To think that DD(8) and DD(1) will always have to share a room when older?

Me and my sister shared a room, she is 8 years younger than me. I complained at the time and i was jealous of my friends who had their own rooms but it was fine. I got married straight after university so apart from when i was at university and for the 8 years before my sister was born i have always shared a bedroom.

Even you must realise your situation was not typical

I agree with the posters saying that if you can’t afford a house with enough bedrooms for all children then they will have to share and will be absolutely fine. Sharing is totally fine and normal for children.

That being said I do think it is better if there is the option for them not to share in the future IF at all possible. My two dc (same sex) have recently got their own bedrooms after 4 years of sharing. It is better for them in lots of ways. So, if there’s any way you think it could be a possibility in the future ie possibly look at houses where you could do loft conversions etc, I’d encourage you to do so. It’s always good to have options.

I also don’t think it’s necessarily realistic to expect that children will move out at 18. I am not saying you do op, but some people on MN do. Not all children will go to uni and those that do may well return after graduating at least for the short term.

Best wishes to you op.

Throughout history people lived very differently to how they live now. Now it is entirely normal for teens to spend much more time in their rooms communicating online to their friends. My dd18 is always laughing and yakking away her friends in her room. Also listening to music and dancing about. Having friends over etc. in my day we spent more time playing outdoors.
this is just how people live now. You can’t compare how people lived in Victorian England or during the reformation to how teens live in the 21st century

DD1 won’t be able to do any of this normal teen activity with a 7 or 8 year old sibling in the room.

Not privileged, no. Just normal.

From a very privileged viewpoint then.

I had my own room but brothers had to share. Friend of mine shared with her sister and 3 brothers shared one room. All teenagers at the time. Another friend of mine slept on a double mattress with her sister. Another family we knew had a girl and 2 boys sharing the main room wch had wardrobes down the middle of the room dividing it, the boys had bunks one side and the girl a single bed.

Strangely enough everyone coped

Wow, I mean good for you and your peers, clearly affluent to afford all these bedrooms and extensions.

Meanwhile most of the country cannot...DH and I both shared bedrooms as children without any huge issues and we both remain close to the siblings we shared with. I have 3 young DC in a 3 bed, the baby is in with us at the moment but eventually two of the kids will share. I don't see it as a particularly big deal or hardship, it wasn't for either me, DH or any of our siblings, or cousins, or friends who shared bedrooms in childhood.

Really? Because I started my period at 11 sharing a room with an 8, 7 and 3 year old. It was grand. I changed my sanitary wear in the bathroom like anyone else and if I bled on my sheets my mum helped me sort it as she did if my wee sister wet herself.

Do the two older children see their Dad? Do they have their own rooms at his house? If yes to this then potentially further down the line they may want to live at their Dad's.

For everyone saying children have always shared, I too shared a bedroom, hated it, we had completely different taste in decor too so could never agree on wallpaper or paint colours. Imagine one loves pink and one loves black. The first time I had my own room was at uni and I didn't go home in the holidays much.

Have you reversed your Rightmove search? Go lowest to highest price in your area and see if anything has potential to extend or renovate.

At the end of the day if you cannot afford a 4 bed then you cannot afford it and they will just have to share.

Building a bed is what I thought too. You could build a bunk bed in with storage and/or a desk underneath. The room wouldn't be smaller than 5ft and a 5ft bed would to do a child until DD1 is at uni.

This is a really odd thing to be concerned about. When I started my period aged 11 I was sharing a bunk bed with my younger brother. It was absolutely fine 🤷🏼‍♀️

I also don't know anyone whose children share a room. And if they're a bedroom short, they're getting extensions done.

I went to boarding school and so spent most my teenage years sharing with 4-6 other girls - we survived! Clearly this is a good solution for the near to medium term and maybe you’ll come up with a better solution later but your children will be safely housed in all scenarios so don’t worry.

Of course it's fine. And given you've never known a single person who has shared a room, I'm not sure how you would know whether it is fine or not.

It isn't fine. OP is rightly thinking of ways around it.

Room sharing is fine.

it’s only recently everyone gets hey about about children needing their own rooms. Or should say only on Mn!

When they live to sharing in a few years could you not convert the office into a working office so DD1 can study in there and her and friends can use that space when they visit rather than needing the bedroom?

The bedroom is for sleeping only and you can use a divide like ikea kallax if needed which doubles up as storage.

No, I haven't. My life is normal middle class. We're not living in the eighties any more, the world moves on and expectations differ. I don't know anyone whose children share a room. And especially not with that age gap.

I would have your daughters sharing as soon as DD1 reliably sleeps all night it is much easier to get used to sharing at 8 and 1 rather than waiting until 11 and 4, the tiny office space could be a small playroom right now ( so Dd1 can play there while her younger sister goes to bed earlier, and later when DD1 at secondary could become a study area and DD2 plays in her room, with a tiny night light and headphones DD2 can get used to going to bed and sleeping even if DD1 comes to bed later , if funs allow you could build a garden room from a shed as a hang out space for whoever has a playdate or friends over

@ExercicenformedeZ- what a privileged life you’ve led

My brothers with a similar age gap shared with no issues. I had friends who shared with siblings to, one family had 3 in one room. Children don't need their own room, siblings have shared forever, this thought that they must all have their own room is quite new and completely unnecessary.

It should be. It also is highly unusual in my experience.

I think you have to be creative with space.

If you have space use your kitchen as a lounge with a folding leaf table for extra space.

Then the lounge/living room can be your master bedroom then all children get a bedroom upstairs each.

I mean absolutely normal to have to share a room.
I remember sharing with my sister 6 years older than me.

But to throw it out there, when dd1 is older, what's the garden space like? Can you get a shed that can be her little domain and chill out area?

Why does she need privacy on her period? She will change her pads in the toilet not her bedroom. Very odd to be worried about this. We all have periods it's not a big deal. I assume you stay in the same bed as your husband when on your period and don't find that weird. Two female siblings in different beds is no concern at all.