thread: kids sharing a room

  1. #1
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Feb 2006
    melbourne
    11,462

    Question kids sharing a room

    just wondering how parents and kids cope with siblings sharing a room??
    if we have a third child, our DD's will have to share, they would be around 2.5 yrs and 4, just wondering how sleep goes say if one is sick etc
    do they keep each other up
    what happens with bed times etc...

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Feb 2009
    adelaide SA
    10

    My ds1 and ds2 share a room and there is 2 yrs between them, they have shared a room for most of their life. I have never had a problem with either one waking up the other.
    hope that helps

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Jun 2008
    Tassie
    2,567

    after having Jaidan and Chase sharing a room, now they are in seperate rooms and Chase is in with Ashton and OMG I wouldn't go back. They had just started to muck around, keep eachother up, etc and now they go straight to sleep, Ash doesn't wake Chase up, and they have their own space to escape from one and other.

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Apr 2009
    Melbourne
    654

    I grew up sharing a room with my sister who was 4 years older from birth to 12 years
    and it was great
    she was a heavy sleeper but yeah no issues here

  5. #5

    Nov 2007
    Earth
    4,434

    I grew up with 3 sisters, so we were always sharing with at least one. Eventually we all ended up sleeping in one room, and having the next room as a kind of huge walkin robe!

    I don't remember having any trouble with sickness - we definitely got sick, I just don't remember there being a problem. In fact it turned out to be really good, as one of my sisters has juvenile diabetes, and we would all wake up when she had a low BSL, which meant we could go get Mum and Dad straight away. If she hadn't said anything about feeling sick or lo before we went to bed, then by the time she woke us she would be having a seizure, and Mum and Dad just wouldn't have known if we didn't share rooms.

    At one time I had a seizure as well - due to accidental Benadryl overdose! - and it woke my sisters up. I didn't even know about it til I woke up and my whole family was standing around my bunk bed!

  6. #6
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Jun 2005
    Blue Mountains
    5,086

    My 2 share a room. Kayla is in with us still a lot at night, but her waking etc in their room doesn't disturb DS. Perhaps us all co-sleeping in the beginning sorted that for us LOL. For the first few nights DS woke when the baby woke, but he soon learnt to sleep through it.. he was between us while the baby was in an adjoining bassinet.

    If we have a 3rd, and don't move to a 4 br house, then we'll be having 3 in a room LOL. Interesting times ahead! Either that or we don't have an office anymore.. we'll work it out when the time comes.. but for close to 2 years the baby would be primarily in with us anyway.. so we've got a few years up our sleeve yet

  7. #7

    Mar 2004
    Sparta
    12,662

    Our 2 share a room. They both go to bed at the same time so no dramas there. They don't usually wake each other in the night but as soon as one realises that the other is awake in the morning it's all on. On the mornings they are in seperate rooms they let us sleep in for longer.
    My only concern is that Imran doesn't seem to feel much ownership of the room - he always calls it Yasin's room. I would feel more comfortable if I thought that he felt it was more *his* space.

  8. #8
    BellyBelly Member

    Mar 2006
    Getting to know Brisbane all over again
    2,047

    My 6yo DS and 2yr old DD share a room (as we only have one aircon in summer) and they love it. Never had a problme with one keeping the other up when they are sick - sometimes if DS has a bad cough, DD might stir a bit in her sleep but otherwise it is fine. We have a night light so I can deal with one without waking the other if there is a problem at night and generally they keep each other company. It probably does take longer to get them to sleep at first as they talk to each other etc but as I sit in with them until they go to sleep I feel it is fairer this way as otherwise I would be patting DD and DS would be alone IYKWIM.

  9. #9
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber & MPM

    Feb 2007
    Melbourne
    5,462

    We just moved our boys into one room last week and we haven't had any problems so far. It doesn't make a difference if they go to bed at the same time or at different times to each other. Neither of them wakes the other up overnight and it's so cute when they both wake up in the morning and start giggling together .

