2 in a room

[~inbalance~]

We have two options for bedrooms once we move the boys together (in the next few months).  We could just put another bed in DS1's room and squeeze DS2 into there, or we could move them both into the current guest room which is bigger.  The smaller room is pretty small, about 8'x13', and the guest room is about 12'x11'.  I was thinking we'd move them into the bigger of the two because that makes the most sense, but we have annoying neighbours on that side who like to blast loud music until the middle of the night when the weather is nice.  DH sleeps in that room now and he says it's pretty loud and doesn't think the boys will be able to sleep there.  So it got me wondering, how important is the size of a room when there are two in it?  In my mind some white noise would drown out the neighbour's enough plus they are both pretty good sleepers, but DH doesn't think so.  So would you put them in the bigger one or the smaller one?

[Peek-a-boo]

I think it depends on whether or not you want them to play in there during the day.  As far as sleep, I don't really think it matters. 

My DS1 and DD share a small room with bunk beds.  For awhile we had bunk beds and a crib in there and there was virtually no floor space, so they couldn't play in there.  They were young, so I don't think they would have anyhow.  Now they are a bit older, the crib is gone, there is a little--but not a lot of--floor space, they play in there a bit more.  DS1 goes in and shuts the door to do legos without interruption from the toddler. 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Do they play in their rooms, or is it just for sleeping?  If they play in there I would pcik the bigger room and use some white noise (or even sound proof the outside wall, or hang heavy curtains!) to block out sound.  White noise is amazing, the odd time I sleep in Masyn's room with her fan running on low it is like another planet to the rest of the house -you can't even hear Spencer and her door is a foot away.

[~inbalance~]

See, they don't play in their rooms right now so in terms of just sleeping, the small room would do.  But I guess I am thinking ahead as well, and that they would be sharing the room for many years to come.  When they are a bit older I do think I want their room to be 'their' space, and somewhere where they can play, kwim?  Right now because they're so little I actually don't like keeping any playthings in their room because I like to encourage sleep, but I'm sure things change as they get older.  So probably the bigger room, right?  That is what I think too.  DH is so sure the neighbour's music will be a problem, but my logic is that the kids usually crash and sleep heavily for the first half of the night, so that paired with the white noise should mean they'll sleep through that obnoxious music.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I bet they won't even notice the music, and that is a good point that they go to bed early and will sleep through, whereas your DH was probably going to bed right as the neighbours are perking up the music.  It's way harder to fall asleep to some random noise than to sleep through it for sure.

[my3girlsjde]

ITA with the bigger room. We had the girls in the biggest room before we moved and it would have been great had we let them play in there. It did also allow us to set their beds up so they couldn't see each other when laying down for bed. THIS was a saving grace on numerous occasions because when you have two little partners in crime with the same bedtimes............ I'm sure you know where this is going lol.

I think the white noise will help as we had some pretty obnoxious neighbours in our last place and their window was less than 20 feet from the girls' bedroom windows and the stuff we heard come through the monitor was pretty loud and irritating. But they were only woken once and that was when firecrackers and fireworks were involved

Good luck!

[~Karen~]

Hmmmmm..........could you try bigger room and switch back if they do start getting disturbed by the neighbours?  Where's the baby going to go?  In F's room?

[~inbalance~]

Technically I guess we could switch them back after if it doesn't work, but what a PITA that would be!  I am hoping to do up their room special for them before the baby comes, so they know we are making sure they are getting something fun out of the whole new baby thing, kwim?  So some new paint and decor, maybe some new furniture.  I'd hate to do all that and then have to move them again!

Yes, the new baby will be in F's current room.  I actually had a post a little while back about how to juggle all these different room changes, because at first I was thinking of moving the nursery to T's current room, moving the boys to the current guest room, and making F's current room the new guest room.  Here it is:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=221760.0  It was all so confusing!

Now I've decided to keep the current nursery as it is.  DH is going to build me a little bed in the closet to crash in.    So that means only having to change two rooms around instead of three, which seems much more realistic and manageable!

