BlsdMama Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 What's your bed configuration? Do you like it? Is it something you did by choice? We have almost always paired big kids with little kids. But currently our oldest 2 have their own rooms, purely because it makes studying so much easier. Our basement is almost done and it will turn our house into 7 bedrooms so we're currently planning who will share rooms. We are considering having a nursery next to our room. It's a large bedroom with two closets and big windows. We're considering putting 3-4 of the little kids in there. We have a number of options - twin over full bunks, a toddler bed, a full, two twins, one crib, two cribs..... I think we could do a footprint of three beds comfortably. Four wouldn't be great. Definitely: 1yo girl 2yo boy Optional: 4yo girl The baby will be here in June but will room with us for the first 6-12 months. Suggestions? Pros? Cons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have 4 in a room. A twin over full bunkbed for the 3 girls and the crib for the 2 year old boy. I would put the toddler in the boy room but there is not enough space for the crib in there and eldest will go to college next year so toddler will take his bed when he is gone. Anyways there is not a ton of floor space and I can only get 3 dressers in there (so toddler's clothes are stored on the changing table in the living room) but with a 1, 2, and 4 year old you probably don't need a whole dresser for each. The only downside I can see is that I would have a hard time getting that many littles to settle down for a nap at the same time. I would probably end up putting them to sleep in different rooms and then moving them after they were asleep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Y Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have a bunk and a single/twin bed in one room for our 3 youngest. The room is super big, so that isn't a problem. The problem is getting the 2 youngest ones to actually sleep in their beds. They prefer the couches in the L.R. next to our room. And the only one left in the big bedroom alone often sleeps on the floor. :confused1: :willy_nilly: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We currently have three in one room, but Sagg wants to move back in. In our new house, they will all four share. Luna is staying with us. Right now, we have a day bed and two mattress and box spring combos. The new house is smaller. I think we will give the master suite to the kids. We will have a bunk bed, a day bed, and a trundle. There will also be room for Luna's crib/toddler/day bed if we decide to add her in there later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have 4 in a room. A twin over full bunkbed for the 3 girls and the crib for the 2 year old boy. I would put the toddler in the boy room but there is not enough space for the crib in there and eldest will go to college next year so toddler will take his bed when he is gone. Anyways there is not a ton of floor space and I can only get 3 dressers in there (so toddler's clothes are stored on the changing table in the living room) but with a 1, 2, and 4 year old you probably don't need a whole dresser for each. The only downside I can see is that I would have a hard time getting that many littles to settle down for a nap at the same time. I would probably end up putting them to sleep in different rooms and then moving them after they were asleep. SUCH good thoughts!!! Thank you. So I have a big dresser in the closet already. With a hanging rod and such short clothes (little people) the dresser is long/low so it has eight good size drawers for the shorties. I think it will work great for that. I've been planning for naptimes.... I think we'll have Cate (2) nap on my bed. Then we'll have William (1yo) actually nap in his room. The new baby will nap on me, lol, as always. The problem is the 4yo.......... But we have a project closet and we make "nests" in there right now for naptime. So I'm thinking that is a very viable solution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 We currently have three in one room, but Sagg wants to move back in. In our new house, they will all four share. Luna is staying with us. Right now, we have a day bed and two mattress and box spring combos. The new house is smaller. I think we will give the master suite to the kids. We will have a bunk bed, a day bed, and a trundle. There will also be room for Luna's crib/toddler/day bed if we decide to add her in there later. We actually did this once for our girls - all older girls shared the master with their own bath. It worked REALLY well. This "new-ish" house for us is working well.... We're working on the basement now and when it is fully complete, the oldest six kids will share the basement - complete with their own living room, bathroom/shower, laundry, and WATER HEATER, lol! The walls are up, the windows are in, it's wired with new lighting, so now we just have texture/paint and carpet left. We're working on the mudding/texture now and will hopefully have everything painted by the end of December and then new flooring put in with taxes and we'll be DONE! So excited to have it complete. We've been doing almost all of the the work ourselves and it has been a lot of