Is it possible to make a 5x7ft bedroom comfortable for a child once they outgrow the cot?

[Pascha]

We have a decision to make:

1. Swap the bathroom and third room back around to what they were originally, giving a reasonable size bedroom and a tiny bathroom. This is apparently quite difficult (according to my plumber husband and FIL) and we will probably not see a return for our money when we eventually come to sell.
   
   
2. Leave DS2 there and make the room as good as possible, maybe by building in a bed rather than attempting to put a single in
   
   
3. Move. Not practically possible til we have two incomes again.
   
   
4. Put both boys in together in our large bedroom once DS2 is out of the cot while we have DS1's smaller but perfectly good sized room ourselves.
   
   What would you choose?

[piprabbit]

Could you move him to a toddler (junior) bed when he moves out of the cot? They come in at about 5ft long, so should fit along one of the short walls, and would probably last him until he is 5 or 6 years old. By which time, who knows what you might be planning?

[pompompom]

Our tall 5yo is still in his toddler bed - its an Ikea kritter one so longer than lots of them. I think he'll be happy in it for another year :)

[forevergreek]

A cot bed will last until 6 years approx so if you use one it will lengthen time not needing to do anything.

After that I would just put two children in together, turn smallest room into either a study for them/ den/ reading room/ or toy storage. Keep big bathroom.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I had a bedroom of similar proportions when I was little. It was fine, we just have fancier expectations now.

My dad turned the airing cupboard into storage for me (the boiler went up in the loft)

[MisForMumNotMaid]

i'm sure this isn't cheap but cheaper than moving and wow thats a lot of function for the space

[MisForMumNotMaid]

this is a cheaper practical solution and they come up on ebay sometimes

[katcatkat]

my son has a bedroom that is only slightly larger. we used an ikea extend able be still he was big enough to go into a higher sleeper, which was great as it was 3ft wide and went from 4ft to 6ft in length.
he spends most of his time downstairs and only sleeps in there.

[VerySmallSqueak]

We have two children in a room approx 7x9 ft.

Obviously a small bedroom means toys have to be stored elsewhere.

[VerySmallSqueak]

I would do 2 or 4,but most likely 2 as mine would love their own rooms now,however small.

[rocketleaf]

I think pooka has a great idea there, both boys to sleep in one room but have the small bedroom as a playroom/den. That sounds like the least hassle and expense.

We do have a similar problem in that DD is currently in the box room (8x8) and will be moving to a bed this year. The space the cot is in is only 145cm so unless we get rid of vital storage then she going to have to have a toddler bed thus putting off the move to the big room for a bit longer. Could something like that work?

[Jojay]

What's your age gap?

There's 2 years between my boys , 6 and 4, and they LOVE sharing! Don't rule it out.

[Pascha]

Thanks for all your replies, folks. I have been looking at the links. OMG missmaid that bed on hydraulics or whatever looks amazing! Can't see it in my house but a great idea if you have the wall space.

DS1 is 2.6 so there is just over 2 years between them. I measured the 5ft wall properly last night and its actually 4'7" (139.7cm) which would just fit a standard cotbed mattress (140cm), with a squeeze, without a frame. A Boori mattress like DS1's is 132cm so we could get one of those instead and build a frame and storage round it.

Such a faff. I might have a better go at persuading DH that the boys will like sharing when the time comes. Actually they could easily share DS1's room and use the other as a cubby hole just as someone upthread suggested.

I'm going to quiz him later on why exactly he and his dad think its too much to swap the bathroom over.

[Doingthedo]

my 3 dc have room each, the middle one, however, insists on sleeping in the bunk bed with her brother, she gets lonely otherwise! while they are young they will probably love sharing and having a toy room to play in - bean bags, books and posters?

[Shattereddreams]

I have a box room leading off a room though.

How about putting bunks in the box room leaving the bigger room as a playroom only. No one loses out. Toys have proper storage space.
You can get short bunks. They only need room to climb in.

[MrsJamin]

No idea why you'd consider all these other options when you have 2 reasonably-sized rooms - just move children into the largest room and you have the other room. Our boys have always shared and they love it. We're about to move into a 4 bed and they will still be sharing for a while as it has a lot of benefits. When they wake up in the morning they are happy to play with each other before they come in and wake us up. Bunk beds are great, we have a thuka one which is expensive but you can get cheaper ones.

[Tertius]

Build a bed, surely?

[Pascha]

DH doesn't want them to have to share a room . I'm quite happy for them to.

[greenfolder]

i think you need to point out to your dh that you do not live in a 3 bedroom house. a "room" that is 7 x 4.5 is the size of a single bed with, at most, 1 foot along one side and 1.5 feet along the other. if he is not going to swap with the bathroom, then the only sensible option is for the kids to share. mine have shared at various points- would be hell now they are teens, but they actually preferred to share when little.

[OhTheConfusion]

Why not let the boys share DS1's current bedroom and make the small room a play area? 2.6yrs is a good age for sharing.

[AliceWChild]

What's your husband's solution? If he's finding problem with yours, what has he managed to come up with?

[Pascha]

Ooh more replies. His solution is building in a bed to fit. I am not keen as the room will be difficult whichever way we go about it. Easier all round to let them share. He objects to sharing, he says his children shouldn't have to as we have 3 bedrooms. The fact that the 3rd bedroom wasn't ever mean't to fit a bed is beside the point, apparently.

[AnnoyingOrange]

If ds2 is only 10 weeks old, you can use a cot for the next year or so, then get a toddler bed for a few more years and make a decision when the boys are older.

They might want to share or it might become apparent that they need separate rooms and you can revisit the solutions then

[Wolfcub]

I'd do 2 until second child was about 8 and then do 4 but would ask the children at that point what they wanted

[Pascha]

Yes, DS2 is still in a crib in our room so theres no hurry at all, just planning ahead.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

Is it possible to pinch a bit of space by moving the partition wall between the tiny room and another?