    I shared a room for many years with my sister and we had no probs either. As teenagers we would have appreciated our own space though! We plan on extending our house up in about 5 years time so the kids will eventually have their own rooms again, in time for the teen years

  10. #10

    Kameron and Lachlan started sharing from when Lachlan turned 2, so Kameron was 4.5yrs. They both went to bed at the same time 7.30pm, and if one is sick the other usually sleeps through it even with us turning lights on and all LOL

  11. #11
    Registered User

    Aug 2005
    central coast
    1,481

    over the years all my kids have had to share, i even do the boy/girl combination when they were younger, but i havent had a problem what so ever, the only propblem i have found is now i have a 16 and 11 girl sharing, and they drive me insane with there b!tching, buts its just a age thing.

  12. #12
    Registered User

    Apr 2009
    in the garden
    3,767

    Our two boys shared from when DS2 was a baby. He didn't sleep well until he was almost 2 and DS1 coped with it fine.

    Same with sickness etc... they might stir or wake up if it's particularly bad, but they go back to sleep. And DD has been known to wake up if someone in the house is sick anyway, I don't think it's all down to sharing a room, kwim?

    Bedtimes, DS1 usually gets an extra 1/2 hr & DS2 understands why. Often DS1 is still awake when his brother comes in.. but if he's asleep it's usually such a deep sleep he doesn't stir.

    We've gone through stages where there were dramas of the 'he's keeping me awake' variety...this is one reason separate bedtimes are good

    Overall though it worked fine.
    Now number 4 is on the way... we have moved DS1 and DS2 will be sharing with baby which he is very excited about. In the interim it has been interesting to see who the messy one is - we know who it was all along now!

    Of course you might want to give them a bit of time to get used to it. But they are still young enough to adjust I think....

    hth

  13. #13
    Registered User

    Apr 2009
    Melbourne
    345

    Love the question AJP!!! Made me smile........love your train of thought

    I shared a room with my sister most of my childhood and there is 2 yrs 3 months between us!!! I loved it as I didn't like being alone much.

    My close friend had her girls sleeping in the same room and they extended their house so all three children had there own room. The oldest child has actually asked to go back to sharing and sleeps in her youngest sisters room by chioce as she prefers it.. they have a bunk bed. The only time she actually sleeps in there is when she has a friend over. So the extension wasn't needed..

  14. #14
    Registered User

    Jan 2006
    8,369

    I shared with my sister from when we were 3 and 1 until we were about 9 and 7. DH shared with his brother most of his life too.

    We've both said we are not going to inflict room sharing on our children! And we're also aiming for us to have our own rooms in the next house (not bedrooms, but a reading room for me and DH's workshop). It can work well if siblings get on well and are friends, but I really hated having a little sister most of my life. We are friends now though!

  15. #15
    Life Subscriber

    Jul 2006
    Brisbane
    6,683

    It's interesting you should ask this. This morning I was talking to friends who have two boys about the same age as our two. They were saying that after 2 months they have moved their boys back to separate rooms as it wasn't working.

    But obviously it is different for everyone. Our boys (who are 4 and 2.5!) have been in the same room since DS2 was 18 months or so, and I think it works well. Most nights they go to bed at the same time, and more often than not they will go down in the same bed and we'll move one of them before we go down (otherwise the first one to wake will wake up the other one also!). Mornings are usually fine - there are times when one climbs into the other bed when he wakes up, which doesn't go well as the other one will wake up tired and stroppy. But that doesn't happen too often.

    When one is sick, usually they will get up in the night and come into our bed without disturbing the other. Sometimes if DS1 is in our bed, DS2 will wake up and come looking for his brother, but then they'll usually go back to their own beds. But again, this is an occassional thing. Most nights they both sleep through. And I think they sleep better because they are not alone in the room - they each loving being in the same room as each other.