Aibu to put 4 children in one bedroom to make way for a playroom?

[wtfjusthappenedhere]

Currently our house is set up like this.
We have 6 children, ages 12,10,8,6,5 and 1.

Downstairs - living room, kitchen , dining room, school room (we home ed and we need this room)

Upstairs - main bedroom , bedroom for 12 year old on her own, bedroom which the 10 and 6 year old share, bedroom which 5 and 8 year olds share and the 1 year old has the box room on her own.

It doesn't work. The 12 year old and the 1 year old are fine. The 12 year old just keeps to herself and he one year old has no choice.

The middle children are constantly ending up in one bedroom or another so they all end up sleeping In one or two beds piled up
Like puppies .

The clothes are really disorganised and we end up with toys all over the schoolroom which is distracting.

So my idea and I can't decide if I'm crazy - is to put two sets of bunk beds in one of the bedrooms (they are well big enough for this) plus clothes storage.

The other bedroom becomes a playroom.

We have 5 girls one boy. The ten year old is the boy, I realise that in a year or two he won't want to share with his sisters but by the the one year old would be old enough to switch and so he would get the box room and the baby would love in with the girls.


Obviously I'm not saying it ha to stay like this forever, when they are too old for all the toys we could easily move it back but am I insane in thinking a "bunk room" and playroom might work?

[7Days]

I think it might. I had 3 in a room when they were about those ages. As long as they all have similar bedtimes

[wtfjusthappenedhere]

7 days they do apart form the 1 year old. We are pretty relaxed about bedtime because we rarely have to get them up to any particular time. They all seem to naturally fall asleep when it goes dark so summer at around 9:39-10pm but in winter they have been known to all be asleep at 7. Then they just get up when they wake.

[DancingLedge]

If they like sleeping together, that sound like an excellent idea.

[TuddlesAndSisses]

Sounds like a good idea to me. It's not like it's an irreversible change if it doesn't work, so worth a try, surely?

[LeftoverCrabsticks]

Not unreasonable! I have four from 3-10 in age, and the younger three are more often than not piled in together like you describe anyway. My oldest has always been a bit more aloof so it wouldn't suit her, but the younger three only use their bedrooms for sleeping anyway. Often together!

[sticklebrix]

I know someone who did this. They put two sets of bunk beds in a tiny room and had an enormous playroom. It think that they hung blackout curtains along each bed so that the kids could sleep for as long as they wanted. It worked really well and was much easier to keep organised.

It sounds like your kids are basically sharing a room anyway, so probably worth a try.

[wtfjusthappenedhere]

Now to inform dh I am buying bunk beds and playroom furniture .

[wtfjusthappenedhere]

Ooo curtains on the beds are a really good idea!

[witsender]

We are looking at doing similar on a smaller scale...our big room as the bedroom (us and 3 kids, the 2 that are here already are always in with us anyway! 😂), one room as a 'wardrobe' and one as a playroom.

[GreenHillsOfHome]

This is what we plan to do when we move.

We have 3 ds's, 9,7 and 3 weeks and are looking at 4 beds...but everything in our price range has the 4th bedroom as a tiny box room.

Ds's1 and 2 want to keep sharing so we're going to give them the box room and the larger of the other 2 (not including the master which is ours). They'll have their bunk beds and wardrobe/drawers in the box room so purely for sleeping and clothes...then they have the other large room as a play/games room. Ds3 gets the other, slightly smaller double room, to himself.

[WhispersOfWickedness]

I would put the 10yo in the box room, 3 in one room with two sets of bunk beds and 1yo in a corner of the playroom with plans to move her in with her sisters when she's old enough for a bed. I just think a 10yo boy is not going to be wanting to share a room with younger sisters for much longer, so you might as start as you mean to go on with the big move anyway

[ArseyTussle]

There are brilliant ideas on pinterest for multiple beds in one room whilst still giving a bit of privacy and den-ness. I only have one DC but have lost hours of my life looking at how to provide beautiful quirky sleeping space for 4 children in a box room.

[WhispersOfWickedness]

Haha, me too Arsey As it is, we have 2 DC and 2 sets of bunk beds... DH has had a vasectomy, so I guess we are anticipating a lot of guests

[sparepantsandtoothbrush]

I think it'll work based on the fact the boy can have the box room in a year or 2 when the 'baby' is ready to swap.

[bigmac4me]

I think it's a brilliant idea.

I have 4 children and during the primary school years it was much more important/useful to have a playroom than seperate bedrooms. Before and after those ages seperate bedrooms (when possible) were needed.

[imip]

Sadly, I've also lost a lot of my life on Pinterest looking at big family bedrooms! I do have 4 dds 10, almost 9, 7 and 5, but dd2 has ASD and needs her own room. 10yo has her own room and ypunger two share. I'm off the mind that I'd like to give them a room of their own be secondary school (ASD dd can be very disruptive) do they can have their own space. We plan to reconfigure the layout for this....

Anyway, back to Pinterest fantasies, there are some fantastic Ikea hacks for double beds that are cheap and amazing. I second a pp at having a spare bed for the youngest to move into, flexibility for sleepovers etc...

I'm impressed at your ability to homeschool! I'm run ragged by 4 dc and feel like collapsing at 9:01am

[Ecureuil]

My best friend has her 4 DC in one room, so that they can have a guest room.
They're all very happy! Friend has asked if they want to split into 2 rooms but they say they're happy as they are.

[Joinourclub]

My old neighbour had three kids in the box room with the second bedroom used as a playroom! Think your idea is a good one.

[isittheholidaysyet]

Sounds great. I have often thought a 'dormitory' with separate play space is a great idea.

[SaucyJack]

I don't think it's a wonderful to put 4 kids in 1 room when you have better options TBH.

Bedtimes in your house sound lax and stressful enough as it is. Putting them all in one room will make it worse, not better.

You need better bedtimes routines IMO.

[BeyondThePage]

I had 2 brothers and a sister - we were all quite close in age and shared a room with 2 sets of bunks. More through necessity - family of 6 in a 2 bed house...

Was fine, but a note of caution - I never see any of them now, we had enough "closeness" as kids - also now own big detached house and feel a need for "my own space".

[AlpacaPicnic]

I say, why the heck not... unless you are setting the beds into concrete, they can always be moved if it doesn't work.

[terrylene]

I knew someone with 2 small bedrooms, wardrobes down one side, triple bunks down the other. bunks height in order of birth. 3 girls and 3 boys.

Curtains sound a good idea, and maybe a shelf and light each too.

[BandeauSally]

You know I have always thought having a large family would be chaos and stressful but for some reason OP your family sounds like a lot of fun! The idea of all your DCs snuggled up like puppies is a beautiful image!

I would say do it as long as they get on well and settle down easily enough. When my two DC shared a room they kept each other up all night carrying on.

[steppedonlego]

I think it will work, but mainly to say the thought of kids all snuggled up like puppies is adorable! Lovely that they're so close.