Siblings sharing a room?

[Lora]

Just wanted to get some opinions on how it is to share a room. I have two boys who are 19 months apart and am considering TTC another child in the future. My dilemma is that we live in three bedroom house and it is highly unlikely that we will buy a bigger home especially considering the fact that I am now only working part-time. If we were to have a third the boys would have to share a room. The room that they would share is pretty large but I am just not sure how it would work out. I have no experience sharing a room because I only had a younger brother and we each had our own rooms growing up.

Please share any advice or experience that you can!

Lora

[Mandy]

I think that if they share a room early on, they'll never know anything different and will be a lot closer to each other. I shared a room with my sister growing up and it was nice. I think it is a good thing for siblings to share a room.

We also have a three bedroom house and the rooms aren't huge (12 x 12) but I'm going to be putting two kids in each room when the time comes. We're planning on my DD, Emma (14 months) and my DS, Jacob, (who's due in a month), sharing a room until #3 comes along (hopefully when Jacob is about 2 1/2). Once we find out if that one is a boy or girl, Jacob will move to his own room and the new baby will share a room with whoever has the same sex.

[kim]

i shared a room with my sister (3 yrs younger) until i went off to college. i would not describe it as a pleasant experience :rolleyes:, lots of fighting. in fact, i could not stand her until i went away, and then poof! friends :lol:

anyway, boys seem to handle it better, my 2 younger brothers shared a room as well and did fine. (my parents had 5 kids in a 3 br house :rolleyes: my older brother got a makeshift room in the basement once #5 came along.)

when i was growing up one of my friends was the baby of 7 kids. she shared her room with 3 of her sisters :eek:

[Nichole]

My two younger sisters shared a room (I guess I got lucky as the oldest) and they were really close. In fact, I was a little jealous when I was younger, and spent most of my time hanging out in their room with them. :)

I think it doesn't really become an issue until the kids get older and are wanting more privacy.

[Lissa]

We are planning on our kids sharing a room --- until they are 2 and 4 if they are boy/girl and older if we have another girl. I think it is nice when they are little to have a roommate. I figure once they start wanting some independence we can separate them. :)

[Brandi Jo]

I shared a room with my younger sister until I was 16. Most people ask for a car for their 16th birthday, I asked for a wall. That's how much I hated it!! I don't think I would ever make my kids share a room :) JMO though

[Karri]

My boys will share a room, even though we have a 4 br house. If they dont like it, well....tough sh*t :lol:

[Alyssa]

Right now, they are in seperate rooms, but if we have #3, someone will be sharing a room unless we get lucky enough to afford the new house we want!!

I've been considering putting Aidan in Colin's room regardless - and actually thought of starting that way, but then feared losing too much sleep. Given how close both of our boys are, Lora, it could work quite well. :)

[MaryNH]

FWIW-Tim McGraw and Faith Hill own a six bedroom farmhouse..and their girls share a room:)

[Faye]

I grew up in a 3bedroom home with 3 other siblings. I had to share a room with my older brother. He was 6 years older than me. My children are also 6 years apart in age and I would have no problem letting them share a room, however, I would try very hard not to have to do that. :) My son is used to having his own space.

[MizLacey]

My kids are 2 years apart, the older is a girl and the younger a boy. They shared a room from the time my son was 8 weeks until she was 6 and he was 4. After they got their own rooms, they were begging all the time to have "sleepovers" in each other's rooms.

Now that they are 16 and 14, and don't live together (dau is with me; son with ex), they don't share ever. Sometimes my ex and I find that the 'home' child is camped out in the living room with the visiting child, though. Generally the TV is on, too.

Both kids have said to me individually that even though they aren't great friends right now, they're glad they used to share because they still remember it as being fun. If we'd been able to afford a bigger apartment, we would have, but it worked for us.

[Lora]

Thanks ladies for all of your advice. It's good to know that sharing a room is not always a bad experience. Even if we don't have #3 I still may go ahead and just let them share the bigger room. Being that they are so close in age it might be a good experience for them!

Lora

[Amy]

Our girls will be 15 months apart, and we are planning for them to share a room from day 1. We have a 3BR house, but one room is a guest/computer room, and since all of our family is out of town and there's no space in the living room for our computer, we really need the 3rd room for that purpose.

Growing up, I shared a room with my sister (6 1/2 years younger than me) from the time she was 6 months old until I got married at age 20. I HATED it in my teens, but mainly because of our age difference...if we'd been closer in age it wouldn't have been so bad, but she was an annoying 10 year old when I was 16 and wanted my private space. I moved back home at 21 after my divorce, and got my own room then (mom's old sewing room downstairs).

I also found out recently that my MIL grew up as the only girl in a family of 5 kids...in a TWO br house!! DH said he thinks she slept in her parents room until they moved when she was in HIGH SCHOOL...no way.....I realize they didn't have much money, but no way would I want my child sleeping in my room until high school. Ick.