work! :D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We did bunks and a crib. At one point we had bunks and two cribs in the same room. The ages were more spread, though, so only the youngest two napped. It doesn't leave floor space to play unless the room is huge, but I just had them play somewhere else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Yes, we currently do although the very youngest likes to sleep in the older girls' room most nights. We have had various configurations, but this one seems to be the best for the moment. Because our bedrooms are huge it is easy to change them up. My 8, 7, and (almost) 5 year old are all in the same room. One child is in a twin and another in a custom house bed that can be used as a bunk (the bottom bunk area is being used as open play space) and the third child is still in a toddler bed. A couple of years ago we had the now 8 and 7 year olds in a room together and although it was directly next to our master bedroom, it just didn't work. My preference and original plan was to have my 12 year old in with the younger girls. She requested to share with two of her older sisters. Our room division is currently 18yo dd has her own room; 16, 14, and 12 yo dds in another room; 8, 7, and 5 dds in their bedroom/playroom; 11 and 9 yo boys have a room. Of course, dh and I have the master. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We've had our four boys and two bunks in the master. They would prefer to still be together but the rooms are smaller so that's not possible. Now we have two in the master/playroom and 3 in another. We love having the kids in the master. After 8, no one is allowed to come into the the living areas to get to the kitchen for water or use the bathrooms or showers. They have no they need in their rooms and DH and I have the house to ourselves. We love that. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We've had our four boys and two bunks in the master. They would prefer to still be together but the rooms are smaller so that's not possible. Now we have two in the master/playroom and 3 in another. We love having the kids in the master. After 8, no one is allowed to come into the the living areas to get to the kitchen for water or use the bathrooms or showers. They have no they need in their rooms and DH and I have the house to ourselves. We love that. :) In our old house we had our older girls in the master bedroom for a while. I liked it, dh did not. It isn't possible in this house due to its configuration and ratio of baths to bedrooms, but it would be *my* ideal. The next house we purchase, I will insist on a masterish type area for the kids for exactly the reasons you stated. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Our 3 share a room(5 yo boy, 3 yo girl, and 2 yo boy). They have mattresses on the floor. They love this because they rearrange them constantly. They are also allowed to jump on them. When they get upgraded to nice mattresses that will stop, but for now it's absolutely lovely. For naps, the 1 yo sleeps in our bed, the 3 yo sleeps in the bedroom, and the 5 yo does quiet time on a recliner in the living room or daybed in the playroom. If they are in the same room, there is nothing quiet about quiet time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilma Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 For a couple of years we had all four of our girls in a smallish bedroom. They kind of loved it, except when Kid3 kept singing at bedtime. :) They were in two sets of smaller-than-twin bunkbeds (matresses from Ikea). It worked well for us because all the girls had the same bedtime and only two were nappers. One girl napped in their bedroom and the other in my bedroom. The main downside for us was that some residents were tidy and others were, well, piggy. So the tidy girls suffered a bit. Whenever we moved house and split the girls 2/2 we paired up the tidy two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have boys who cannot sleep with toys in their room and only two rooms available. So we made one a toy room and one a sleeping room. We have one of those Ikea lofts with a bed on top and one under and then a twin off to the side. The closet in the sleeping room has one dresser and the DS3's clothes hanging. The other two boys have their dressers in the larger closet in the toy room and their clothes hang in there too. As far as naptime... DS3 gets the sleeping room and the other two may quietly play in the toy room if their work is done. If their work is not done they use the downstairs kitchen table to finish. I am not super pleased with this arrangement because naptime is my recharge time and I would rather everyone have a place to take some space from each other. My kids are rather intense and need space! But our basement is not finished and unusable in its state, boo! Hopefully someday soon DH will finish it and then I will have a bedroom for each kid and a school room and a play room and a library besides! