Arranging 3 kids in 2 bedrooms

[Three~Little~Birds]

I have 3 kids:
8 yo girl
6 y.o. boy
2 y.o. (24 months) girl

Currently, my oldest two share a room. They are both expressing desire to re-arrange the room sharing. How would you do it:

1 - leave them all as is, at least for now
2 - girls in one room, boy in other
3 - oldest girl in room alone, youngest two together

Considerations:
-the oldest 2 play really well together, and also fight like crazy
-the 2 y.o. does not nap, but has a much earlier bedtime
- the age gap between the 2 girls is 6 years
-both of my older 2 want their own room and suggest that the 2 y.o. move in with us (not going to happen she sleeps there every night, but i want her to have another room elsewhere)
- they have both suggested that the girls go together and the boys go together
-oldest girl has a lot of stuff that littlest girl could get into, boy - not as much
- younger two are naturally really cuddily together

Thanks so much for your feedback!

[misskira]

Could you do a "sleeping" room and a "playing" room? And then give your oldest dd somewhere safe she can keep her special things? Like a shelf, or a hanging sweater rack in the closet?

[Three~Little~Birds]

I had thought of that, actually. I kind of ruled it out though because we have an entire playroom in the basement and I am not quite sure that I want another space dedicated to that.
(Interesting that you'd reply, as your username is my DD's name - I had to do a double-take )

[misskira]

lol. My name isn't very common for my age, but I've met quite a few little girlies with it.


Since you have the basement I agree, it doesn't make sense. Perhaps you could sit the kids down and see what their ideas are? I think it's great for kids to share rooms. I think I might have the girls share. The difference is pretty big, but not a bad thing necessarily. Thinking about the future, 16 and 10 might be rough but I think 14 and 10 for a girl and a boy would be even more rough. The important thing will be teaching the younger one to be respectful of the older's space and belongings and vice versa.

[greenemami]

we have a similar dilemna, complicated by the fact that we are a blended family so dsd spends more than half her time at her mom's. We also have two bedrooms for three kids-right now dsd (9) has her own room and dd (3.5) and ds (6 months) are sharing the smaller room. We have considered doing the one sleeping room, one playroom, having the girls share (probably not until ds is older though), or keeping things as they are, just switching dsd to smaller room and dd and ds to bigger room. I think I have a few years until they care about sharing boy/girl.

Anyway, back to you It sounds like the younger two might be a better match for now-they share more toys, cuddle together, and less stuff for 2-year-old to get into. The thing i keep telling myself is that whatever we do now need not be forever-even if it is a pain to move rooms, it is certainly doable every couple of years or whatever, so do what seems best FOR NOW and then reassess if there are problems. HTH!

[greenemami]

Oh, and just to add: my sisters and I switched rooms several times as kids and we liked it-it was always kind of exciting to set up a new room and my parents would often help us redecorate (new curtains, bedspread, whatever fit the budget at the time) to make it even more exciting.

[JBaxter]

I would do girls together. My sister and I were 7 yrs apart and we shared a room from the time she was 2. In fact we shared a bed. I had no issues and eventually you will have to have a girls room anyway.

[4evermom]

My sister is 6 years younger, too. It was an annoying age gap for room sharing because the only real time she wanted to be in the room was when she had friends over. And that meant I was displaced and they were with all my stuff. This was when I was 12 and she was 6...

We ended up putting her with the 3 yo brother for a while. My two older brothers shared a room and the two brothers in between my sister and me shared a room. Eventually, my dad converted the basement to a bedroom for the two middle boys and the youngest. The two oldest boys went to college and my youngest brother took over their room leaving my sister with her own room, too.

Whatever you do isn't set in stone. The 2 yo can take turns sharing rooms with the others. Switching can be fun.

[pianojazzgirl]

I'm thinking at the present stage the youngest two together might work best (they are naturally cuddly with each other, and your ds has less stuff that younger dd shouldn't get into). And I don't think the way it is now needs to be that way forever. It's true that a 14 yr old boy and 10 yr old girl might not want to share a room, but if that's the case you can always switch things up when needed (I'm thinking that it'll probably work best with the 2 youngest together now, and then the two girls together when your youngest grows out of the wreck-all-her-sister's-stuff stage in a few years).

