So why DON'T people put their children in the same bedroom?

[MrsTittleMouse]

I'm not cheeky enough to ask people in RL, but I'm really curious as no-one we know has put their DC in the same bedroom and we'd like to do just that when this DB is born. Is there some horrible disadvantage that I'm missing?

My DDs are in separate rooms just now but once DB3 is out our room and not breastfed the plan is to put them both into the bigger room and DB3 will have the smaller room.

I think they will love it they will be 5 and 3 1/2 by then don't know if I will then, eventually in a few years we will build an extension and move so by the time they are about say 8 or 10 they will have their own rooms.

I don't know if this is a recent thing but a lot of people have commented on us only having 2 bedrooms split amongst 3 children and that we need to move and where we going to put the baby etc. When I was growing up no one had 4 bed houses (well no one I knew) and loads of my friends shared rooms. Nevermind in year gone by when there was 4 to a room.

dd1 & 2 shared a room for a while, but dd2 turned into a nightmare sleeper after a few months and would wake dd1 up several times, every night, so we had to abandon the room sharing.
I think dd1 really appreciates having her own space, anyway - she can lock her door and no pesky little sibling can come in and mess up her Playmobil scene, and she can leave her pencils and paints out without worrying about it all being messed with.

DS is 16 months and I am due in sep for number 2. They would share if I could fit 2 cots in one room. Although we are in a 3 bed house tghe only way they would be able to share is to put all their clothes and toys in 1 room and have a bed and a cot in the other. In our old house they would definately shared from as soon as the baby goes out of our room.

I really want to put my two girls into the same room, but they have vastly different sleep patterns. We are trying though!

The problem is is that mostly DD1 goes to bed fine, but every now and again bedtimes turn into a huge tantrum. And she often wakes up crying, and wakes up early as well.

DD2 is a far more peaceful sleeper, and tends to wake up a lot later in the mornings, they just don't seem to be compatable. They are very fond of each other (when they're not fighting!!)

My ds1 10. dd 8 and ds2 2 all share a room because we live in a 2 bedroom house. Going to convert bigger bedroom into 2 rooms so dds can have one and dd the other one. Their bedroom has a bed sized cupboard in it so ds1s bed is in there.
We could afford to move to a bigger house but prefer to have a little motgage and to have a holiday home which we go to at weekends and hols (i mean a caravan on a holiday site )

Yes sweetkitty, when I was growing up families were a lot bigger and sharing was the norm as most houses only had 3 bedrooms. I have to say I think that was a big factor in my leaving home at 18 though!

I wonder if the modern phenomenon of children still living with their parents as adults is less to do with property prices and more to do with the fact that they practically have their own self-contained studios within the family home! (And of course we all have so many more possessions that we need our own rooms too!)

My ds's started sharing a few moths ago - on the whole it has been ok (though the younger one woke up v. early today and woke up ds1 too). We are lucky in that we have a (v. small) 4th bedroom so they can have separate rooms again when they are older if they prefer...

Also I waited and waited for ds to sleep through before I moved him in with sis (he was in with us)...never really happened. Eventually gave up when he was 8months ish and put him in anyway - he slept much better from then on....

Yes I agree grapefruit moon, our neighbour has the same size house as us but she is in a semi, she recently built an extension so her 23yo DS and 17yo DD could have bigger bedrooms each with en-suite, she also knocked the little bedroom into her own bedroom so now she has a 4 bed semi with 5 toilets which I find a bit bizarre.

purpleflower, it only works for us (3 bed house - dc are in smallest bedroom) because we don't keep toys in bedroom, have toddler sized bed plus cotbed, one big chest of drawers, some inbuilt cupboardy thing in alcove and pull-out drawer things under beds.....

does work though! and means we still have large spare room which doubles as dh office as he often works from home, but can still fit friends with children in for overnight.

However we do have small room downstairs which is trying to be a playroom but actually is a big toy cupboard, and that helps - a lot!

