To ask if your kids have their own rooms?

[Theunmumsymummy]

I mentioned to a friend the other day that me and my sister (3 years older) had shared a room growing up and that my brother (7 years younger) had slept in an alcove area of my parent's room as there were only two bedrooms. After my sister left home he shared with me. My friend was shocked about him being in my parent's room (which I understand is unusual) but said she thought it was unusual that me and my sister shared a room when we were teengers and that she didn't think that really happened anymore. She's bu, isn't she?

I have 3 siblings and we grew up in a 3 bed ex council house. I shared with my 2 sisters. My brother had his own room. There was no choice really as my parents couldn't afford a bigger house.

I live in a 3 bed house now with 2 children. They have their own rooms (although the small room is fairly small).

I forgot to add that I am close to one sibling but not the others. I think that's more to do with the age gap and with attitudes and selfishness than shading a room or not though.
My children have never had to share and, although they're still only young at 6&7, they're very close. They play together all the time.

Many children used to share a room with parents. My cousin and one sister shared with parents as much older sibling had the only other bedroom, then they moved into the little bedroom when sibling married.
People had to make do with the resources they had.

Nowadays most siblings each have their own room though often share when they are small children, which they like for a while.

Mine always had own room apart from when our room was invaded :-).

I shared until I left home at 19 and it was awful. I had no privacy, my things weren’t respected and I was utterly miserable. It definitely didn’t make us closer at all.

My children (two of them) won’t have to share as we have 3 bedrooms but I wouldn’t have children sharing a room by choice - DS2 is only 6 months and if he’d been twins we’d have made plans to reconfigure to create a fourth bedroom.

I don’t think it’s torturous to share and am sure many cope well but I didn’t want it for my children.

My kids have a room each available for them but they still share. Ages 6 & 4. Works for me, all their crap in one room.

They can share as long as they'd like as far as I'm concerned.

Yes they do but that means I don't so I sleep on the lounge floor.

I feel that we're very lucky in lots of ways, first in that I had help to buy my own 2 bedroom house when I was 29, and then that my mum and stepmother (dad's 2nd ex-wife!) helped to pay for the cost of a loft extension nearly 2 years ago.

Until then my sons shared a room, and had bunkbeds. They were 9.5 and 7, nearly 8 (21 month gap) when they moved upstairs to the new loft rooms. My sister bought them beds but ds2, now 9, still normally sleeps on the floor by choice.

The heating doesn't really work up there and for months from last autumn/winter until a few weeks ago, they were both sleeping in ds2's much larger bedroom which gets sunshine during the day, even winter sunshine, and he has a plug in radiator which can be put on to warm up the room for an hour or two before bdtime. DS2 didn't want DS1 to move back to his room and DS1 dithered about what he wanted.

There are advantages and disadvantages to them sharing and having their own bedrooms, and the present arrangement gives them some choice. We had the extension done because their old bedroom was really hardly big enough for one young DC and the idea of them sharing it as teenagers/young adults.... it's not clear how it would have worked but I suppose it would have had to! We are in London and they might need to live at home for a long time/forever, or move back home as adults, so hopefully we have the flexibility for them.

Many families don't have the option of moving rented or owned home to give everyone their own room. I think my house was built at the end of the 19th century, with a 2 storey extension probably in the 1970s to provide a small kitchen and large bathroom. I wonder how many people/children had to squeeze into it in its past, between c 1895 and 1982 (we bought in 1998 from a single woman who had lived there for 16 years).

My mum was pleased that despite having five dc we could have our own rooms, we always chose to share, we preferred it.

We have 5 bedrooms and 2 DS aged 7 and 5. We'd like them to sleep separately as there'd be more sleeping but there's no way they will. When DH innocently suggested it a month ago both children started sobbing.

They're wonderfully close and I think part of it comes from sharing a room. Sneakily Quietly listening to their bedtime chats is one of my favourite parenting moments. Sweet and hilarious in equal measure.

My 11 and 8 yo share a bed. They have their own room each but won’t sleep apart. When we’ve tried there has been screaming and sobbing and shaking of body. So we leave them to it and bought a double so they could sleep more comfortably. Eventually the older I think will want his own space, that will be interesting. Toddler in with us, her room is unused except for storing her clothes and nappy change

We have 3 bedrooms and 2 children of the same sex, they currently are in their own rooms as youngest is a baby, but once baby sleeps through the night they are going to share, and the 3rd bedroom will be a playroom/home office. The older one (nearly 3) keeps asking when the baby is going to move in.

I didn’t have a room of my own until I left home - god bless Halls of residence

Then I shared with my ds until he was three. My ds has his own room now, and spends most of his time persuading his friends to sleep on a blow up bed beside him.

Whatever works for you is fine

Our 2 DSs share as we live in a 2 bed apartment, but we’ve just had DD so we’ll be moving in a year, purely because she won’t fit in their room. Not sure who will share then, we’ll be looking for a 3 bed, and DSs are 10 and 6.

@chocolatespiders I've wondered about doing that but I'm leaning more to getting the DCs to share once DD3 is too old to share with me. How do you find it? Presumably you have to put your bed away every day? Where do you keep your clothes? How do your kids feel about your sleeping arrangements?

I shared a room with my sister until I was 18. I hated it. My mother's response was 'You should think yourself lucky. I had to share a bed with my sister.'
My first two children shared a room until they were three and four, DC3 has always had his own room. My experience made me determined that they would not have to share.

I'm planning on having 2, and, all being well, when the second comes along they will share for as long as they want to. I think it'll be nice for them to be company for each other at night while they're little.

We only have two rooms and one DC so he has his own room atm, but even if we had two DC and lived in a three bed I would have them share, until they reached a certain age or there was a big age gap.
I think if they don't know better then it will probably do them some good to learn to share their space with another human being.

Also means no fighting over the big room and there is a spare room for visitors or if one really craved their own space e.g if one had a sleepover
If they were the same gender I'd think about sharing until they moved out

We’ve got 6 bedrooms yet my two share! They’re 5 and 6 tho and very close, as someone else posted it’s lovely hearing them chat in the evenings/play together in the mornings.

I have 3 DC and my 2 DD’s (7 and 9) have always shared. DS (5) has a small room on his own. We’re planning an extension which will give us an extra bedroom at which point the girls will have their own room. They are very different characters, one is a night owl, one needs her sleep, both say they would like their own space, so I’m hoping they will enjoy having a room to themselves.
I have 3 siblings and grew up in a 6 bedroom house so had no need to share but was always asking to sleep in with my sister or brothers. I liked the company and think I would have happily shared for most of my childhood if given the option.

I'm an only child, and I think it would have been nice to grow up sharing a room with a sibling.

My 2 DC still at home share. It's not ideal, as DD's 10 and going through puberty, but she dresses in there when DS2's in another room.

I shared with my sister growing up which was awful as she was 8 years older than me and so hated me being in her space understandably. When she moved out when i was 10, it was all mine!!!!!
My (then 4) kids shared 2 rooms between them. Then we moved when the eldest was 10. Now at 18, he has the man cave (the bedroom downstairs with en-suite), the elder bot has his own room, his sisters share and the youngest (new) boy has his own room.
All of this will change when the eldest moves out in a few weeks. All will have own rooms then.

DH shared with his brother until the latter joined the army (14 and 18) - in one bed, as that’s what the family could afford/had space for. I grew up relatively wealthy abroad and had my own bedroom, loo and separate study (!). We now live in central-ish London and DD will need to share with any siblings who come along.

My two share. DD is 8, DS is 3. And it's tough if they want their own rooms.