almost a year. The second we moved homes and he got his own room at a 11 months, he started sleeping through the night consistently. Plus it was unpleasant sneaking around my own room at night and in the morning. Without us bumbling around, our LO sleeps 8am-8:30pm!

TunieBee · November 2015

Corts said:
I would keep the baby in your room until about a year and then move the 2 of the same sex into the same room. Not a fan of a brother and sister sharing a room, no matter how young.

Just out of curiosity, why?

huskypuppy14 · November 2015

TunieBee said:

I would keep the baby in your room until about a year and then move the 2 of the same sex into the same room. Not a fan of a brother and sister sharing a room, no matter how young.
Just out of curiosity, why?

I'm curious too. I personally think once kids are preteens, if you can swing it they should have their own room. We only plan on having 2 kids, and we have 3 bedrooms and a bonus room (no closet), so we have plenty of space for our future family. But if you need to put two kids together in one room, you should take their ages and personalities into account, more than their sex. A brother and sister who are 3 and 5, might want to room together, and really what does it matter if they have different parts between their legs.

Whereas if you had an older boy or girl, they might want their own space.

Corts · November 2015

TunieBee said:

Corts said:
I would keep the baby in your room until about a year and then move the 2 of the same sex into the same room. Not a fan of a brother and sister sharing a room, no matter how young.
Just out of curiosity, why?

Privacy issues. Kids need their own space, if they can't get it then they should share a room with the same gender if possible.
This is obviously my opinion. People are entitled to feel differently

Atlast111 · November 2015

Corts said:

TunieBee said:

Corts said:
I would keep the baby in your room until about a year and then move the 2 of the same sex into the same room. Not a fan of a brother and sister sharing a room, no matter how young.
Just out of curiosity, why?

Privacy issues. Kids need their own space, if they can't get it then they should share a room with the same gender if possible.
This is obviously my opinion. People are entitled to feel differently

I agree with this past the age of around 8. I think when children hit pre puberty they need to have some privacy personally.

likeabel · November 2015

aessary03 said:
My husband and I have been brain storming this. We technically have a 4 bedroom, but the 4th bedroom is downstairs, smallish, and has glass French doors. We use it currently as a play room.

My 12 yo and our 2 yo each have their own room. Obviously 12 yo spends an incredibly large amount of time in her room and wouldn't be sharing. Our 2 yo still sleeps with us so his room is more like a second playroom at this point. We're thinking regardless of the sex of this baby, the 2 younger well share a room for a couple years.

We figure about the time our 12 yo is ready to be heinous teenager the downstairs bedroom will be awesome for her to sneak out the window of or have her little boyfriends sneak in (obviously being sarcastic). I'm hoping for another boy so the baby and the 2 yo ' just share a room until our oldest goes off to college. That'd be ideal! Otherwise, my husband and I will have to develop bat hearing for our daughter's teenage years lol.

Gah, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.

You could put an alarm system on your house so any time a window or door opens a little ding goes off. (Not a full blown alarm).

I was only 2 doors away from my parents and that didn't stop me from occasionally sneaking out

not sure if that makes you feel better or worse...

aessary03 · November 2015

likeabel said:

aessary03 said:
My husband and I have been brain storming this. We technically have a 4 bedroom, but the 4th bedroom is downstairs, smallish, and has glass French doors. We use it currently as a play room.

My 12 yo and our 2 yo each have their own room. Obviously 12 yo spends an incredibly large amount of time in her room and wouldn't be sharing. Our 2 yo still sleeps with us so his room is more like a second playroom at this point. We're thinking regardless of the sex of this baby, the 2 younger well share a room for a couple years.

We figure about the time our 12 yo is ready to be heinous teenager the downstairs bedroom will be awesome for her to sneak out the window of or have her little boyfriends sneak in (obviously being sarcastic). I'm hoping for another boy so the baby and the 2 yo ' just share a room until our oldest goes off to college. That'd be ideal! Otherwise, my husband and I will have to develop bat hearing for our daughter's teenage years lol.

Gah, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.
You could put an alarm system on your house so any time a window or door opens a little ding goes off. (Not a full blown alarm).

I was only 2 doors away from my parents and that didn't stop me from occasionally sneaking out not sure if that makes you feel better or worse...

Ha Ha! We DO have a home alarm with sensors on the windows. Believe me, I have no disillusions on the capabilities of teenagers lol!!! I fully expect her to sneak out at some point. I never did, but my hubs was a regular sneaker outter! Ha!

peps815 · November 2015

My daughter will be 5 and my son will be 3 when baby is born. We are going to have the baby sleep in our room for a few months and then have the two older share a room for s few years. We can rearrange as needed when baby is two. I just want to make sure everyonr sleeps well!

purplefan1 · November 2015

I've worked with DCFS in the state of Illinois in the past and apparently there are "rules" about kids of different genders sharing rooms past a certain age. I never got the full story, I just remember it came up a couple of times with different families I was working with, that part of their plans had to be to find different housing where the kids of different sexes could have separate rooms.

I think when they are little it is fine to share rooms. I was always a little miffed through that I had to share a room with two sisters while my dumb brother got his own room. But he smelled like a boy and wasn't the cleanest kid, so in the end I wasn't too angry none of us had to room with him.

I say go with what works for your family.

Rosehip15 · November 2015

FWIW, my kids - girl, almost 11 and boy almost 9, shared a room until a few months ago. They let you know when they need/want privacy, and become self-conscious. I have a three bedroom, so could have split them up earlier - but they generally liked the company, and of course, it was easier for me. I left them until they needed to separate.

bio-oesch · November 2015

When our 1.5yr old was born dd(4) and ds(3) had their own rooms, but the plan was baby would go with ds (hes also a boy).

I always have baby in my room until 4-6mths, I bf and it's just easier for me to have them close in the early mths.

However I "trusted" dd more (not to throw stuff in the crib or wake baby, etc.) than ds so we originally moved the baby into dd's room at 4mths until about a year. DD asked to have her room back and DS was excited to share with his bro so it worked out.

So now the boys are together, we'll see what the sex of this babe is and decide rooming, but this babe will be with us for at least 4mths anyway. We also plan to move to a bigger home in the future.

I think different sex's sharing a room is totally fine, especially when they're young.

cluelesssm · November 2015

I have a 2 year old DS and a 5 yr old DD. Right now each of them have their own room. Once baby is born it will be in our room for the first few months and then share a room with one of the kids depending on the gender of the baby. We actually have a 4 bedroom home, but my husband works from home so we can't give up the office.

june2016baby · December 2015

NicknShan said:
I would probably keep LO in my room until they sleep through the night. Then pair up either the ones of the same sex, or probably the two younger ones.

That's what I'd do.

I'm debating what to do with the bedrooms also. We have a six bedroom house, but I'm having my fourth kid. Right now the two extra bedrooms are a playroom and a guest bedroom. (Our office is a separate room.) I'm thinking of putting our boys together in a room, and giving the baby his own bedroom. My mom says it's silly to put them together, but I don't want to give up the playroom or guest bedroom.

noslen0519 · December 2015

I plan on keeping the new baby with us until about 8 weeks or so, then he or she will move to the crib. I'm going to put the crib in the spare room until everyone sleeps through the night, then the baby will move in with DD who will hopefully be in a big bed by then. If/when we decide to have a third we will certainly do some shuffling, but I don't want to give up the spare room yet!

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