My three all sleep in seperate rooms for different reasons. DS1 is 14 now and wants a bit of privacy. With DS2 his sn inhibits his sleep and whilst he stays in bed he does sit up and put lights on etc so it is best he is on his own. And DD wants a seriously pink room which the other two would not tolerate.
However I still regularly wake up to find different children in different rooms. DD goes down to DS1's basement room and pulls out trundle bed or clambers in with him.
the best one was finding DS2 in DD's bed. Ds1 in his bed with the dog and DD on the floor next to them in the dog basket - all fast asleep!

My DDs have shared a room ever since DD2 was born. They now refuse to be split up

oh and DDs 7 and 5 now

Unfortunatly that wouldn't work for us Dilbertina, the 2 small rooms are very similar in size. If you put a double bed in them you wouldn't be able to walk around it, it would take all the space up! Downstairs is tiny too so I can't have that many toys in the living room. Why did I move from my old house that was massive compared to this? For a garden which isn't much help with this problem!

My two, dd (7) and ds (4) sleep in the same room because we've only got a two-bedroomed house. And they will probably have to share for the foreseeable future because we will probably never be able to afford a three-bedroomed house.

And yet some of dd's friends not only have their own rooms but a playroom too.

Ah well, at least my kids don't take anything for granted.

DD is an early riser and I'd rather deal with one child too early in the morning than two.

Ds is 12 and dd is 4 and dd is with us still. We only have 2 bedrooms and cant afford to upgrade to a 3 unless we move to a cheaper area.

We will probably extend when dh is back at work again in maybe 3 years or so and might in the mean time look at having a sofa bed in the sitting room for dh and I.

at one point i had all three dd's in one room measuring 8ft by 9ft. now dd1 has her own room and the other two share. but often find them all in one bed in the mornings topping and tailing.

i do know that we will need to move when they are older as the lack of space in the bedrooms is a big issue. dd1 room is even smaller. dont mind its another 3 bedroom place as long as one of the smaller two rooms are a lot bigger than what they are currently in.

Ds1 (2.9yrs) and ds2 (10mths) share a room and they love it Guess I'm lucky that ds1 is a heavy sleeper, and has never been woken by ds2.

Not sure what it'll be like in a few years time though

DD (16 months) and DS (nearly 3) share, never wake each other up and when we first put DD down to sleep in their room DS was so happy to have her company.

my dd and ds share, they are 6 and 3 years old, my ds has asd and was once a great sleeper, they have only started sharing since May last year, and although my ds doesn't always sleep through, they are happy to share for now.

As soon as dd wants/needs her own space we will move them into their own rooms again.

DH shared with his brither until he moved out of hom at 25! He hated it so he always said we would only have enough children as we had bedrooms.

Since we had a girl and a boy I am fine with this, because they have to have thier own rooms eventually. But they are so close that once DS outgrows his cot, if he wants to camp in his sisters room or vice versa they can. I have cousins who did this when younger and it makes for great bonding.

Beside mine always go into the others room to wake them up if they are'nt already, no point fighting it

My SIL has put her DD's in the same room through circumstance and then when they moved through choice, but she says they are always waking each other (my DD can wake DS, but nothing can wake DD) and I think with my DN, (but have not seen first hand) that they fight quite a lot, so it will be interesting to see how it develops for them.

Our two now nearly 3 and 19mths have shared since youngest was 9mths.

Again they tend to sleep through any disruptions and if not they have got used to being told to go back to sleep and usually do so pretty quickly.

They LOVE sharing and works well for us as it leaves 1 room for new baby and one for guests. May well put all 3 in together eventually. Will see...

We won't be allowed to as we are adopting. They won't place a child unless he/she has their own room, except where they are birth siblings/half-siblings who are used to sharing a room.

Dd and ds shared from the age of 6 and 2 respectively until they were respectively 10 and 6. After that, I gave up my study to provide a bedroom for ds.

The reason ds had to move out then was that the room was so tiny that they couldn't invite a friend round and still leave standing room for the other sibling. And there certainly wasn't room for two big beds (bunk beds not an option due to joint problems).

But sharing worked very well, particularly at night, when they reassured each other. I know lots of families where children share, as most houses around here are 2 or 3 bedroom ones.

Well ours don't share, simply because we have a 9 year age gap and enough bedrooms for them not to have to.