[Quinalla]

I agree that eventually you will want the two girls together and because of that, I too am leaning with putting the two youngest together and letting it be known that eventually the two girls will be together. That gives each of your oldest a chance to have their own room and a chance to share which is nice for them and hopefully someday you can give your youngest a chance to have her own room (that she remembers).

[Heavenly]

I would put the girls together but try and arrang the room so the oldest has some privacy. Is there enough room to put a curtain down the middle of the room? The youngest having an earlier bedtime really isn't a problem. We have a 4 year old and almost 8 year old girls sharing a room. The youngest goes to bed earlier and the older is allowed to lay in our bed to read or stay up later. It is not a big deal and the younger never wakes up when the oldest comes into bed. At 6 years old your son will be wanting a room without girls very soon (our son was 7 when he became adament about not sharing with a girl, which I feel should be respected) so it doesn't make sense to have to rearrange again in a year or two. My mother shared a room AND a bed with two sisters - one 2 years older and one 6 years older. It is only in more modern society that people think children NEED to have their own room. I don't think they do (I always tell my kids even I have to share with Daddy ) so I think just do what you have to do and they'll deal with it is the best attitude to take.

[Dukey25]

I have a similar situation (7yr old boy 5 yr old girl 2 yr old boy)
Right now I have the oldest two together but I think by the new year it will be switched to the younger two together and eventually we will either put the boys together or have another bedroom or have another baby and be facing this dilemma all over again

[swd12422]

I'd either do the divide by gender now (it'll have to be that way in a couple of years, anway, for your boy's sake, I think) or have the youngest two together for a few years and then put the girls together. I waffle, b/c I think your oldest will want her own room at some point, and this way she gets her own room for a little while and your boy gets his own room after that, and then your youngest will have her own room when your older DD moves out. BUT, I would imagine it'll be hard for a 10-12 year old girl to give up having her own room as puberty hits. So I guess it depends on personalities and what you're comfortable with.

[Ornery]

I feel your pain, except mine are a 15 yo boy, 6 yo girl and 4 yo boy. Right now we have the 6 yo and 4 yo together in a room in bunkbeds. Either we move into a 4 bedroom soon or the 6 yo and 4 yo have to share a room for 4 more years. Luckily the 6 yo and 4 yo do wonderfully together but I'd imagine my 6 yo would enjoy her own room. Right now, when she has a sleepover, my 4 yo comes into our room (as if he isn't in there every other night).

[2lilsweetfoxes]

I would see which of the older kids the baby does best in with. It can always change as they get older. Right now, my 1 1/2 year old daughter and 7 year old son share a room. My 9 year old daughter has her own room. Whenever the baby woke at night, the 9 year old would get so upset and she'd start crying and carrying on, so we moved the baby to my son's room. They both go to bed around 8:30ish and stay there all night. We will probably rethink it in a year or so (at which time, we will qualify for a 4 bedroom house...on post military, if my husband and I want to move).

[texmati]

I'm confused-- your younger dd has a room to herself that she does not sleep in while the older two share a room?

I would try to get the older two their own room. Is it possible to convert a large closet or playroom into a bedroom?

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by texmati

I'm confused-- your younger dd has a room to herself that she does not sleep in while the older two share a room?

I would try to get the older two their own room. Is it possible to convert a large closet or playroom into a bedroom?

I agree with this.

[Polliwog]

My DS is 6 and my DD is 3. They share a room and I don't expect that to change in the foreseeable future. I don't worry about it.

[musikat]

My 8 and 3 yo boys share a room while their 6yo brother has his own room. There were good reasons for that mix (middle needed his own space due to his personality) but we may change things down the road. I see no problem in your case with putting the girls together and giving the boy his own room. My two that share have the bigger of the two rooms, of course and there are bunk beds, so oldest has his "space" above the floor. If you did something like that you could put shelves up there so little one couldn't get to precious things.