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have all 3 girls in one room and plan on putting the new baby in there once she's old enough. Right now, they are small enough that they actually just share a bunk bed. Sometimes they all share one level, sometimes it is 2/1. It just depends on how they feel that day. When new baby is big enough to be in a bed, we plan on getting another bunkbed for their room. This is out of choice. We have another room but the girls like being together and I think it is good for them for now. For naps I do separate them, though. DD7 spends "naptime" playing in the playroom and hasn't slept during the day since she was 18 months old. DD5 sleeps on a giant beanbag in our living room, and DD3 gets the bedroom. On the rare occasion DD5 has to take a nap in the same room as DD3, they just end up playing together the whole time. This system works well for us and makes for quiet afternoons. Oh, and there are zero toys in their room. All toys belong in the playroom. Right now they share a dresser which I actually keep in the closet, but they are quickly outgrowing that, so I need at least another dresser. We do use a closet in the other bedroom/office for some of their clothes as well. Honestly, my ideal house for our family would probably have two master bedrooms, one for DH and me and one for the girls. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 My four girls share a room. We took a wooden Ikea bunk bed and built another bunk bed onto it, in the shape of an "L." We made our own bunks so that they're not as long as a normal twin mattress. That's the only way I could fit a dresser and bookshelves in their room. I just bought RV mattress foam and made my own mattresses. We also made the short bunk high enough off the ground to put crates underneath for storage. We live in a 1000 sq ft house so we have to get creative with where we put people. ETA: The bottom bunk originally was enclosed with crib slats and a door made of crib stats, but we took those off when the toddler was old enough for a regular bed. We called it our "baby cage." It was just a crib with a top -- ya gotta do what ya gotta do, in a small house :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) nm Edited December 2, 2015 by ^ 022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 In our old house we had our older girls in the master bedroom for a while. I liked it, dh did not. It isn't possible in this house due to its configuration and ratio of baths to bedrooms, but it would be *my* ideal. The next house we purchase, I will insist on a masterish type area for the kids for exactly the reasons you stated. I hear ya! I give my all to my kids during the day and when DH gets home he plays hard with them and focuses on them. But after bed time, that is our quality time together. I tell my kids that we need this adult time together and they totally get it. I so look forward to no kids and just DH at night. Life happens of course, but overall, we really protect that time to nurture our relationship! No interruptions unless it's a medical emergency. :D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Yes, and it works just fine. We did originally have to camp outside the door and squash any chatter or attempts to play but they caught on and it wasn't an issue beyond the first week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessa516 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We had 4 in one room. I built two sets of bunk beds and arranged them similar to this setup. It left the other side of the room free for an extra long dresser. We did it by choice. All the kids wanted to try sharing a room. It worked great and I kind of wish they were all back in the same room. The room was strictly for sleeping and clothes - no toys. All the toys were kept in a play room. Organizationally, it was really nice. Toys were confined to a single room (as opposed to what we have now which is every kid has his own room and his own toys). My kids didn't bother each other when trying to sleep, but I imagine it might be difficult for some children. The down side was trying to change sheets on bunk beds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We had three in a room when I was a kid. Two twins, and a trundle. The twin beds were in an L formation. Worked remarkably well for a small room. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Our BFF's have two loft bed with cribs underneath in an L it works well they put curtains up so the littles couldn't see everyone when its sleep time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We have three boys,11, 9, and 7, all in one small room. We had our friend build us a triple bunk bed. It's worked great for 4 years now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We've had it before. I loved it actually. We had bunk beds with a pull out trundle. Dh made them so it fit my dc perfectly. Ladder was built into the foot board of the beds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Our three youngest shared a bedroom for 2 1/2-3 years. I needed little dd out of my bed, where she had been for 2 1/2 years. We tried several things to get her out of our bed, but what worked was putting her in a bed with a brother. At that point, we had twin over full bunkbeds in that room, and I put a body pillow between little dd and younger ds. Older ds slept in the top bunk. Little dd's clothes were in a dresser in our room. I cleared out the study and made it into a room for her when she was 5. Putting them all together in one room worked really well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Ever