Should siblings share rooms?

[ymn27]

Hi all,

What are your thoughts/experiences on 2 siblings sharing a room?

We have two rooms for kids (1 and 3 years old) and debating whether each should have their individual room OR one of these two rooms should be a bedroom with wardrobe etc and the other a playroom for both to share for the next few years?

Thank you!

I wouldn't save a room for a play room. I'd let them ha e a room each.
There's nothing wrong with sharing but if they don't have to why do it?

I'm pregnant with my second. Once I move her out of our room she'll be sharing with her brother. I don't see any issues sharing. I shared with my sister for years. And didn't mind it.

Play room sounds like a good idea.

If they like sharing, doing that and having a playroom seems sensible for now, and then shift to 2 bedrooms when they are older.

My two (3 and 7, one of each) have their own rooms but choose to share.

We changed our house around to meet the needs and ages of dc. At one point we had 3 sleeping in one room and the other bedroom was a “den” for the dc. Then dd1 decided she wanted her own space from her younger sisters so she went into the den. When dtds reached 4 it was very clear they had different sleep needs and that was the point we decided we needed a bigger house and could afford it so took the plunge. They all have their own rooms but have reopen sleep overs so in each other’s rooms so dtd1 has bunk beds and dtd2 has a pull out second bed.

Share and have a playroom, until they are out of the playing with toys stage.

When they're so young their sleep needs are so different.
I have a 2 & 3 year old that we have no choice but to share and if I had the choice id have them in separate rooms.
They wake each other up, keep each other awake and just disturb each other in general.
Obviously they're not considerate of the fact they share, and i don't really expect them to be at their ages but it drives me insane.

Every child is different though I guess..

Mine are 11 and 8 boy and girl. They’ve never shared. I think they’d annoy each other and keep each other awake. They both like having their own space where they can go to be alone. Dd likes to sing quite loudly which I think would drive ds up the wall

When my children were 4, 2 and 1 they shared a room as although we lived in a 3 bed semi, the third bedroom was tiny and my husband needed space to work at home. It worked well despite slightly different sleep patterns, we just put the youngest two to bed first while older one played in our bedroom then once they were settled, we got the older one ready for bed.

Luckily they were all good sleepers and did not tend to wake up in the night after they were a few months old and woke up at about the same time.

After a couple of years we were able to move to a 4 bed house but still kept the two boys in the same room so we had a spare room for visitors. I had a play room in what should have been the dining room as we ate in the dining kitchen.

I was brought up sharing a room with my two sisters so had no issues with children sharing rooms.

I hated sharing a room with my sister when younger especially when we had a spare bedroom. She couldn't sleep alone apparently. If you have enough rooms I would give them a room each.

You can always swap when they get older. You could let them decide instead of trying to decide for them.

me and my sister shared when we were little and our parents always said that if/when we wanted separate rooms one of us could move into the spare room. They left it up to us to decide.

I think I was about 12 when we decided we no longer wanted to share.

When they are so young the issue will be different bedtimes and potentially waking each other.

As they get older they might want their own space, and as pre-teens/teens this will be more desirable for school work, sleepovers etc.

Our living room was the room they played in as when they are that young I'd rather have them on the same floor/in eye sight, so a play room would have been wasted space.

Depends on the children's sexes.

My youngest two daughters (aged 6 and 8) have always shared the same room, ever since DD6 was a baby in a cot. They're used to it now, even though there is a bit of friction because they both have very different interests (DD8 is a girly girl into anything pink and sparkly, DD6 is a tomboy).

But I made sure my only DS was always in a different room to his older sister.

I would give them their own room if there was enough rooms. I don't have any more rooms so have 3 sharing at mine.

I have a 1yo and a 5 yo. 1yo is in with us at the moment and we plan to have her share a room with the 5yo once she is sleeping through. But we have another bedroom and expect they'll want to have their own rooms at some point, perhaps when eldest starts secondary. We have another separate playroom downstairs and they spend most of their time in there.

Unlike pp, I shared a room with siblings from birth until age 18 and I didn't enjoy it, so I'd never choose to live somewhere without a bedroom for each child, and I would never want them to not have the choice to have their own room. But it can be fun for dcs to share, especially at primary age.

Thank you all! I appreciate all your thoughts and experiences which help consider different points and views.