I have a 3 year old boy and a 1 year old little girl. The only down fall to my house which I love is it does not have an extra room for them to play. So that leaves them playing in the living area and their bedrooms which are pretty large. So my question is what is your thought on having them sleep in the same room and make one of their rooms a play room? They will already go into the rooms and play bythemselves some, but I am wondering if it would help the focus. I have a plan how I would arange their toys and everything. Please let me know any suggestions or opinions you have on this idea!!!
Thanks!
Thank you all for you responses!!! They were each very helpful and made me think of many different things when it comes to sharing rooms! SOOO, last night we changes the house around...they were in the same room together and my little boy thought it was "AWESOME" to have his little sister in there with him. They slept all night...the only problem came this morning when my little girl woke up at 7:00 (her normal time) and my little boy did not get up until 7:15 (normal time)!! He was very upset that his sister was not still in the room and got scared. If that is the only problem I encounter I am VERY THANKFUL and BLESSED!!! I want them to be close and care for one another not be annoyed if teh other one comes near their "STUFF"!! Again, thank you all for your thoughts and just in case you are wondering they will NOT be sharing a room when they are older I do believe in giving them the space they need!!! :)
Think about the long-term consequences of them sharing a room. You will need to separate them within a couple of years anyway, why bother messing with the system. Are they happy? let them be!
They will sleep better with their own rooms. I would clean out their rooms of everything but a single bed and dresser. Keep the clothes to a minimum. Keep their toys in rubbermaid bins in the closet and rotate the bins. Let them play in either room while awake, or separate them as need be. He needs time to build without her knocking things down. You might even want to get a gate for his room so he can have some quiet time.
Let their rooms be their play rooms as well. They need their seperate space. Teach them about cleaning up when they are done, or before they go to bed, and you will be working with 2 valuable lessons in one. Good luck and God Bless.
There is nothing wrong with your children sharing a room. My son and daughter are 2 yrs apart (now 3 and 5) and they have been sharing a room for 2 years. Sometimes they do play before bed when they are supposed to be sleeping but most of the time it works just fine. Do what works for your family. Some people will say boys and girls shouldn't share a room but at this age it really doesen't matter. By the time they are old enough to want or need their own rooms they will be old enough to not need a playroom.
Do what works for your family and the space you have. Good luck!
****EDITED TO ADD****
There is NO LAW in any state that says opposite sex children in a private home can't share a room beyond a certain age. In the foster care system there is a rule in place. There are also stipulations that can be put in place when adopting but those are set by the agency and or adoptive parents NOT the government!
My children shared a room, I just recently separated them. My daughter is 6 1/2 and my son is 3 1/2. When they played they played together and toys were dragged back and forth form room to room until I put them in the same room and made the other room a "play room". It's wonderful for me too. Even though they do a great job cleaning up and picking up after themselves it's just not a tidy as I would like...it all goes in the playroom and I don't have to look at it all over the house. I think it's a great idea. Mine had separate twin beds, but my son ( the youngest) always ended up snuggled up to his sister in her bed. I think it's fine for them to share a room.
One thing to consider is your state laws. Some states require that children past a certain age can no longer share a room with the opposite gender (I'm thinking it is around age 5 or 6).
I'd leave it as is and let them stay with what they have grown accustomed to and just make cleanup part of the bedtime routine.
My boys (5 years old and 18 months old) seem to do better cleaning up if they have a certain bin for each type of item rather than one big box for everything. Stuffed animals go one place, cars/trucks another, books another, etc.
My two boys (5 & 3) have shared a room since my younger son started sleeping in a crib (we co-slept some, and had him in a bassinet some), so since about 6 months. They love it and wouldn't have it any other way; but there were times, especially nap and bedtimes, when I *wish* that we had them in separate rooms, because one would wake the other, or keep the other awake by crying or being rambunctious. Your nap/sleep situation may be different (my older son took naps fairly regularly till he was well past 4, but my nephew gave up his nap before he was 3); but very likely if one child wakes up crying (bad dream or getting 2-year molars or whatever), the other child will likely wake up. If both kids are pretty easily settled if awakened in the middle of the night, then it should be okay; but if either tends to stay up if woken up, or cries for an hour, or something, then you may wish they were in separate rooms. Also, if one is an early riser while the other sleeps in, this may mess things up.
Another thing to take into account is the whole "whose mess is this?" problem -- much easier when they have separate rooms, and his room is his mess, while her room is her mess.
But having all toys in the play-room, while no toys are kept in the bedrooms can be helpful too -- the bedrooms will be easier to keep clean, and they will more strongly associate the bedroom with sleep, so will be less likely to stay up and play (particularly with no toys), when they're supposed to be sleeping. My boys have never had a problem with staying up at bedtime; but when they were outgrowing their naps, they frequently would play with their room full of toys instead of just going to sleep.
