My two oldest share and have since the youngest was born 2.5 years ago. Honestly they were on the same schedule and play with the same toys so it made more sense then having the 3.5 yr old and the newborn share just because they both had penises.
We have no guest room/office but if we did i would totally have them share to preserve one of those spaces
I'm actually glad to read this because it sounds a bit selfish to make them share when they really could have their own rooms now (although there would be no place for my parents to sleep when they come over), and our office/den is just a walk-through -- it is not a separate enclosed space and has no closet.
Of course, in my head, I have grand plans to build a guest house on top of our detached garage.
But I have also been planning to remodel our condo for, oh, six years now. (cc: jigsy, who knows this, LOL)
Maybe I'm painting a rosy picture in my head, but I think the kids would actually like sharing while they're young (like under eight).
My kids enjoy sharing and generally get aling quite well. But also, i don't consider having a guest room selfish. I figure all the pros of the guest room like more time with extended family, outweigh the possible cons that may or may not actually be related to sharing a room, or just to being siblings
My kids don't technically share a room, but they have chosen to sleep in the same bed for almost 2 years now. They are 5 & 7. My daughters clothes are mostly still in her own room, but she sleeps in her brothers room every night. I don't see it ending anytime soon.
They are getting bunk beds next week because they roll on each other, which leads to kids coming in my room during the night asking me to move their sibling out of the way.
Post by MixedBerryJam on Sept 18, 2017 19:47:50 GMT -5
I shared with my brother until I was about 8, 10 at the latest. It was not a big deal (except he was a terrible snorer and now I'm thinking about that and smiling). My parents eventually put a bed in a large closet and that was my room.
Post by whitemerlot on Sept 18, 2017 19:51:08 GMT -5
It would be fine with me until the older one was probably 10. My son is almost 8 and I don't think it would be a problem to share with his little sister for a couple years.
Post by sofamonkey on Sept 18, 2017 19:54:20 GMT -5
Yup, we have two separate rooms, but they prefer to sleep in the same room. They are 4 & 6. We just make one room back to a guest room when we have guests, which is about 3-4 times a year.
The military doesn't "make" families do anything. They just state that kids *can* room share until 8 if housing is requested and bedrooms are limited. So, a family with two kids may be offered a house with two bedrooms and meet requirements. But there is definitely rank and it definitely carries installation to installation.
My husband has been active duty for 15 years and we've only lived in housing for 12 months total. We had a 4 bedroom and only two kids. Theoretically they could have offered us a 2 bedroom but because housing isn't forced (unless in certain overseas locations) we could have said "no thanks" and lived off base.
The only time I've seen this as an issue is with families with 4+ kids.
Post by EloiseWeenie on Sept 18, 2017 20:01:37 GMT -5
My son is 8 and my daughter is 5 and they wish they shared a room, LOL. They have their own rooms, which we force them to stay in on school nights. If there's a thunderstorm overnight, we'll find Amelia in Hunter's room the next morning. On weekends, they share a room.
My kids are now 7 and almost 11. They each have their own room but stay in the same room out of choice about 99% of the time. We are clear with them that it ends whenever one of them says so but my older one doesn't seem to mind yet (he's also nowhere near puberty yet which may impact that). I imagine it's on borrowed time at this point but they prefer it for now and it's fine with us.
The military doesn't "make" families do anything. They just state that kids *can* room share until 8 if housing is requested and bedrooms are limited. So, a family with two kids may be offered a house with two bedrooms and meet requirements. But there is definitely rank and it definitely carries installation to installation.
My husband has been active duty for 15 years and we've only lived in housing for 12 months total. We had a 4 bedroom and only two kids. Theoretically they could have offered us a 2 bedroom but because housing isn't forced (unless in certain overseas locations) we could have said "no thanks" and lived off base.
The only time I've seen this as an issue is with families with 4+ kids.
Living off base is less common in certain locations, so the guidelines play a bigger role. It mattered when I was in middle school and most offerings were "the towers" (condos) or townhouses. Make might have been a bad word choice, but it is accurate if you want to live in the offered base housing
Post by snipsnsnails on Sept 18, 2017 20:29:25 GMT -5
My DS and oldest DD just stopped sharing a room at 4 & 6. But they beg every day to share again. Basically, they all 3 want to share one big room together. My need for sleep overrides their desire for a never ending pajama party. They loved it and it was great!
This is interesting. I've always had my own bedroom, and we lived overseas in three separate places in different types of bases/forts. However, my father was an officer, so I'm guessing this is why.
they could have their own rooms but they prefer this.
My BFF's kids are the same way. When they moved to a new house, the kids chose a shared room and a playroom over a room for each. Her plan is to convert the playroom as soon as her son feels like he's too old to share with his sister.
Post by rupertpenny on Sept 18, 2017 20:49:36 GMT -5
miso, I'm having a boy next and my kids will share indefinitely. If we stay where we are we will never be able to afford a 4 bedroom (nanny lives with us and needs her own room, obviously) and even if we move somewhere else and don't have a live-in nanny I'm inclined to make them share.
I'm kind of "get off my lawn" about this issue though. I think it is not a big deal, and maybe even good for kids to share. Also, when my mom was in high school her grandma moved in and her parents made them not only share a room but a BED so I've always known it could be worse, haha.
I shared a a room with bunk beds with my brother until I was 9, at which time my 19 yr old sister moved out and then I roomed with my sister until I was like 18 (that sucked).
Sorry if I missed this while scrolling, but how often do your parents come? Could they just have the oldest child's room and the kiddos bunk together at that time? I guess it depends on whether your oldest is comfortable in a big bed for this to work. (Disclaimer, I have no kids)
DS and DD are ~2y apart and LOVED sharing a room. Maybe THAT'S what made them awesome sleepers!
We split them up when DS was in 1st grade and wanted more privacy (DD is in 2nd and doesn't give a crap about privacy, so it probably would have lasted longer if they were flipped- ha), but, they still have "sleepovers" in each other's rooms sometimes.
I don't care so much about the opposite sex aspect while they are young. But I'm more in favor of giving them their own rooms if you can swing it reasonably. Mostly so they have a quiet space to go when things get nuts, and also in the event they have diff bedtimes.
Our plan is to make one of our boys sleep in a full size bed once the youngest is out of the crib. And our oldest already has bunks. When we have guests, they'll sleep in the room with the full size bed. Could you do this?
Like you, we have plans to convert one space in our house into a guest room but we haven't gotten around to that
My guest room has a queen bed, and I have no place else to put it.
Post by fumbalina on Sept 18, 2017 22:40:59 GMT -5
This was the exact situation in my house even to the age difference. I shared a room with my brother from 3 to 9. Most of the time it was fine. We argued over who had to clean the room, we each had a dresser and the room was divided into 2. One half had the door, one the window. The closet was also divided.
We had a sitting room that was never used so in theory we each could have had out own room.
I did ask for my own room at 9 but my sister had run away from home and I wanted it for myself, so I was proactive. She had been gone 2 months before I requested the room for myself.
Later when she returned I had to share a room with her. That is until she had a baby and the sitting room was converted to her room and nursery (it was really too small for that).
I think it's completely fine. I only have 1 but it seems like most kids prefer to sleep in the same room with another person. I would expect them to want privacy by the time they hit puberty but you have a ways to go for that. Plenty of kids do not grow up with their own room and it sounds like you have plenty of space for everyone to spread out if they need a quiet space anyway.
My kids have separate rooms but they have not slept by themselves who knows how long. They share a bed and flip every month in which room they sleep in. They started this a few months AFTER we redid their rooms.