I was just thinking about this because up until now we only had two bedrooms. So my dk's had to share. They are right now 4.5 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. In a month or so we will have our addition ready to move into. So both kids will have there own room. I am betting though that they will not want to be seperated. They have there own beds (BTW) They have shared a room for so long. I also think my oldest is going to be smart enough to figure out that we are all the way upstairs to. My dk's have always been good sleepers and go to bed well on there own. But I am wondering if part of this is because there was someone else there. Just curious if anyone else had dealt with this? Personally I am fine if they want to contiue letting them sleep in the same room for at least another year or two.

By Rita on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 03:16 pm:

I'd say until they are 7 yrs old it should be fine!

By Babysitbarb on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 03:30 pm:

I think I would try to do the seperating when the addition is done. Growing up I sleep in the same room with my brothers until I was almost 12 and that was because we lived in a 2 bedroom house. We had bunk beds. I slept on the bottom bunk and my brother's on the top bunk. My brother's would have been like 13 and 7 and that was to old to still be in the same room but, we didn't have any other options until my parents bought a bigger house. It will probably be a hard transaction for both kids so it might have to be done slowly.

By Colette on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 04:16 pm:

I had three in one bedroom until we got our addition finished. I remember thinking the same thing. They were 5, 3, and 1. The one year old didn't know anything was different and I made a big deal out of the older two helping me pick out things for their rooms. It went very well, much better than I thought it would.

By Truestori on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 06:38 pm:

Beth,

I'm not much help with what age is too old, but I do know the transition may go smoother if you use the "new room" as a fun, good, exciting adventure. After the room has been there for sometime it will not be as appealing and it may be harder to seperate them...goodluck

By Babysitbarb on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 06:46 pm:

I meant Transition not Trasnsaction. sorry Barb

By Mommyathome on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 09:50 pm:

I would go for separating then now as well. As far as "too old" for a boy and girl to share...it depends on the kids and the family etc.

But IMO it would be easier for them to separate now rather than waiting until they are even more attached and then trying to separate them.

My 4 and 3 yr old DD's shared a room up until about a year ago. They didn't mind at all switching to their own rooms. They loved having 2 rooms to play in rather than just one. They are back to sharing a room now (we moved to a smaller house) and they do fine together again.

By Familyman on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 10:34 pm:

Personally I'd wait until they're ready. They'll let you know. We always shared rooms growing up until we made it quite clear that we wanted out. I think I was about 11 when I moved out to one of our outbuildings for the summer. I was a charming child.

By Colette on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 11:39 pm:

Also thought I'd mention, whichever child gets to keep the "old" room. You'd still want to do something to make it "new" to them. My oldest 2 still occasionally camp out in each other's rooms and they are 12 and 10 now.

By Palmbchprincess on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - 04:44 pm:

This is just the military's perspective on this. They will give us a three bedroom house when the kids are 2-3 years old. They do not want opposite sex children sharing a room after 3 or so. I'm not sure it really matters that young, but that's the rules here. I think you should so what you want, and what the kids want. If you can give each of them their own room maybe your should, just so they each have a space to themselves. I've never had to share a room with a sibling, so I don't know from experience, but I know most kids hate it.

By Mechelle on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - 09:40 pm:

The state told me (My DCFS state lady), that a boy/a girl should not share a room, after the age of 5.
Why I dunno.
I put mine in thier own bedrooms when they were uh gosh I gotta think here LOL...........Ds was 5 and DD was 4....but anyway thats when I did mine.

By Annie2 on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 04:50 pm:

My girls started to become modest of their bodies around the age of 8. They started to recognize and understand that boys and girls have different bodies.
They also wanted to have their own space and privacy for themselves. This would probably be the age I would consider giving them their own bedrooms.
Your situation opens up the perfect oppurtunity to do so. Of course they still may want to sleep in the same room, maybe on the floor in a sleeping bag on the weekends, etc. But having their own rooms will give them the available space for privacy when they need it.

By Feona on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 06:50 am:

In New York the rents are so high that kids have to share a room or a hallway untill they are out of the house.