Sharing a room.

I posted a related topic on the Home forum.

Do any of your children share a room?

For various reasons, we are considering eliminating our third bedroom which is located on the main level.

I realize this would impact property value - that is not a concern for us at this time.

We don't have children yet, but I am wondering how this may impact us in the future. Especially if we have more than one child. I am really only thinking ahead about the next 5 - 10 years. So our unborn kids would still be relatively young (not teenagers). After that point we would build on or sell (and replace the wall to make it a three bedroom again).

All experiences you wish to share are greatly appreciated!!! Not having kids yet, it is tough to imagine all the pros and cons.

Message edited 3/4/2014 1:09:12 PM.

Re: Sharing a room.

We used to have the kids share a room (I grew up this way).

It worked until they were 1.5 & 3.

At 3, DS would wake up multiple times & wake up the "baby".

So, now, we use up 3 bedrooms. I want to have another kid.

We have a room downstairs that is a 4th bedroom & we use as guest room for when grandmas come to watch the kids. If we demolished it, we could make a very nice kitchen & open our house up a lot more.

IMO, it is FAR more worthwhile to have a house with more bedrooms & a smaller kitchen.

Sharing a room.

I see nothing wrong with kids sharing a room. Even if they are of different sex. Family in apts in the city do it all the time.

But I would think more about resale value of the house if you completely remove a bedroom on the first floor. 2 bedroom houses do not sell like a 3 or 4 bedroom will. I would never buy a 2 bedroom hous no matter what my family situation is.

We have 2 beds up and one down. The downstairs is used as a den now but can be a bedroom at the drop of a hat by simply. Hanging furniture.

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Re: Sharing a room.

Message edited 3/4/2014 12:45:12 PM.

Re: Sharing a room.

Sharing a room.

Thank you but we are not worried about resale or any financial inpact. We would add the wall back. I am really just concerned about the dynamic of children sharing a room and advice/experience from parents who have children sharing a room.

Re: Sharing a room.

My girls share and love it. They are 3.5 and 20 months. We are looking for a new house and told the girls they will be getting their own rooms and they don't want to separate. They keep one another company and my oldest gets scared in the dark sometimes and my little one is shears reassuring. I'm sure when they are teens they will want their own space but for now it works well.

Re: Sharing a room.

I honestly think it's hard to make decisions with children in mind until you have them.

I tried to have my 2 share a room, now DD has her crib in the guest bedroom because she kept waking up due to DS (coughing, middle of the night waking, wanting to hear a story, needing a nightlight). Our kids are just different types of sleepers. DD sleeps through the night (unless sick), so maybe it really is just DS who wakes frequently & needs to be told to go to sleep. They are 1.5 years apart. CIO and sleep training is really hard with both kids in 1 room.

Personally, I think the dynamics depend on the kids.

I shared a room with my sister, but had no choice. I really hated it when I was 8 & she was 5.

If you can easily & cheaply tear down a wall & put it back up (I'd imagine it would cost a few thousand, but maybe not), why not do it now when you have no kids? Then you can put it back up when you have 2.

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I shared a room from the age of 2.5 to 16. It only became a problem at the end bc space was an issue. My younger sister slept in that room with me from the day she came home from the hospital and apparently me waking up was never a problem.

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We have three bedrooms and three DCs. Right now the older two (who are closest in age, 4/5yrs old) share the bigger bedroom and the baby (2) has his own room.
They always want to be together so we are thinking of putting all 3 in one room and making the other room a study/homework room.
We think this will work until the oldest is about 9-10 and then we will alternate who gets their own room or re-evaluate depending how their personalities develop. Right now, one is a disturber and he may need to always have his own room

Re: Sharing a room.

We have girl twins in the same room but I feel like if we had boy/girl we would def split them up when they get big kid rooms. If we had 2 kids a few yrs apart we would split them too bc I wouldn't want a baby waking a toddler. I know many ppl still have the share but if I had room I wouldn't. We will split them when they are older or express that they want their own rooms. We will lose my office or a playroom at that time.

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For us the day to day benefits of having extra space on our main level outweigh the complications of two young children sharing a room. We don't do CIO though(I'm not against it but we haven't had to do it really). I found that older dd has gotten used to baby noises and brief bouts of crying at night and it dosen't usually wake her.

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I have a 2 yo boy and 4.5 yo girl and they share a room. We do have a 3rd bedroom but I just prefer having them together. I love listening to them play when they're falling asleep and first thing in the morning.

DH really would like to separate them. I just don't see the need yet.

Unfortunately I think its one of those things that you won't know for sure until after you have kids. Luckily I have wonderful sleepers and it works for us.

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Mine shared until 3 and 5. Putting them to bed was a pain and they would wake each other up. They are in their own rooms now and it is way easier. My sister and I shared until I was 13 and she was 9. It was fine but we fought about it a lot.

Sharing a room.

I currently have 3 in one room. All still in cribs. The twins are 3 and the baby is 18 months. We are getting ready to transition the twins to toddler beds so I don't know how that will go. We do have a third bedroom, but it is up a about 6 stairs from where we are (I have a split) and it gets too cold in the winter up there. It needs to be reinsulated and we didn't know that when we bought the house 5 years ago. We never did anything about it so the kid all share a room. We are not staying in this house and the plan is to move out of state in the next year. At that time DD will get her own room and the boys will share for a little while longer. There have been no issues with it so far. The baby will wake up occasionally if one of the others get up, but that's rare. If you are not worried about resale and financial if you have to put the wall back up, then go for it!