since we've had three/four kids we've had three kids in one room. We've done: loft, with toddler bed underneath and a crib nearby at a 90 degree angle Loft with one toddler bed underneath and another toddler bed to the side Bunk beds with crib to the side Bunk beds with toddler bed to the side... Now that DS4 is getting bigger, we'll probably do a triple bunk next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We did, for a long time. We had a bunk bed with a full-size futon bed that converted into a sofa on the bottom, and a twin bed. They all started sharing sometime before the youngest turned 3 (when she started thrashing so much we couldn't stand cosleeping with her anymore!), so the twins were around 5? All their dressers and clothes were in another room that just had dressers and toys - the beds pretty much took up the whole small room they shared. One twin was in the twin bed, and the other twin and the younger started out sharing the full-size bed, but turned them 90 deg. so they had more room side-to-side, and the head/footboards acted like rails so no one could roll off. When the twin that was sharing was old enough, she went up into the top bunk, and youngest got the full-size bed to herself. The configuration stayed that way till the twins were about 13yo, and then they moved to their own room. Youngest is still upset she's been abandoned... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 We currently have 6, 3, and 2yo boys sharing a room, but there's a spare bed in there. The 6yo is in a "youth bed" from IKEA (crib width, but longer - not as big as a twin). The 3yo is in a toddler bed, and the 2yo is in a crib but I really ought to switch him to a bed soon! The extra bed is another "youth bed". It's awesome to have a clean bed ready when someone has an accident in the middle of the night. :-) The 3 boys have been sharing a room for a year now, so this started when they were 5, 2, and 1yo. Before then, we had the baby in our room, and one of their sisters shared with them - so we had 4yog, 4yob, and 2yob in a room. And before that, we had 6yog, 3yog, 3yob, and 1yob sharing a room. That was a bit of a tight squeeze, but not bad. It's never been much of a problem for naps, because none of my kids have napped consistently past 3 years old. At bedtime, we'd have to sit with them for a while as everyone settled down. I'd often nurse the littlest one and bring him in once he was asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 My boys loved sharing......until they didn't. :lol: But until the oldest was about 14, they were fine with it. This is reminding me of that thread a few years back where the person claimed she had 10 kids and 10 bedrooms in a mansion and wanted us all to help her configure where her kids should go in the rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I'm one of five kids. The three of us girls shared a room. We had one set of twin bunk beds and a trundle bed. There was one dresser and one chest of drawers in the room. As the youngest, I often took my naps in my parents room. This left the shared room open my my sisters to do what they wanted/needed in our room during my nap time. At night, we all got ready for bed before my bedtime, which was first. They were in ither parts of the house and would just come in the room at their bedtimes. We all woke up at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I have had 3 in one room. At the time, they were 2, 4, and 6. They were like that for about 2 years, I think (currently they are two and two in our rooms). We did a crib, then single bed, and a set of bunks. That bedroom is pretty large, though (bigger than our master, large for a bedroom in a 50s house). They liked sharing, and we will do it again. Currently my 7 and 9 are in a separate room, mostly because of legos. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 My boys loved sharing......until they didn't. :lol: But until the oldest was about 14, they were fine with it. This is reminding me of that thread a few years back where the person claimed she had 10 kids and 10 bedrooms in a mansion and wanted us all to help her configure where her kids should go in the rooms. LOL - hey thanks for that... I promise I've been around a bit longer, since oldest DD was 5 as a matter of fact.... Real house, real kids. ;) And, uh, definitely not a mansion. :p We have a "spare" twin over full but I'm just not sure I want either the 4yo or the 5yo in the top bunk. The 4yo is an anxious little thing and I don't think she'd sleep up there. The 5yo is a crazy dare devil and I'm pretty sure anything involving her, a ladder, and a place to jump from is bad. I'm wondering about looking through all the suggestions, I'm thinking two toddler beds might be great. We don't do toys in bedrooms for the most part until they are old enough to keep their room cleaned up and even then it's more hobby stuff and not toys per se so the footprint isn't such a big deal. Dresser in the closet reduces that. The bedroom is kind of weird in that it is big but one wall is nothing but four big windows and another wall is long closet and door. The two clear walls are opposite of one another. So the crib and two beds could be opposite one another. I wonder about a mini bunk - lower to the ground. Hm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Didn't read replies hut we have 5 in one room by choice. Ages 1,3,5,7 and 10. 