Smaller room and own bathroom or shared and bigger room?

[Anonymous2029]

Currently building an extension, currently have 2 DDs, strongly considering a 3rd child

We have the option to make 2 bedrooms with en-suites but the rooms would be smaller, also have a family bathroom so if we did this and had a 3rd they would all have their own bathroom

Or we could have the bedrooms bigger and have a jack and Jill bathroom, so 2 DC would share and 1 would have family bathroom

Which is the better option?! My preference is the Jack and Jill and obviously is null and void if we stick with 2. But I had a brother growing up and never minded sharing!

PS realise we are in a very fortunate position to have this conundrum…

I'd prefer a smaller bedroom with my own bathroom.

Larger bedroom. Shared bathroom. Sounds like you’ve got more than one bathroom/will have more than 1. Don’t understand the en-suite obsession. Particularly for children.

I hate ensuites. Could you just have two bathrooms?

Thanks - I’m more thinking when they are teenagers! We could just have 2 bathrooms but that would be 3 teenagers potentially in 1 which might be a nightmare in the mornings?

My DD had her own bathroom and it was lovely, family bathroom harmony was maintained through the teen years. I think a Jack and Jill bathroom would work.

I meant one bathroom instead of the jack and jill and then the extra one. Would that mean you end up with 3? You don't need one bathroom per head. Thats just ridiculous. Bathrooms take up a lot of living space and you aren't in them for very long so you lose a lot of living/ circulation space for the benefit of everyone being able to shower at the same time. People can just take turns. How long does a shower take?

We survived with one family bathroom and one en suite with three children. Bearing in mind the more bathrooms you have - the more cleaning and more cost when they need replacing/updating.

Personally I definitely wouldn't have each bedroom with its own bathroom
We don't use the jack n jill, both my kids use the family bathroom.That might change in a couple of years as they get older

I'm the one who cleans the bathrooms i don't want to be cleaning, 3 upstairs bathrooms plus a downstairs loo for 4 people.

Bigger bedrooms, with Jack and Jill bathroom.

Bigger bedrooms with jack & Jill bathroom. En-suites are nice but not needed by teens.

Opt for the bigger bedrooms. Pokey bedrooms with shoehorned en suites aren’t great.

Bigger bedrooms, separate bathroom, not jack and jill.

I don't like Jack and Jill's for everyday living. It's ok if at least one of the users is a spare room, but too much potential for being accidentally (or purposely) locked out by a sibling when in use multiple times a day. Not insurmountable, of course.

Ensuites are preferred, if they have adequate ventilation. Will they have windows?

We recently had the same dilemma and went for the bigger bedrooms. The reason being as they get older they’ll want to hang out in there with their friends and have sleepovers. Also more space to store their stuff.

Bigger bedrooms for sure. Kids don’t need their own bathrooms and as long as you have more than one in the house, they will be perfectly fine. Teens and pre-teens spend a lot of time in their bedrooms, have kids over for play dates and sleepovers and having space in the bedrooms becomes essential. Also true for younger kids who need floor space for toys and play. You spend a very short amount of time in the bathroom and as long as you have two in the house, I wouldn’t waste more living space on bathrooms.

We only have one bathroom in the whole house and a separate toilet. I’ve managed with 3 teenage girls. We all just have our unspoken slot and it’s not a problem so long as everyone tidies up after themselves.

In an ideal world I’d like a master bedroom with a bathroom but then just a shared second bathroom would be fine.

@Anonymous2029 Jack and Jill’s really annoy me. It will annoy teen girls too.

How small would the bedrooms be? As long as they csn take a 5ft bed with discs around it, that’s ok. Two singles - no. What will third child get?

Yes en suites with girls do stop the main bathroom being argued over!

Bigger bedrooms with Jack and Jill. They’ll appreciate the bedroom space as they get older and it’ll only ever be them two sharing it. Even if you had two more kids, they can share the family bathroom.