Said It Here

At what age should siblings share a bedroom?

Deciding when to transition siblings into the same room depends on when the younger child is old enough to sleep through the night and safely share space with an older sibling. This transition is often planned so families can free up a spare room to use as a guest bedroom for visiting grandparents or parents.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Keeping children in separate rooms and only having them share temporarily when guests visit
  2. 2
    Using a pullout couch for guests instead of a dedicated guest bedroom
  3. 3
    Putting a queen-size bed in the children's room so guests can use it and the child can sleep on an air mattress in the parents' room
  4. 4
    Experimenting with staggering bedtimes
  5. 5
    Having one child fall asleep in the parents' room before transferring them
  6. 6
    Putting babies in with older siblings early depending on how deeply they sleep
  7. 7
    Trying out sharing a room and planning to separate them when they get older if privacy or fighting becomes an issue
  8. 8
    Keeping toys in shared bedrooms while utilizing other rooms in the house for extra play space
  9. 9
    Having older children sleep in a separate room on some nights while sharing at other times

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“How old are you kids when you move them out of your room and into a bedroom? Did you put them together into the same bedroom? Or separate bedrooms?”source ↗

RecognitionMediocre6 · r/Parenting · 8 upvotes

“I would love the playroom back because it was much more organized. Since moving toys into the oldest's room it just feels like everything between both rooms is spread out everywhere. It just feels like a mess.”source ↗

“When we ask him why he wakes up wanting to come to mommy and daddy's bed he says it's because he doesn't want to sleep alone.”source ↗

“I am concerned about privacy when my son is a little older (should I be concerned about this for awhile?) And I am also concerned about if we do decide to have another baby (we have been kicking it around, but not for at least 2 years) the playroom being taken away and that upsetting them?”source ↗

“We are also concerned with the baby sleeping so great, could this ruin that?”source ↗

wakawyle · r/Parenting · 4 upvotes

“Concerned my early riser will wake the baby and then we’ll have two early risers 🫠”source ↗

beebs2017 · r/Parenting · 1 upvotes

“At what age is sharing a bedroom appropriate for siblings?”source ↗

“Ideally we would like to have kids share a bedroom at some point so that we can have a guest bedroom for visiting parents. Do your kids share a bedroom? What age was the younger one when you felt confident they would sleep through the night and share with their older sibling?”source ↗

HomeworkSuccessful38 · r/Parenting

Where this came up

r/Parentingchild sleepfamily planninghome organizationparenting

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