Sharing bedrooms- mixed genders or ages

[Santosha]

What do they want?

ETA: ok, re-read your post. Hard to know what they'll want in 12-24 months time. But that's how I'm planning things anyway. There will be three beds. I don't really mind which one they sleep in or in what room. I just want them to sleep, get along as best they can and feel happy that what they want in terms of space, belongings etc is respected. I don't think it has to come down to age or gender... just about individual personalities and needs.

[HotI]

At the moment, 4 year old DD wants 3 tiered bunks, and everyone in her room. I like this idea when they are little, I am sure it will change as she gets older. The current bedroom would be very squishy without bunks.

I'm trying to plan ahead in terms of furniture (beds and wardrobes), so maybe I need adaptable furniture that can change as the kids do.

For now, the older two are more comfortable with room sharing, they would have all 5 of us in one bed if it was their choice (and that's what we get some nights). I know its only early, but Baby DD seems to be happy to sleep independent ly, and it has got me wondering about who is best to share.

[wysiwyg]

I don't have 3 but 2 of opposite gender who share, and I would let them decide, but my preference would be your Option 3, with initially the oldest having own room. All depends on the children, but my DS frequently wakes up DD too early e.g. 5:30 - and this year at kinder she seems to need more sleep than him, and from what I have heard when they start school they are even more tired - so based on that, I would choose option 3, but I think the ideal combination will vary over time.

I am working on needing to have boy/girl having their own room by time the oldest gets to be about 8/9 - although I don't really think is that big a deal if have to share after that (when I was 16/17 I had my brothers room for a year and my brother and sister shared (14 and 12) for the year to help me with studying for final exams)

[Tinks]

My son has his own room and the girls share a bedroom, there's a 4 year age gap between the girls. It was absolutely fine when they were younger but now that they're 15 and 11, it's hard.

[Astrolady]

I don't know if it is true or not, but I did hear that there is a law about kids and sharing rooms (mixed gender). My friend told me as she had teenager daughter sharing with younger brother and she was told it wasn't allowed... by whom I don't know.