Family of five in a two bed

[Newmummy1234]

Is it possible for a family of five to live in a two bedroom house? Have two dcs already and thinking about dc3 but we already spend a fortune in rent (£1300 for two bed) due to where we live.
Can three children share a bedroom?!

Not past a certain age, no.

I wouldn’t.

No

Why would you actively choose to do this? I think it would be selfish to have a third child in your situation. You should put your existing children first.

I wouldn’t! It gets much worse as they get older.

No

Nope. If you can't afford to adequately provide for a third child you shouldn't have one. 3 kids in one bedroom isn't fair.

Of course it's possible. There are families of five crammed into one room in a B&B right now.

It's not ideal. Once the third child is older than a baby your landlord probably won't like it. However it's unlikely to be considered illegal overcrowding.

No.

It certainly wouldn't be a lifestyle I'd choose.

I did have a friend who shared a room with his three brothers. physically they all could sleep in the room with two sets of bunk beds but there was next to no personnel space and we could never hang out at his house like most teens would do.

Also what if the new baby is the opposite sex than your older two? That would add further issues.

No, don't be selfish. Care for the children you have

No.

I wouldn't choose to do this. We're a family of 4 in a 2 bed and that's bad enough.

I'm pregnant with no.3 now (unplanned) and we're currently saving like mad so we can move to a 4 bed. If you don't have the option to at least move to a 3 bed then I wouldn't even consider it. It's not fair on the kids and it will be a nightmare as they get older and need their own space.

I wouldn't. Can you move to a cheaper area?

When I was 6, I had a older sister and my mum fell pregnant with twins. My dad lost his job and we lost our house due to it. We were emergency housed in a 2 bed as twins were not classed as a human until they were born and we lived as a family of 6 in a 2 bed until they were 5 months old! It was a squeeze! We had clothes draws in the hall way and my parents took their door off the hinges as they couldn't use the door with the bed and 2 moses baskets in their room! We were moved into a 3 bed and I remember that beeing a squeeze but not too bad, eventually we got a 4 bed house when the twins were 5 and it was defently needed for space!

What if you ended up with twins?

Not ideal tohave three sharing a bedroom, unless it’s a large room. As they become teens, could cause problems, especially if different sexes.

I guess you could put the three kids in the bedrooms, and have a sofa bed in the lounge for the adults.

We have 3 children and live in a 2 bed (3rd wasnt planned) we have ds who is 5 and dds who are 2 and 3.

A lot will depend on your house, we have a dining room which has been turned into a playroom so all toys are in there and none in bedrooms (DS can take some up to play with to escape his sisters but they dont live up there) and their bedroom is huge so we dont need bunk beds, ds and dd3 have mid sleeper beds so each have space underneath thats a cosy den for them to escape to and dd3 has a toddler bed, they each have their own wardrobe and their corner is decorated individually with wall stickers. They are happy and it works for now, the long term plan was to divide it using either screens or bookcases to give DS his own space, obviously non of that is possible in a smaller house.

We also live in a high rent area so a 3 bed has been out of our budget but we have been very lucky and have been offered a 3 bed at our current rent price (we know the owners) so will be moving soon. Oddly the house is smaller than our current one so we will lose the playroom but ds will love having his own bedroom and toys in their.

My advice would be that short term it will be fine and if its 3 boys or 3 girls then long term it would be fine too, not ideal but no one ever died from sharing a bedroom with a sibling but what if you were like me and had 2 girls and a boy? You would have to be able to either adapt the house or find the money to move.

Well you can. Of course. You can be a family of 10 in a single room if you have to. 🤷‍♀️

But is it the best thing to choose to do? No. 3 kids in one room is going to be miserable. Doable when tiny but when teens? Early 20s?

Growing up a good friend of mine shared a bedroom with her two sisters in a two bedroom house. A lot of us shared with sisters at the time, so didn't seem to be a big deal. I have known a couple of families with six children who lived in a three bedroom house, so definitely possible, though I am sure their lives would have been easier with more space.

If you're renting in an expensive area why would you choose to have a third child? Save the money towards buying somewhere instead?

Do you think that's fair on your 2 children, really?

We lived in a 2 bed terrace with 3 children for just over a year when DC3 was born. DC1 was 6 and DC2 was 4, they shared a room, and DC3 was in our room. We saved hard for a bigger place and moved last November.
I'll be honest, I think if we'd been in the 2 bed during lockdown the kids would have gone insane. DC1 and 2 really needed their own space (different sexes, different interests, different bedtime etc) and they get on much better now they have somewhere to escape to - but this is partly due to their personalities, they do clash a lot generally.
We also had only 1 room downstairs and a tiny kitchen, so now we have a living room, a playroom and a kitchen, they can all be doing their own thing without being on top of each other.

That being said, if your children adore each other and are very close, it could be fine. It didn't work for us.

Just because you live in a two bed now doesn't mean you always will. Maybe in a year or two you will be able to live somewhere bigger or get a house in a cheaper area.

Next thing is you start agitating for the council to give you a bigger house