Should Children Have Their Own Bedrooms?

Sezzagirl

With no comment on whether I think this is right......

I am sure that I heard that under the "bedroom tax", Children of the same sex are expected to be able to share until the oldest is 16. If they are different sexes, I think it is until the oldest is 11

pukkamum

In our house we shared on a rotating basis, every so often we would get the boxroom to ourselves,and have whatever posters etc we wanted, without your big sister refusing to let you hang your Stone Roses poster up.
It worked well mum was always good at spotting when we were getting fed up with each other, and moved us round.

hayhay2010

I shared with older sister only 18 months between us no problem, however when much younger sister came along 13 year age gap it was not so much of the issue with 3 of us being in the same room but the age difference. not allowed in your room after 630pm being woken up during the night also no space to study. I moved out as soon a could at 17.
My boys 5 + 3 although they both have there own room chose to share.

Peter999_2

When I was about 11 I went round to my friends house. I remember being amazed that he shared a bedroom with 2 of his brothers - I'd just presumed that children always got their own bedroom (I always presumed that everybodys childhood was the same as mine, it wasn't until I was a lot older that I realised that not everyone had a loving mother and father who would do anything for you)

My bedroom was the tiniest you could imagine, it had to have a sliding door as there wasn't enough room to open a normal door. I loved it though - really liked being able to shut the door and be away from my brother when I wanted to be.

I don't think there is any right or wrong, it totally depends on what the children are like and how you bring them up (if you never give a child a choice they tend to just get on with it in my experience).

Now I'm grown up, I would never have more children than rooms - it would be important to me that each child gets its own room.

If my wife gets pregnant again by accident, I would move to a house with another bedroom. My daughter has turned out to be very much like me and I know she loves having her own bedroom.

Goldiegirl

When my mum was a child, she didn't only share a room with her two sisters, she had to share a bed with them too.

I was an only child. So I never had to share, but the family next door but one had four children. The two eldest girls were 11 months apart, there was a boy about six years younger, and then when the eldest were about 11 - 12, another girl came along.

(They were a Catholic family, and I don't think the parents were very skilled at the rhythm method of contraception !)

Anyway, all 4 kids shared a room until the boy was about 11' when they got a three bedroom council house so the boy could have his own room.

I think it's nice if children can have their own room if possible and if they want one, but generally children just accept what they've always known. If they've always shared, they'll just get on with it.

There could be a problem if a child has been an only, and then a very late sibling was born, and they were expected to share with that much younger sibling. But if all the kids are the same age, they'll accept sharing as the norm

meritaten

some kids like to share - others don't. my sons identical twins have had to stop sharing a bedroom because the division of space was causing arguments (or was it WW3?) one twin now shares with the youngest and the other twin has her own room. its a bit more peaceful now.

Desperado99

The idea of kids sharing doesn't bother me (but then as the only girl I never had to) whereas OH was adamant (goes into a rendition of 'Stand and Deliver' LOL) that 'Our Kids' would never share (only had one, so not an issue). This was because he shared with his brother (bunk beds) until he moved out in his early 20's.

But as others have said, it's a luxury not a necessity.

onlyroz

Need? No. Is it preferable for the kids to have their own room? Yes. My daughter is continually sneaking into my son's room and destroying his lego, stealing his toys etc. It's a constant battle to keep her out of there, and my son gets quite upset at the invasion to his privacy. There's no way I'd want them sharing permanently, but if circumstances meant that it was the only option then we'd cope.

pollyanna24

Interesting thread and whilst I would love my kids to have their own room, I'm a single mum, own a 3bed house with my brother, so there is no choice in the matter at the moment.

Their room is so small that I've just bought bunkbeds, they've both been in cotbeds up till now.

I've decided that if, when they get to 10 and 8 (they are 4 and 2 now), we are still in this house, then I will give them my room as it is quite a bit bigger than theirs.

Other than that, I just don't know what to do unless we move out farther away from London. If I still own with my brother, then we will be able to afford more, but I'm not sure if either of us want that long term.

PasturesNew

30 years ago my mate, who was 13, was sleeping in her parents' room. You'd go in the door, along the side of her parents' bed; at the foot of their bed was a row of wardrobes and her bed was behind them. Her two, older, sisters shared the 2nd bedroom.