Has anybody moved downstairs to give their dc an extra room and did it work out ok.

[ghostmous3]

I have 4 dc, 3 girls and a boy, the eldest, a boy is in the teeny box room and my 3 girls who are nearly 12, 6 and 3 are sharing another room and I am in another room.

I have a seperate room downstairs that is currently being used as a dining room, well meant to be, its a dumping ground and wasted to be fair. I can turn this into a bedroom for myself and let my youmgest two dds have my room which would mean dd1 has her own space which she needs at the moment. My dp is moving in soon and we will hopefully have his dds for regular contact, they are the same age as my dd1 and i have known them since they were little. All 3 want to share so i will buy them a sofa bed to put in dd1s room. They have had ovrrnight stays here and we had all 5 sharing! Not ideal but they all had a giggle.

I worry about being on a different level to the dc, the house is fairly biggish and the dining room is off the kitchen so i could have dd2 and 3 wandering the house to look for us. there is a stairgate at the top though but i am scared to use this in case of fire. What about a baby monitor? The dining room would be below the youngest girls bedroom so i could hear them get out of bed. Fire is a worry i guess.

Would this work, do you think, me sleeping downstairs.

[ghostmous3]

Anyone..before i start moving beds!

[minniemagoo]

Tbh I'd put the eldest (boy?) downstairs, what ages are the kids?

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

I would do it. Your kids will soon learn where you are and space wise it seems to make sense to me!

[minniemagoo]

Sorry, just read the ages, so the boy must be older than 12, definitely have him downstairs.

[ClubName]

Yes, I'd put one of the older two downstairs

[ghostmous3]

Ds cant go downstairs as he has special needs andhis room is tiny not big enough for a double unfortunately.

[gamerchick]

I would definitely do it. I hate to see a room unused.

Check you don't need an air brick put in though so you don't get mould.

[ghostmous3]

The house is council so i dont know about that. I do open the eindows a lot though. Ok im going to do it, fingers crossed its ok

[SomeLikeItChilliHot]

DH and I currently sleep downstairs and our 3 DC are upstairs. Never been a problem, except when as babies they cried in the night and you'd have to haul yourself up and down the stairs several times in the night! We had the fire brigade come and do a fire escape route plan for us. They said to keep a mobile phone in our room overnight in case of emergencies, to grab the phone and come upstairs, to grab the kids in the back room and to all go to the front upstairs room and phone the fire brigade. The fire brigade would then be able to easily access the room from outside with a ladder and rescue us before the fire gets too bad!

[Artandco]

I would put 12 year old dd downstairs.

Then you are on same floor as 3 and 6 year old. At 3 and 6 they are bound to walk more for toilet in night/ nightmares etc and want help

Also if you add single bed and sofa bed downstairs then you could always set single bed up as a day bed / sofa with cushions along back etc so it can be used in the day as a ' den' more for the older children when friends are over ( and you can keep and eye if mixed sex groups start appearing..)

[minniemagoo]

12year old Dd downstairs with the extra 2 DDs when they come, as Artandco said.
I would be very reluctant to be on a different floor to a 3 year old tbh.

[Frontdoorstep]

We do this but my children are 12 and 8. They manage fine, in fact they like it because they both have a big room each, a small spare room to play in and their own bathroom upstairs, and they don't get disturbed.

[Onmyown1]

My dd 16 is downstairs, has been since she was 12. She wanted to move downstairs when we needed an extra bedroom. Has worked out well, ds 4 & 3 are in the room next to me and ds 19 in his own room upstairs also.

[Shetlandstock]

We live in a converted chalet bungalow so have 2 beds upstairs and 2 downstairs - it's not what I'd choose if we were looking for a house now (bought this one pre-children) but it's fine. We have a stairgate as they are still little and I can see it staying longer than average tbh as our stairs come down into the kitchen.
It works ok - give it a try, you can always change it back pain in the ass I know

[mygrandchildrenrock]

Not sure why your son can't go downstairs, you wouldn't need to put a double bed in his old room, your oldest dd could move into it, you get to keep your bedroom.
We have a stair gate permanently up because of our puppy, it's not a problem.
Brilliant idea to get the fire brigade round to do an escape plan.

[ghostmous3]

He has special needs mygrandchildren rock, he has autism and adhd. He can be very restless at night and has nearly burnt the house down by trying to cook in the night, our dining room is off the kitche. Besides too much temptatiom to get out the window and I wouldnt hear him. He is very attached to his room anyway, its very small and he has it exactly how he likes it.

Dd also does not want to go downstairs, i think its because our walls are so thin, its a steel BSIF house, you can google it and get the layout and what the houses are like and also plasterboard. There are 2 thin doors which we have shut off but sound goes right through them. I wouldnt put a childin here to be honest.
I didnt realise how little soundproof it was.

We have rearranged the rooms today and I will see how it goes. The two youngest are directly above my room and i have bought baby monitors today so i can hear them in the night. Great idea about the fire brigade though, I will certainly do that. Thanks for all your input

The stairgate just worries me, I dont know why

[ghostmous3]

Sorry BISF house..they are very strange houses

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Our four children sleep on the middle floor of our house, while we sleep on the top floor. We have had this arrangement since the youngest was 2, (he shared a room with us before that).

We have never had a problem with any of the kids wandering about at night, and I have always heard them if the have been poorly and called out. We have our burglar alarm on on the ground floor so no one could get in without us knowing.

Now they are older, I really like them being on a different floor; it is more private.

[mygrandchildrenrock]

Thanks for explaining ghost. It's nice your son has his bedroom just as he likes it.
Our stairgate is one that you open in the middle, not much different to opening a door, not one you have to step over or unscrew. I suppose only 1 person at a time can get through the gap at a time, but I don't think it's unsafe.
I hope you sleep well and that the normal sleepy noises from above (turning over, beds creaking, heavy breathing etc.) don't keep you awake!