Mixed sex children sharing rooms

hobbesy_2

Hi all,

Just pondering our current situation. Bought our house 3 and a half years ago when our little man was about 6 months old. We moved to Kent from Surrey so that we could buy our own place, and even then its a very small 2 bed in an ok area.

We now have a little girl too. She is 15 months and little man has just turned four. With him in a toddler bed and her in her cot both in the same room. We'd love to be able to move to a bigger house but to be honest saving moving costs just isn't happening, (mainly due to things keep happening that needs fixing, like all our fence falling down in gales) and even if we could save those costs we'd be moving to a house the same price as we're not at a point to increase our mortgage, so would therefore probably be moving to a not so great area.

My question is how long is it ok for these two to be sharing a room? I'm quite good at using space so the issue of where all their stuff would go in their little room isn't the query, its just the whole boy/girl sharing thing.

Our loft cannot be converted, and besides that would cost more than a house move. We cannot extend, and again would cost more.A conservatory could give us a little more space but doesn't solve the bedroom issue. We're dealing with debts, and although we're doing ok, borrowing money for the moving costs is not a solution either (unless they get to teens and we're still stuck! :eek: )

Keri -x-

amandada

I think you've still got a good few years of sharing left, given that they're both still very young, and there's not that huge an age gap between them. I think that staying in the area you're happy living in and the children sharing a room far outweighs the pereceived benefit of them having a room each, but living in an area where you may not be as happy.
As long as they're not killing each other I'm sure they'll be fine.

MXW

I shared a bedroom with my brother until I was 15, he was 10. Not ideal, but needs must! Most of the time I got in bed with him because he had the one and only electric blanket in the house and we had no central heating! x

3KIDSNOMONEY

Think until the oldest is about 10 you can get away with it.

These days you can buy room dividers and so maybe something like that would be worth a try when they are a little older.

If you have 2 sitting rooms downstairs maybe you could use one of those as a bedroom.

squashy

My DS (4) and DD (7) have their own rooms with bunk beds which they then share with my step DS and step DD when they come, totalling 4 beds. However, given the choice they love to snuggle up in the same bed! The older one reads to the younger one for hours then they drift off, when we check on them after they have fallen asleep they are usually cuddled up together. It's so cute!

I'm not in the slightest bit bothered by this as a couple of generations ago people regularly had 6 kids plus grandad to squeeze into their 2 up 2 down and everyone just bunked up where they could.

I would say until one of them specifically asks for a bit of privacy then it's not a problem.

poe.tuesday

my daughter is nearly 10 and my boy is 7, they share a room and will do so until they leave home, unless we sell up, that's just the way it is, they (at the mo) wouldn't have it any other way, they get on so well and keep each other company, they hate not being in the room together when it's bed time, they chat and read each other stories

I like them sharing, just as well really as there is no other choice

looby75

my dd is 14 and my ds is 6 and they have to share a bedroom as we live in a 2 bed house and there is no possibility of us being able to move to a bigger house for the foreseeable future.

It's a total PITA and far from ideal but we manage. It's not going to kill either of them.

hobbesy_2

Thank you everyone. I'm not concerned in the slightest at the moment, but didn't want to feel I was working to some kind of deadline that in a couple of years we absolutely had to move. DH is doing well at work and should continue to do so over the next few years but the pay increases at each stage are pretty small and the last one was pretty much taken up in increased train fares as he now has to work in central London. Hopefully in a few years time we'll be in a better situation. I didn't like the idea of us scrimping and saving constantly to move to a house that was no better and possibly in a worse area, just with one extra room.

At this stage the two of them love each other very much. Lets see how long it lasts!

thanks again, keep the comments coming

Keri -x-

ps. Downstairs is open plan, and small, so no chance of converting a dining room. And room is too small to be looknig at a divider at any point. We won't be able to do this at all without the help of bunks (shorty bunks at that I think)

artic_fox_2

i have a 9year old dd and a 7 year old ds who share a room and they hate it but the local council have just changed the regulations so we are not elegible for a 3 bed till dd is 10
what was most annoying was we'd just got to the top of the list when they changed it

Snaggles

I'm having this dilemma too...

I have a 6 year old son, and a daughter due in 5 weeks. The baby will be in with us for a few months, and then will have to share with her brother.

I don't think I'll get away with it for long though, as while I'm sure the baby wont care/mind, I can't imagine an 8 or 9 year old boy wanting his 'little sister' sharing his room.

Extending or converting the loft are not options for us because we've got a weird house on a weird shaped plot, so we're resigned to having to spend a fortune to move to somewhere with a 3rd bedroom.

tanith

It doesn't seem to matter to the council if you are overcrowded and different sex siblings have to share... my daughter has a 2 bed maisonette and her children have to share a girl of 13 and boy of 9 , as others have said its not ideal but they have no alternative and get on ok... the eldest uses the bathroom as her changing room , they do argue about space but what kids don't... in an ideal world things would be different....

To the OP you have years to go before you need worry....