Is it reallly wrong to plan to have more children than bedrooms?

[Difficultchoice]

i've seen this a lot on Mn recently and people seem to be really cross when children sharing rooms is mentioned. I would love another but all our rooms are taken....more concerned about my age, time and money tbh.

So does the available space form part of other people's decisions? How important is that aspect?

I've only ever heard this rule on mumsnet. I have 4 kids in a 3 bed house. Ds aged 14 has his own box room, dh and I share the middle room and the 3 girls ages 11, 8 and 16 months share the big bedroom.

In another year or so dh and I will buy a sofabed and sleep in the living room and put the baby in our room so that the 2 older girls get to use their bedroom more (baby is in bed by 7pm so they have to come out of their bedroom at this time every night).

I shared a room with my dsis growing up and from about 9 it became torture. I was a light sleeper and she was a noisy sleeper. I couldn't sleep well. From around 11 we had separate rooms.

My brother and I shared a room for a few years. We were horrible to each other! Line down middle of room. I would be rugby tackled if tried to get in and out of room as door on my brother's side- not fun.
My poor parents. We lived in a bungalow so eventually extension built.
We still fought terribly but at least we could be sent to separate rooms....

My two boys have shared beautifully really but because littlest beginning to be pain to his older brother re homework, not going to sleep cos older one reading etc we rearranged house to create extra bedroom. A sacrifice but pleased done it as think in long run will be right for our family.

We have 3 kids and a 3 bed house. The 3DC all share a (big) bedroom, the third bedroom is a study/spare room. We do want a bigger house but the 2 of the DC will still share and we'll have a proper 'spare' room for an au pair. The DC really like sharing and chatter away to themselves after lights out.

I grew up in a big house but DB1 and I shared until I was 8, I found having a room of my own quite lonely at that age. DB1 then shared with DB2 until they were teenagers, but that meant that DB2 had to move back into their shared room whenever there were visitors (happened a lot).

We have four beds and four dcs. Both girls have a double room each and boys share a box room. It has worked out fine. We have a playroom downstairs too so it usually ends up that ds1 plays in the bedroom and ds2 has all his toys in the playroom so they both have their 'own' space really

we have 3 DC in one room through their choice, DC1 is 6 and DTs 4. We are expecting DC4 who will start out in the box room but once out of the cot there will be the option for DC4 to join the 'dorm room' or for them to split to have a boys room and a girls room depending on what DC4 turns out to be. (one king size double and one decent single with bunks)

we would hope to move to give them each their own room once they are mid teens although if need be we could clear out the store/gym room so 2 DC could have a single each and two could share the kingsize - its big enough we could rig a room divider if it was a real issue.

I have no issue with them sharing although I feel that once they are mid teens they probably don't want to be on a bunk bed!! but needs must and if we end up with them continuing to need to share then so be it. if they want their own space that much they can move to a house share!

2 children sharing is fine. More than that I think would be harder. Especially up until the age of about 10-12 many would prefer to share.
It's literally just where they sleep anyway. Teens of opposite sexes is where it gets more difficult as both want more privacy.

Each family is different, but I think having teenagers sharing a room - I mean, 15, 16, 17 year olds - is going to be tricky. Not to mention if they need to live with you after the age of 18, as many do. I would certainly consider space before having more children, personally.

If you are an expat, and live in very small accommodation for a year or 2 however, it's much less of a big deal, and part of the "fun" of moving regularly.

I hated sharing, especially as a teen. No privacy, no own space, no own tastes. It sucked.

I'd not have more children than rooms for that very reason. Money wise, the more children the less they have and more they have to compromise time and hobby wise.

We have 4 kids ( mostly teenagers now) and 4 bedrooms. We turned or downstairs front room into a fifth bedroom so that the kids could each have their own room. Our household has been far more harmonious since we have done this, less arguements and everyone generally happer because they have their own spave and privacy/ can have their friends sleepover etc. I think sharing is fine when children are little but once they get older it's preferable to have their own space.

merry the kids are 4 and 1, still young, so this is a kind of extension of having them in our rooms as babies. We've basically just not seen a need to change it as yet. Older one seems to like having us on hand if he does wake up in the night (not very often), and has not as yet asked for his own room. This is normal in my husbands culture, they think it's cruel to make children sleep alone! Was very alien to me but now seems entirely natural. Also means that we can use the other rooms for other things (an office and sewing room, toys are downstairs). Oh, and I should make it clear we do not conduct the physical side of our marriage in the room when we all sleep! Obviously it will change as they get older, but I imagine them sharing a room as they are both boys. I also think that its perfectly fine for kids to have their own rooms, it's each families decision to make really isn't it?

It is ok for most children of similar ages to share but there are some that cannot (like one that is awake half the night).

It does not matter how big our house is. Everyone here seems to need to be near me wherever I am. In fact a house just with one large room upstairs might have been preferable!

We just moved from a 2-bed to a 3-bed but our two dc are still sharing so that we can have a lodger for some extra income.

My boys 6 and 8 have their own small rooms but hardly spend any time in there and the youngest goes to his brothers room or to our room most nights. As long as it is not over cramped I don't see that kids have to have their own rooms especially not when they're very small.

Of course sharing is fine! Fifty years ago, it was common practice to have more than one child to a bed. As long as there is a quiet room for homework/reading, it's fine - and definitely has pros and cons.

Fun to share til about 9 then I (and see the same with dd1) crave a "room of ones own". She has just moved into her own room and has blossomed.

As I've said before I personally wouldn't choose to have more children than bedrooms as a permanent thing - as long as we had scope to extend / move at the point they became unhappy sharing then I think it is fine. I'm sure kids manage when sharing but I just think it's much nicer not to have to. Again though, I've said before we live in a cheap ish area of the Midlands where it is perfectly possible get on the property ladder in a 3-bed semi somewhere safe and family-orientated (albeit not "naice" or outstanding schools) with £25k household income and a £10k deposit.

I want my own bedroom. {Huffs}

For us atm, we have 3 bedrooms and 1 DD. However, we hope to TTC sometime next year, and though we have the spare bedroom, it's downstairs from the main floor. I don't like the idea of putting DD down there, or putting a baby down there. Dd's room is huge, so I'm hoping down the line she and another DC can share for a little while.

Now I'm paranoid...

All 3 of my children share a bedroom. It's not ideal but it was well overdue the time that dc3 needed to move out of our bedroom and the dcs room is big enough. Our loft is being converted into a bedroom in the new year so the boys will share and dd will have her own room.

I don't think it is more kids than rooms that people are surprised by. Some people like to have everything thought through and planned and some people just let life happen to them. Most people are somewhere in the middle but the people who like to plan seem to be shocked by posts by the kind of person who things just happen to - if that makes sense. These groups of people probably don't get on so well in real life and would be unlikely to ask advice from each other - here everyone piles in with advice.

Plenty of kids share, plenty of people plan for them to share, it isn't a big deal.

Good post, LetsSplash

I actually want to be less of a planner but had to be (fertility treatment!)