When people visit our house and learn that we have 2 bedrooms up and 2 bedrooms down, the inevitable question is, “where do the kids sleep?”
Truth be told, we didn’t even look at this house on our first day house-hunting, for that reason. Most families with more than one child need (or think they need) three bedrooms upstairs.
It wasn’t until we decided to look at this house, give it a chance, that we fell in love with it in person and realized that our kids could very easily share a bedroom since the rooms are so huge!
And then we got pregnant with baby #3. Now what do we do? Here’s the answer – well, the “for now” answer. Babies are tiny and don’t take up a lot of space, I say, so for the time being baby is rooming with us (our bedroom is really big too).
We’re cosleeping for now, and down the road when she’s a little bigger, Everleigh will nap in her crib in our room but for now naps are in the mamaRoo or bouncy chair or bassinet (you’ve got to love it when a baby will sleep just about anywhere).
Right now we have two twin beds in the kid’s bedroom with plenty of room to spare so I have been debating the idea of twin over twin bunk beds (the basic style we’re all familiar with) for the older kids, and a crib on the other side (thinking a year or so down the road). I know the kids would absolutely love bunk beds (to be fair I would give the top bunk to the oldest, there’s got to be some perks to being the big brother right?) To balance out the perks, there’s also the option of twin over full bunk beds, so that the lower bed is bigger (an advantage on either level, let’s say).
Is three kids in one room too much? Maybe. Elijah is almost 7 and he thinks he will be just fine moving to a downstairs bedroom but both my husband and I don’t think it would last very long (he is prone to bad dreams and hollering out in the middle of the night, and that’s a long walk downstairs!) At least I have (about) a year or so to decide what we’re going to do. Moving isn’t an option right now so we have to figure it out in time.
We had bunk beds that was a double on the bottom and twin on top for my boys when they were younger and we only were living in a 2 bedroom place. They are 3 years apart and LOVED it. Eventually the older one decided that he needed his own space and he moved into his own room downstairs – right about the time that I got pregnant with our little girl, so that worked out well, LOL!
I loved having the double bed on the bottom. It was an easier transition from crib to bed for my younger son because it was wider so he didn’t fall off the bed so much. It was great when we had company or when the boys decided to “have a sleepover” with a blanket hanging off the side so they slept in a tent. And I especially loved it for those long nights when one was sick or having bad dreams and wanted cuddles. Those twin beds just aren’t near as comfy for Mommy, LOL!
Good luck with your decision. 🙂
Would the downstairs bedroom be suitable for your room and the children use the upstairs room? We have 3 rooms with 5 of us. My husband and I have the largest with the baby (in her crib)in our room, 9 year old in the medium room and 3 year old in smallest room. We plan to put bunk beds (twin over twin) in our 3 year old’s room so the two youngest will eventually share a room. It seems like a great idea and having all girls makes it simple.
Hope you are able to find a great solution for you and your family. Either way they will be fine. Kids spend most their time playing throughout the house and outside anyways.
I think you just have to talk it over as a family and decide what’s right for everyone. My nephew’s share a room and they love it. We don’t have our kids share a room, but that’s just because we had the nursery all decorated. Isaak naturally went in it. We just kept him in the nursery, but repainted. His room is too small to share.
These are the exact same questions going through my mind. I am hoping to get a bassinet (or win the one here! lol) so that I can room the baby with me for awhile before I have to make a real decision.
good luck!
When my sister in law got pregnant with twins (girl & boy), there was no question that they would share a room down the road since she has only 3 bedrooms. The twins are 4 and share a bunk bed. 2 years ago their older girl (now 7) decided she didn’t want to sleep by herself and they moved her bed with the twins. They are still sharing a room and use the other one as play room. It’s worked out well for them.
My 3 older girls all shared a room and bunk beds twin on top/double lower for many many years. It wasn’t until we bought this house that they switched to 2 in each room. Now that my youngest is old enough she has moved upstairs with her siblings and we have 3 kids in one room, 2 in the other. It has worked out well for us. Once they get older we will have to come up with something new, because my son will need his own, non female space. So in short no I don’t think 3 to a room is too much. LOL.
Our 3 kiddos are 2 girls and a boy as well, with our son being the youngest. Our girls have shared a room since he was born and love it.
We currently have bunk beds which can be converted to two separate twin beds at anytime. We started w/ our oldest on the top bunk, until she told her sister spiders could get her down there. We had them switch LOL!
Other than the normal sibling junk every parent deals with, they do wonderfully. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that when we get a 4th bedroom in our next house, they’ll be sad to separate.
I have 4 bedrooms and 8 children living at home. Here is how we do it. Three boys ages 14, 10 , 3 share one room with a bunk and a single bed. Three girls ages 12, 8, 6 share one bedroom, also a bunk and a single bed. Oldest daughter has two twins beds in her room but she is alone. baby co-sleeps with us for now. Soon it will be like this. Boys stay the same. 12 yr old move in with oldest DD. and Baby moves up to girls room. So plenty of room and oh BTW baby #10 is due in October lolol
I’m all for the three in one room plan. My friends do it (ages 7, 5 and almost 1) and it works great for them. They don’t do bunks anymore because their son is just too rambunctious and likes to climb and jump.
I’ve heard too many horror stories from my PT friend about bunk beds to put mine in them (though my brother and I had bunk beds and while we both fell out of them on multiple occasions, the worst that ever happened was a dislocated shoulder).