3 and 7 are boys the other 3 are girls. We did it because the 2 older girls wouldn't stop sleeping in the boys room on the floor every night. They were afraid to be alone and often needed up with us too. They sleep much better with the boys in there. We have two twin bunk beds and a crib. All their clothes are stored in the laundry room. Just beds, one dresser where they keep special things (each has a drawer) and a large bean bag full of stuffed animals. Oh and all the dress ups in the closet. The other room holds the rest of the toys and my sewing machine etc which got kicked out of the laundry room to make room for their clothes. Best thing we ever did. We love it. It can't last forever with the age/genders we have but it's working for now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cera2 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I wouldn't do bunks with a 1 and a 2 year old. I would probably go with a trundle bed and a crib or 2 trundle beds. You could put the 11th, 8th, 6th and 4th graders in their own rooms then do a room for the 3rd, 2nd, 5yo and 4 yo with 2 bunk beds and a room for the 2 and 1 year old with a trundle bed and crib so it would be ready to add the next kid when he/she is old enough to move out of your room. Another option would be the 11th, 8th, 6th and 4th graders in their own rooms with a room for the 3rd and 2nd grader (and possibly 5 yo) with a bunk bed (and a trundle if the 5 is in there) then a room for the 4yo, 2yo and 1 yo (possibly with the 5yo) (with a trundle bed and crib or a pair of trundle beds if the 5 yo is in there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocassie Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 We did have three littles in a room together up until about 2 years ago. First we did a full bed in one corner that the two older ones slept on and then a twin mattress in another corner for the youngest one to sleep on. We did eventually do bunk bed to replace the full mattress but the oldest was 5. Another arrangement my friend has was trundle beds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My triplets shared a small room until about age 5. We kept them in cribs until 4, and then used toddler beds. Two cribs on the long wall. The other on the opposite. And chests on the short walls. Pretty much every inch of wall space had furniture but it worked fine. The one chest had really deep long drawers which helped a lot. They napped in separate rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine.more Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We have 4 littles in one room for this year while we rent. Boys (7, 5) are in a bunk bed. Girl (3) isin a twin. Baby (3 mos) is in her crib. Bunk is on the right wall, twin on the left under the window, crib between. Clothes are elsewhere, toys in the closet, and there's still room for the wooden dollhouse and toy box. Each bunk has a face-out bookshelf so the boys have private spots for their bedtime books and water bottles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I have 3 in each tiny room. Room 1:ds5,dd4 on a bunk bed. Ds2 in a crib. Room 2:two sets of bunk beds for dd11,dd9,dd7. One extra bed in there. One day the four girls will share a room and the two boys will share, but right now I separate by ages bc of different sleep times. Quiet time/nap time: the baby sleeps in his crib while the five others crowd in the other room. They listen to a book on tape and sometimes fall asleep. Dressers: I have a 4x4 ikea cube bookshelf thing in the hallway that I put the cube boxes in. Each child has a box for their clothes. 1 box is plenty big. So no more dressers taking up room in the bedroom. The rest of the boxes are filled with towels and linens (we don't have a hall closet). Worked out pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Back in the day, when we had 2 bedrooms, we had four. Three were on a bunk-bed with a trundle (BGB), 4th (G) was in a crib. Not long after, we finished the 3rd bedroom, and we had #5. The three girls stayed in one room (2 girls shared a full-sized futon, baby had the crib), and the boys had the bunk bed in the other room. We made "drawers" to go under the futon (it was left open like a bed) for storage, Currently, the youngest two girls still share a room (and a queen size bed), the boys share a room, and oldest dd has her own room (which doubles as a guest room). I expect whatever house we get in VA when we return will have a similar room set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We did this for about 6 months, at the kids' requests. We just had three twin beds- two on frames and one mattress on the floor. Other furniture in the room was just dressers, and we used the other room as play room with the toys. At your kids' ages, I would not to bunk beds, as they are not recommended before age 6, and I have unfortunately read some horror stories about accidents/deaths related to bunk beds. :-( The kids are back to 2 and 2 now. One set of bunk beds with the 8yo and 6yo, and one room for the littles- 3yo on a framed bed and 16mo on a mattress on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.