Boy and girl sharing a room

[Anonymous]

At what age are a boy and girl too old to share a room?

Specifically a boy 3 years older than the girl?

[Anonymous]

How old are they?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, if they're "older kids and teenagers", they're too old.

[Anonymous]

My siblings and I shared a room until we were 11, 9 and 7, at which point we moved from a 2 BR apartment to a 4 BR house. My older sister was thrilled, my younger brother and I were a little disappointed. So, I'm voting 10 and 7.

[Anonymous]

when the boy hits 10 or 11.

[Anonymous]

I would say 6 or 7. That's when my kids started to get concerned about privacy, not wanting the other one to see their underwear in the laundry, etc.

[Anonymous]

When they say, "I'm too old to share a room with my [brother/sister]."

[Anonymous]

Before either one starts middle school.

[Anonymous]

My 6yo DS and 4yo DD share a room. I'm hoping we can keep it going until they are 11 and 9 or 10 and 8, but will be respectful if they start to show signs that they are ready/need to separate.

[Anonymous]

My DD started wanting a lot more privacy around age 7-8.

[Anonymous]

Still loving it at 8 (DS) and 3 (DD).

My SIL had her 4 kids share 2 rooms until the oldest went to college. Her DD shared a bedroom with the youngest DS, and the 2 middle boys shared the other bedroom. Had I been her DD, I would NOT have liked this arrangement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When they say, "I'm too old to share a room with my [brother/sister]."

I'm the PP above with the 2 siblings. While I think this is probably true, it's likely not that helpful. Generally people who have their older kids share do so because they don't have extra bedrooms. Getting extra bedrooms in one way or another (e.g. moving to a bigger place, adding on to your existing place, converting a home office into a bedroom, stopping having an au pair) isn't something that happens overnight, so wanting to know when it's going to happen, and planning in advance makes sense.

I'm actually surprised by the amount of consensus on this thread that 10 or 11 for the older child is probably a good limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they say, "I'm too old to share a room with my [brother/sister]."

I'm the PP above with the 2 siblings. While I think this is probably true, it's likely not that helpful. Generally people who have their older kids share do so because they don't have extra bedrooms. Getting extra bedrooms in one way or another (e.g. moving to a bigger place, adding on to your existing place, converting a home office into a bedroom, stopping having an au pair) isn't something that happens overnight, so wanting to know when it's going to happen, and planning in advance makes sense.

I'm actually surprised by the amount of consensus on this thread that 10 or 11 for the older child is probably a good limit.

I agree that generally people who have their older kids share do so because they don't have extra bedrooms. But while the people you know can apparently solve this problem by moving to a bigger place, adding on to the existing place, converting a home office into a bedroom, or stopping having an au pair, the people I know can't.

[Anonymous]

From experience, I'd say around age 8 for the boy. At that point, many get curious about the bodies of the opposite sex and I wouldn't want to create an atmosphere that provided a cover for experimentation.

If the girl were older, I'd say you could wait until she was 10 or so.

[Anonymous]

My nephew was 8 when my niece was born. My sister lives in a 2 Br home and has little/no money. My nephew turns 18 in 10 tens and they are still sharing a room! I felt bad for him from the beginning, and I now feel bad for my niece as well. It's less than 12x12 and they have bunk beds. My sister could sell and move but she overpaid when she bought and has since added a "commercial" kitchen that she would not recoup costs for. So they stay and the kids pay the price.

I think once either child approaches puberty, the sharing years should be over.