Where does the third kid go?

[Dreamingofthree]

I have 2 and I’d love another but here’s the issue, space.

on the surface of the matter would seem fine as we have a 4 bed house but we need one of the rooms as an office as our jobs are predominantly wfh.

bedrooms are 2 doubles and 2 singles atm the kids have the singles, we have one double and the other is an office/ spare. But say we had 3 what would we do then? I’d look to get pregnant this time next year and mortgages as are they are moving and upsizing isn’t viable right now, neither is additional borrowing for an extension, maybe a conservatory that we could use as an office but still not until rates calm down.

current dcs are girl then boy. We’d keep baby in with us until about 9 months and then we find they sleep better in their own space.

would you put the boy and girl together for a time in the double room and then have the baby alone til they sleep better and then move them in with a sibling of the same sex til we can get a conservatory built? Seems a lot of moving about for a child, and would a girl who’s 7 want to share with a 2 year old (if the baby was a girl)

anyone done a summer house office?

i know it’s a bit cart before the horse but I like to think things through

This is why we stopped at two. There are lots of work rounds as mentioned by other posters but I want my children to have their own space and us to be comfortable working from home.

A sore Cum office? Is that like a sex dungeon/ red room of pain?

Put the baby in the office at night and in your room for naps during the day in a travel cot. No reason why they need to have their own room from the outset.

@Dreamingofthree I converted the garage into a playroom. Is that an option for your office?

We had a similar set up and wfh issue as you OP. In the end we had some of the open plan area closed off - less open plan living space but with each kid having their own room now, there's less need for more communal space - all their toys etc can live in their rooms. And the office can be a shared computer room for everyone on evenings/ weekends

I would just move office to single for now, and have two children share double. Which two doesn’t really matter, just see who sleeps best ideally.

I would want separate office. Dh and I also work from home, just 1 child, but we often work when other has child downstairs, or one of us will do a few hours late in evening when Ds is in bed or on of us adults also in bed. So office in bedroom isn’t ideal.

Longer term add garden office. Or just stick with 2 children is space, and cost tight. Costs aren’t going to get any cheaper

To be honest if you adamant about prioritising an office then don’t have a third child.
don’t make the boy and girl share- as they get older it’s not sustainable.

Why are you so sure you want a third DC? It's not essential.

Either split the double bedroom into two singles or do the garden office. I would do that as I think it would be good to separate work and home as much as possible. Unless you have uninsured items of high value in there I wouldn't be worried about security.

When I had 3 in a small 3 bed (with open plan downstairs) I had the 2 younger ones in the box room with bunk beds (1b and 1g). Reasoning being they could play downstairs. Yes we had toys everywhere. But worked well.
There are lots of configurations of bunk beds from ones where the bottom bunk is on the floor for really young kids. Ours were shorty ones to fit more in the room....my 11 year old still uses them comfortably.

It’s a trick question. When you have 3 you only need to account for youngest and oldest because no one cares about the middle child.

Well, honestly I don’t see the need for every child to have their own room always. I shared growing up and so did most of my friends, it wasn’t really a hardship! I understand the need for an office, so I’d put that in the littlest room. You and DH in the biggest, two of same sex kids in second biggest and the other one in the other single. As they get older, you could think about a garden office or something, but that would be fine while they’re all small.
Is there absolutely nowhere downstairs you could carve out some space for your office?

Garden offices these days can just be a wee garden pod or the like so you don't need loads of space or a huge budget. Google garden pods and you'll find lots of options. We don't have 3 kids but do have a garden office and it's transformed the way we use our house and been the best money we've ever spent!

I’d be giving up your office for a kids bedroom.

Look at vivid pods online for garden office ideas I think they’re amazing!

It's only onN that people seem so obsessed with DC never having to share a room, so that they'll sleep on the garden or WFH on the breakfast nook before their poor darling have to share a double room.

Put baby in with you until they go into the box. Redecorate double his and hers side assuming different interests. Make it clear from early on who'll be going with whom later on. Of course a 7 yo can share with a sibling.

DS knows when he's bigger he's going on the box room because the twins need the bigger eventually
It isn't some shock to him, he knows why, we discuss decor etc. But it has to happen and the twins will have to share.

Neither were the first two, do you go on all the conception boards and share such wisdom

Hahahahahaha precisely

ffs autocorrect, spare / office

For predominantly wfh jobs and office or a work space is literally in our contracts. Boy and girl sharing wouldn’t be forever, it would be until the hypothetical third baby was sleeping well and then could share the double with the other child of the same sex; which would be until we either a moved or b) took some additional borrowing to do a conservatory office or a garden pod office (which is more and more appealing )

Several friends have a garden office. They're all great and seem pretty secure. I would go down that route if finances allowed. Otherwise I would make two children share.

It’s not just your home to think about I’ve found our house the easiest to transition to 3 as 2 just share and that’s they way it is, they can’t remember having their own rooms.
more expensive is the car and holiday clubs for childcare once they are at school and also hotels if you want to go on holidays or a weekend away. It’s very difficult to get hotels with a room for 3 kids.

No children as essential, no one ‘needs’ to have a child

All of those with a garden pod/ office- how much did it set you back?

did you consider a conservatory? If so why did you decide against?

Already have an xc90, and yes hols are going to be more expensive. But hols are more expensive going from 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. I’ve found a few places that have a 5th sleeper and then we’d be opting for villas or air bnbs. Youngest could stay in the same room when they are an infant (under 2).

i don’t want this to turn into the debate on a third child on mn because that seems to be popular, but I so wish I had more siblings. I’d have gladly sacrificed a holiday to have 2 siblings

😂😂

Tell that to my oldest and youngest.....they both have times they think I favour the middle one!! (Especially as she has the biggest room).