Family Bedroom

[JayGee]

Last night as we were falling asleep, DH asked me if I knew anyone else who shared a room with all their kids and how awesome he thought it was.  I told him I didn't know anyone personally, but that there were probably a bunch of people on Mothering who did!  So, tell me, do you have a family bedroom and how is it configured?

DH and I sleep on a queen bed, next to my side, DS and DD2 sleep head to head on two twin mattresses, and at the foot of the bed, DD1 sleeps on another twin mattress.  I'm sure, someday, probably soon given that DS is 9, he'll want to move into his own bedroom (which is all set up, just not slept in), but for now we are all loving the family bedroom .

[JayGee]

Okay, so maybe we ARE the only ones who have a family bedroom with older children !

[sublimeliving]

We shared a family bedroom w/ our oldest dd until she was 9, and we are still sharing our bedroom w/ our almost eight-year-old. We love sharing our bedroom, and our dd can stay as long as she wants to.

ETA- Both of our dds have their own bedrooms and bathrooms. I consider my bedroom the family bedroom because it is shared.

[babydanielsmom]

We have both boys 3.5 and 8 months in our bed room

[HollyBearsMom]

Our son is 9 and while don't have a "family bedroom" we do have a family bed. Our son does have his own bedroom that he starts most nights off in because he has all his books, toys, stuffies, etc in there but he is usually on our bed by midnight.

[Peony]

We have two family bedrooms and I'm the only one I know of that has this arrangement! I am a light sleeper and struggle with insomnia, DH snores, DD1 has insomnia as well. 5 and soon to be 6 of us in one room does not work, we just fed off of each other. DH sleeps in a queen downstairs with 4y DD2, 8y DD1 is in a bunk bed in the same room. Eventually we would like DD1 and DD2 to sleep in the same bed or in the bunks together in DH's room, DD2 has no interest in this right now. I sleep upstairs in a king with almost 2 year DS and then will add another baby into my bed next summer. I keep an extra twin bed in my room. When DH travels or works late, DD2 sleeps with me and DD1 goes on the extra twin in my room. 

[BroodyWoodsgal]

We all sleep together in different places...we have a family bedroom downstairs and upstairs...each place involves a larger bed with side car and twin mattress and we sleep where it's cooler/warmer/more comfy, depending upon the time of year and all of that kind of stuff. THe kids have rooms...but at almost three and 15 months, their rooms are more places to keep their things than places to sleep.

[pianojazzgirl]

My best friend and her family all share a "family bedroom".  She, her dh and (all-night-nursing) 1yo dd share the queen-sized bed.  Her 8yo ds sleeps on a loft bed that's perpendicular to their bed and is mounted over the foot of the bed (not sure if I described that well enough that you'll be able to picture it!).  The dog sleeps up in the loft bed with their ds! :)

[Mommyofalmost6]

We dont have a family bedroom but we do have a family bed or two.... we have a king in our room which houses my husband, me and our two youngest.... the other 4 while they do have their own beds like to sleep on the queen in the girls room... this is when they arent piling on to the king bed in our room..... I havent really given it a thought of who I do and dont know offline who does this... its just natural for me to do it. I have been since I brought my first baby home from the hospital.

[butterfly_mommy]

We have a  family bedroom. we  only have one  bedroom in the house. As of a week ago or so our arrangement is DH and I in a Double bed and DS in a toddler bed about a  foot from my side.

[HeliMom]

We have a family bedroom Queen sized bed, sidecarred crib and a twin bed for DD if she wants  to sleep alone (hasn't happened yet) not sure what we plan to due when the new baby comes though.

[rubidoux]

I'm so happy to see posters w older kids still in the family bed!  We have a king and a twin on the floor next to each other where we all sleep -- me, dh, 7 yo ds and 2 yo ds.  And I think it's about the sweetest arrangement ever!

For those who's kids have decided to move to their own room, how and when did that happen?  I would be fine w my older son staying as long as he wants, but dh is feeling uptight.  He's afraid that when ds gets to college he'll learn that not everyone slept w their parents so long and he'll decide we screwed him up.  :(  I kinda think the opposite will happen, but no matter what I tell dh, he's convinced that no one else allows their children in their beds.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by rubidoux 

I'm so happy to see posters w older kids still in the family bed!  We have a king and a twin on the floor next to each other where we all sleep -- me, dh, 7 yo ds and 2 yo ds.  And I think it's about the sweetest arrangement ever!

For those who's kids have decided to move to their own room, how and when did that happen?  I would be fine w my older son staying as long as he wants, but dh is feeling uptight.  He's afraid that when ds gets to college he'll learn that not everyone slept w their parents so long and he'll decide we screwed him up.  :(  I kinda think the opposite will happen, but no matter what I tell dh, he's convinced that no one else allows their children in their beds.