I think, all things considered (including boy-girl toys; I only have to deal with boy toys, and my boys share their toys and play equally with all the Thomas and Bob the Builder stuff they have), I would keep them in separate rooms. Sometimes it is just nice to a have separate space for them to retreat to, when they have a little too much togetherness.
Either of your options sound fine to me, though.
I do not see a problem with it since bedrooms are for sleeping and at that young age, there isn't an issue with different gender. Just make sure each child has their own bed in the bedroom and turn the other room into a playroom. In a few years, when your son starts wanting privacy, you may need to revert back to separate bedrooms. My brother and sister shared a room until the older of the two was about 8yrs old (the younger was about 6yrs old).
Since they are different genders, I would keep the separate bedrooms - unless you want them playing doctor in their room in the middle of the night sometime in the future. Kids have a natural curiosity and I think having their own rooms is safest.
It would actually be better since they are boy/girl to get them used to having separate bedrooms. I have 4 kids and 3 bedrooms my 3 girls share a room. Its better just to either have them play in living room or their bedrooms.
I had my three youngest share a room in CA when we had no space. It worked out fine. Even after we moved my son, who was 3 at the time, would take his little self and go sleep with his sisters.
I would ask the almost 3 y.o. if he wants to sleep in the same room as his sister. If he is okay with it then go for it. If not then make a plan to clear the toy clutter from your living room. I had an inhome daycare center and the playroom was the first room you came into. We kept the toys in baskets, buckets and on shelves. In the late morning,before lunch we had a clean up time. We also did one in the afternoon. We also had the rule of not more than one thing out for each child. Good Luck and God Bless
C.,
Sharing a room at such a young age is cool. It's not until your son becomes older that he'll want or need his own space. I vote for a play room and shared bedroom! Good luck.
A 3 year old and a 1 year old are babies !!! No need to worry about their sharing a room. Our two, a little bit farther apart than yours, shared a bedroom until our son
was getting ready for Kindergarten.
Put them together if you wish, arrange your house the way you want your house to be.
You are planning a way to confine toys, not confine children, and I can't blame you !!!!!
G. Wells
Not too long ago most families had to share bedrooms. I had to share a room with my brother until my oldest sister got married it was never a problem for us. We NEVER played doctor or any such nonsense. It never even crossed our minds and it really disturbs me that people tend to think that a child would even think that way. I was a teenager when I finally got my own room. Of course I loved having my own space especially at that age but when my little brother came into my room sometimes and wanted to sleep on the floor I never told him to go back to his room.
We are fortunate enough to have the space for my son and daughter to have separate rooms and another room for their toys but if our house wasn't big enough for that I would never hesitate to put them in the same room. I have very fond memories of the years I shared a bedroom with my sister and brother. I think we are closer as adults because of it.
Can't believe the craziness I'm reading on here. You'll know as a mother when they need their privacy. My mother slept in a vestabule until she was 16, and my grandmother was the youngest of 13, and her parents were poor as dirt, so who knows where they all slept, but I'm certain they didn;t have a home with 14 bedrooms. Your kids are so young, as long as it won't interfere with everyone's sleep, then you have a right to make your home as you see fit.
I say go for it! When we had just 2 boys, my dad came to visit so I had my younger son bunk in with my older son. After my dad left, they wanted to keep it that way and it was so nice to use the other room as a playroom. For the most part, the toys stayed in there and our house was so much cleaner! We now have a 3 month old daughter so I had to put all of the toys in the boys' bedroom to make a room for her. It is awful! I hate them having so many toys in their bedroom and we have caught them getting back up to play or to put toys in their beds. Plus, they are constantly bringing the toys out to the living room to play again because they need more room. I'm hoping we will be able to upgrade soon because it gets pretty stressful having all of the clutter. As far as them being opposite sexes, I don't think it's a big deal at all. I'm the youngest of 5 kids and I played the most with my brother who is 2 years older and my sister who is 4 years older. We took turns sharing a room with each other off and on for a few years and not because we needed the extra space. We just wanted to and my parents never tried to stop us...and there was never any "playing doctor" going on in the room. We had a playroom so we only went into the bedroom when it was time to go to sleep. Also, a friend of mine has boy/girl twins and they just moved to separate rooms and are 6 years old.
I think it's a good idea. My 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter share a room. They are a comfort to each other. It's nice to have separate spaces for sleeping and playing. It helps avoid insomnia and other sleep issues if the bedroom is only for sleeping and dressing.
We plan on getting them their own rooms eventually, when they want it. Right now they both say they love sharing a room and wouldn't change a thing. Probably a separate room would be more important just prior to puberty when kids get more private about their bodies.
"Playing Doctor" is not something that siblings of opposite gender tend to do because they are already familiar with each others bodies. You're more likely to hear "get dressed, I don't want to see THAT!" Right now my kids have no problems with running around naked so the issue hasn't come up.
