anyone have 3 kids in a 2bed house???

[Clarabumps]

I'd love another child, dp and i have just bought and renovated a 2 bed house. Our first house on the property ladder as we have previously rented. Our mortgage is considerably smaller than our rent so I think we'd be able to afford another. Im a SAHM and think that if we were to have another then now would be the time to do it. DS1 starts school next year and ds2 starts nursery in february. Ds main concern is sleeping arrangements and could we physically cope with essentially 5 people in a two bed house. its not a huge house- two rooms upstairs and two down with a bathroom. How do larger families cope with sleeping arrangements and is there anyone else in a similar situation??

My friends did manage with two bedrooms and 3 children for a short time, whilst the youngest was still in a cot anyway. He was in with them for a few months, then moved in with the older two until he was 18 months to two years I guess. But once he needed a bed, they had to move as there literally was not room in the children's bedroom for a third bed (the older two were in bunks as it was). They also had one girl and two boys and knew that the girl (the oldest) would fairly soon need her own room...

So yes, it can be done, especially if the children's bedroom is an ok size. But it means being uber organised and tidy if their experience is anything to go by!

We have 3 DC on a 2 bed house and I am currently expecting no4.
DC 3 is 2.5 and is just in the process of moving into the room with his brothers. The older 2 have bunkbeds and the little one has a cot bed with no sides on ready to move into.
TBH though sleeping space is not a problem. We have a Victorian 2 up 2 down and the major problem is getting us all comfy in the living room. But my elder 2 are 13 and 10 so probably bigger than yours [ grin]

I laughed earlier as I saw somebody asking if they should have a 2nd child in a 2 bed house

We did for quite a long time - we had triple bunkbeds, double on the bottom and a single on top. It was just starting to be a problem for me when we moved (if we hadn't got a transfer me and DH would have given up our room and slept in the living room) but that was only because of the combination of the DCs ages and gender.

It is not a problem as long as you manage it effectively- theoretically overcrowded houses are a factor in academic underachievement as studying children may have nowhere quiet to study. (Number of houses in area of schools with say 3 kids in a 3 bed or 2 bed house are counted in school data by local authorities and used to analyse deprivation in an area and potential impact on later exam results- I know this as I was a school governor once and saw it- its called a Panda report). However, that is statistics and does not mean there will be a problem in specific cases.
Could you go into the attic eventually?

missnevermind - second child in a 2 bed house?!?! god forbid!!!

We very very happily manage with 2 bedrooms and 2 DC sharing the second bedroom, and the oldest is nearly 7...! I rather like having only one room to deal with, as opposed to two pigstys messy bedrooms!

I had a friend at school who had 3 sisters and a brother - so there were 5 of them in a 3-bedroomed house.
the brother got the small room, and the 4 sisters shared the big room (one of those 12'x12' rooms)
They had 2 bunk beds and they managed fine.

I have a friend with a 7 year old, 5 year old and 3 year old in a two bedroomed house. They are getting an extension at some point in the future but are ok at the moment.

Thanks for the replies, We are planning on getting a larger house in a couple of years as the boys get bigger but theres no way i'd want even the hassle of moving any time soon. I think i need to be mega organised anyway..now all i have to do is convince dp that its a viable idea. He'd ideally like a 3 bed but I'd rather have another baby now. DS1 is 4 in july and DS2 is 2 and a wee bit so i'd rather get the baby stage "out the way" as soon as possible rather than wait till i get my freedom back then i dont know if i'll want another and feel like i'd missed the boat..does that make sense?Triple bunk beds on ebay??hehe!

Good luck xx

I have a friend with 8, 6 and 3 year old boys.

They all share the larger bedroom - bunks for the older 2 and a single for the younger one.

The adults have the smaller (still a double) bedroom at the back.

All boys helps I suppose, though when they're young sharing with opposite sex not a problem really. They seem happy enough. Am sure they'd like an extension at some point, maybe into the loft.

when i was growing up there were 6 of us in a 2 bed, my parents had the smaller of the 2 rooms and us 4 kids had the bigger bedroom

it didnt bother us at all and im sure mine and my siblings grades didnt suffer because of it

now im all grown up i have 4 children of my own in a 3 bed and planning a 5th in the near future (once recoverd from the birth of my gallstone and gallbladder lol)
i do however think gender and age is a factor when your thinking if the set up will work or not
we have our 3 boys all sharing and our daughter has the smaller room to herself
we are very fortunate that our large victorian terrace is large enough to accomodate all our crap!

kangers do you think that poverty itself might have affected those kids grades rather than sharing a bedroom? I am always interested as to how studies determine contributing factors to complex issues such as lowered academic achievement.

I have had 3 kids in 2 bed house. Have moved now but 2 still share a room, son is A grade student so don't worry about that too much, the kids do their studies at dining room table, think I prefer this as I can check that they are actually working ;)

We have 3 in a 2 bed, aged 7,5, and 20m. We've ordered a triple bunk off ebay that's L-shaped so gives far more space.

This is primarily to make the rooms look bigger to sell the house! The elder 2 are girls and have only 20m between them so keeping them in the same room isn't really an issue, But we're planning on buying a 3 bed so Ds will have his own room.

Our main issue is downstairs space! The bedrooms are identical size wise so no room for improvement there, and we have a lounge and kitchen. No dining room/dining space.

We struggle to get any alone time here! :o

We have 3 in a two bed tenement. Girls aged 2,4,6. There are issues - DD3 wakes them in the morning, controlledcrying was impossible, washing is a battle I'll never win etc. dD1 does homework at the kitchen table, she gas a booklight for reading in the dark or she sits in our bed.

It's fine while they're little. They love sharing and are very close. We make sure two older ones have their own drawers and book shelves. We are lucky as they also have a walk-in wardrobe and the room is huge.

I'd do it.

if you're planning to move in a couple of years anyway then go for it.

a baby will be in a cot in your room or in your bed for a while anyway.

dont put off til tomorrow what can be done today (or tonight) (who needs sleep?)

I have 3 in a 2 bed and won't be moving. Sure I'd prefer a bigger house, but if wishes were horses we'd all ride home. We're fine as we are.

We have a three bed house but one of the rooms is always a spare room so all three DC (4,2 and 7mths) share a room.

When they are little I think the space downstairs may be more of a problem
than the number of bedrooms IYSWIM.

thanks again for your reassurances, i feel a bit better about it now. The washing is always a battle i'll never win..so i've made my peace with that, thank god for tumble dryers! But hopefully that'll be enough to swing dp to have another..fingers crossed!xx