No advice since mine still are very happily sleeping with us. DH is starting to get antsy about the 8y moving out. She certainly won't be until at least a sibling comes with her (and none of those have any interest in doing so). So I understand but no other helpful advice!
 

[Ornery]

Our younger ones (ages almost 7 and 5) still typically end up in our king sized bed almost every night.  Most nights they start out in their beds in their rooms (simply because when they go to sleep together they tend to stay up late giggling) and are in our bed by 11 or 12. 

As for the pp who was worried about an older child feeling screwed up by sleeping with parents, my 15 yo ds slept with us (well, with just me until I married my DH when he was 6 and then us after that) until he was 8 or 9ish.  He looks back with fondness on those days and sometimes still comes in while we are all going to sleep.  He doesn't cuddle with us or anything but he lays on our floor while we all talk or read books or whatever.  I think the bonding that comes with drifting off to sleep together is the coolest thing!

[megan sacha]

DW, DS who is almost 4, 6 mo old DD and I all sleep in a King bed.  Works for us most of the time.

[rubidoux]

Originally Posted by Ornery 

Our younger ones (ages almost 7 and 5) still typically end up in our king sized bed almost every night.  Most nights they start out in their beds in their rooms (simply because when they go to sleep together they tend to stay up late giggling) and are in our bed by 11 or 12. 

As for the pp who was worried about an older child feeling screwed up by sleeping with parents, my 15 yo ds slept with us (well, with just me until I married my DH when he was 6 and then us after that) until he was 8 or 9ish.  He looks back with fondness on those days and sometimes still comes in while we are all going to sleep.  He doesn't cuddle with us or anything but he lays on our floor while we all talk or read books or whatever.  I think the bonding that comes with drifting off to sleep together is the coolest thing!

Gosh, that's so nice!  I'd love it if Milo feels comfortable and has the inclination to hang out with us all like that when he's 15.  (Otoh, just thinking about him being 15 makes me feel nervous!  lol)

[nktigger99]

I guess you can say we have a family bedroom as of this past weekend.  Up till this point we had our Queen bed and then a sidecarried crib just to give us a little bit more room(so I didn't fall off the bed...lol).  oh I have a 19 month old DD and a 33 month old DS.  Last friday we bought a twin size bed and took down the crib.  so now we have the twin bed next to the queen on the floor for all of us...right now the kids and DH start out in the twin and then DD moves over towards me through the night.  It works out good since in June we are adding twins to our family so they can be in the Queen bed with me. 

The funny thing is we are looking at new houses...and plan on buying a 4 bedroom...knowing full well that all 6 of us will be sleeping in the same bedroom.  but then we can have a playroom,a clothing/changing room for all the kids, and a spare room until the kids chose to move to their own rooms.

[JayGee]

Originally Posted by nktigger99 

I guess you can say we have a family bedroom as of this past weekend.  Up till this point we had our Queen bed and then a sidecarried crib just to give us a little bit more room(so I didn't fall off the bed...lol).  oh I have a 19 month old DD and a 33 month old DS.  Last friday we bought a twin size bed and took down the crib.  so now we have the twin bed next to the queen on the floor for all of us...right now the kids and DH start out in the twin and then DD moves over towards me through the night.  It works out good since in June we are adding twins to our family so they can be in the Queen bed with me. 

The funny thing is we are looking at new houses...and plan on buying a 4 bedroom...knowing full well that all 6 of us will be sleeping in the same bedroom.  but then we can have a playroom,a clothing/changing room for all the kids, and a spare room until the kids chose to move to their own rooms.

We just bought a new house too ~ with 4 bedrooms!  So now we have 4 bedrooms, but only sleep in one of them.  I have a feeling DD1 wants to move to her own room soon (she's almost 7).  We got her new furniture when we moved, but haven't assembled the bed part yet.  She keeps talking about her new bed and how excited she is to sleep in it when we put it together.  Bittersweet.

[cindyihm]

I love sharing the bedroom with my 2DD (3yrs. & 10 mo.).  We live in a 3 bedroom condo, one is used as an office, the other is set up for the 3 year old, but she goes back and forth as to weather or not she wants to sleep in there.  She stated one day this past fall that she wanted to sleep there, this was the first time ever, so we got her all set up.  She was good for a few weeks, then slowly started coming back to our bedroom.  In our bedroom, we have a place on the floor with extra padding and blankets, as the queen bed is too small for DH, myself, the 10 mo. old AND the 3yr. old.  We tried to use the co-sleeper bassinet for a while, but that never really worked with the 10 mo. old. 

Edited by cindyihm - 3/9/11 at 9:04pm

[Shannie77]

We have a girls room and a boys room. :P  I sleep in the master bedroom with our two daughters (almost 4 and 1) and DH and our dog sleep in the kids room.  DH cannot sleep with me and the girls.  DD1 is a terrible sleeper and thrashes around a lot.  This arrangement works well for us, although I would really like to get DD1 in her own bed (next to mine).