Though I am still constantly worrying about when we are going to pull all this off.  On one hand I want both boys settled in their new room well in advance, but on the other hand I want F to stay in his crib for as long as possible because he sleeps SO well there and I don't want to go changing that.  So part of me is thinking that we'll do up the boys room before the baby, but only have T move in for the first little while.  Then I will have the baby stay with me for a bit to buy F a bit more time to mature and be ready for a BBB and new room.  Because we are fortunate enough to have an extra bedroom, DH will just continue sleeping there (he already does and we LOVE sleeping in separate rooms, as weird as that sounds, because it means we both sleep and function better).

I'm trying not to get anxious about all the room changes and when we have to accomplish all of it, but it pretty much is always on my mind. 

[Peek-a-boo]

on the other hand I want F to stay in his crib for as long as possible because he sleeps SO well there and I don't want to go changing that.

Especially if you're going with the bigger room, could you temporarily have the crib in there?  This is what we did with my kids so that there wasn't quite so much transitioning all at once.  We bought bunk beds, but then when we moved DD into DS's room (about 3 months before DS2 arrived), we kept her in her crib for another 6 months or so.  They figured out room sharing and THEN we transitioned her to the bottom bunk.  It was really cramped for a bit, but well worth it.  The last thing I wanted to deal with was a toddler roaming the room/hall at nap and bed time while trying to manage a newborn.

[~inbalance~]

I hadn't considered putting the crib in there first because I just kept thinking we would need it for the baby, but if the baby is with me for a bit I guess we could put the crib in the new room to help with the transition.  Though I'm not sure how DH is going to feel about having to disassemble and move it twice, he is going to give me grief over that one.  He is already dreading all the room changing that is going to happen.    But it makes a lot of sense to me to have F stay in the crib while he adjusts to being in a new room with T.

Bethany, how do you find the bunk beds?  We kind of considered it for the boys as I think by next year T will be able to sleep on top, but then I quickly decided against it because I'd be too afraid of F constantly climbing up as well.  I'd be too worried about him going up and down at night when it's dark, and then falling.

[We Three]

I'd go with the bigger room....room for a bookshelf and such that way. New babe will stay in your room for a few months, yes? So then you could potentially have F in his crib for another 8 months or so?  That's what I would do....crib in the new (big) room along with BBB for T, do up the nursery for new babe, with bassinet at first. Maybe you have a friend who is looking to give a crib away even?    

[~inbalance~]

Well, I would like new baby in his/her own room fairly early (my plan is to have my own small bed in the nursery so I can crash there, and hopefully introduce him/her into it early on so they're always comfortable in there), but I am comfortable with having baby with me for the first little bit as I did it with both boys and they had no problem transitioning to their own room.

The silly thing is we did get an extra crib when we had F from my cousin, but then when DH disassembled it he was too forceful and broke it!    That is my husband for you brute force and ignorance.  At least we still have the extra mattress.

I don't want to pay for one, not even a used one, but if we can get a decent one for free then that might be a possibility.  Our current crib is one of those really solid ones, so having to disassemble it and move it twice will be a huge PITA. 

We'll see, at least I have some ideas to toss around with DH (although he hates it when I bring this stuff up and he says he doesn't want to think about it now.  )

[my3girlsjde]

Personally, I would disassemble the crib and reassemble it in the new room Not the most ideal thing to do, but where F is making a room change, even with T in there having the familiar 'space' of his crib could make things go much smoother. Doing a BBB and a room change at the same time might be a bit too much for him at once kwim? That way, you can move him sooner and give him and T time to adjust to each other in the same room.

And I had predictions of the same when dh suggested bunkbeds for the girls. The fewer trips to the ER in the middle of the night the better so we went for single beds. As it is, my girls climb their bookshelves and launch themselves off of them onto the floor. I'd hate to see what they'd do if they had a few more feet in height