my family does this- so we are talking cousins, but they live far away and don't see each other.
Just have one kids room. If it doesn't work out for the kids to be in the kids room, they go on the floor in their parents room.
We have always let the 3 year old's try to be in with the big kids- but if they are disruptive, they have to leave.

Not really fair to the 9 year old to bunk with the 3.5 year old for all the reasons already laid out plus ... I know my nine year old would feel some sense of innate responsibility for the younger ones. She'd be a good helper for a five year old, but a over tired three year old (or a three year old at 5:30 AM) is expecting too much.

one thing to consider that may very well work in your favor is the power of the beach. My kids as so tired after a long day at the beach that bedtime on vacation is easier than at home.

I would put the 9 year old in a room if there were kids their age or older, but I would not put a 6, 5 or 3 year old in a kids room in a strange house, especially one that may not be child proof. Mine is 7 and normally is a great sleeper at home in his bed but when we travel he sleeps with one of us. The last trip was the first time he slept in his own bed. Not a chance he'd want to be in a kids room without us. It depends on the kid but I would look for a house with bigger bedrooms having one per family.

Anonymous wrote:The 3.5 year old is your problem here--that age plus new sibling are two reasons that kid likely will be a shitshow at bedtime.

Separate if at all possible--those parents are in for a rough trip with the ages of their kids.

Totally agree.

My DS is almost 3.5, has always been a terrific nighttime sleeper and easy to put to bed, but in the last month or two has gone in waves of testing bedtime like crazy. He eventually falls asleep, but I would not subject other kids to that. Also, we tried a slumber party style sleeping arrangement with a 5 yo one weekend not too long ago and it just didn't work, DS wound up on the floor in our room (he met the 5 yo for the first time that weekend, but I think his age had more to do with it not working than anything).

Try it out with the 3.5 yo and see what happens. But bring a sleeping bag for them to camp out in your room on the floor just in case. We went to OBX with 4 other families this summer (9 children all under 5...) and all of the 3 yo's the parents expected them to want to sleep together in the same "kids" room... yeah, that didn't happen...

The 3.5 year old is your problem here--that age plus new sibling are two reasons that kid likely will be a shitshow at bedtime.

Separate if at all possible--those parents are in for a rough trip with the ages of their kids.

The 3.5 YO isn't a "big kid" for these purposes. Plus, if there are bunk beds, she would be too young (IMHO) to be in the room unsupervised.

Just shove all the kids in one room. Each couple gets their own bedroom. If the 3 yr old needs to, she can come into your room.

I visited friends eho have 4 kids, all older, and my 3.5 yo was extremely disruptive to their older kids' bedtime routines. He was just SO DAMN EXCITED to be sleeping with the big boys.

YMMV.

If it doesnt work out with the younger kids can they sleep in a sleeping bag in their parents rooms?
My DD is 4 and has a travel bed and sleeping bag. That would be my plan B

The 3.5 year old might be the outlier here. Is there a larger bedroom that his/her parents can take that has room for both parents and both kids? I imagine the other 3 will be fine in a room together, and will probably have fun, though the 9-year-old might get annoyed with the younger kids.

I would not put the 3 1/2 year old with the other kids.
I think that is too young and I imagine it would be disruptive as she would likely go to bed earlier and get up earlier.

The other 3 can go to bed at the same time and chat a bit before sleep. With the 3 1/2 year old this would not be possible.

Really depends on the kids, but in general i would say one room is fine. Worse case the 3.5 yr old ends up in your room on the floor if sleeping in the big kid room isn't working out.

We are planning a vacation next summer with multiple other families and will get a big OBX house. I'm trying to figure out how many bedrooms we need. Most of the couples have two kids, an older who we'd like to bunk in a designated kids room, and a younger/baby who will sleep in the parents' room. Right now, we have 4 "older" kids in a range of ages and the question is whether they can all manage to bed down in the same room. I've seen houses with 4 twin beds, so each child should have their own bed (or we can make pallets on the floor). At the time of the trip, they will be 9, 6, 5, and 3 1/2. They all know each other, but not well as they live in different cities. The older two seem to be pretty steady, responsible kids. The 5 year old (mine) can be willful, but I'm hoping will be somewhat starstruck by her older friends. The younger one is a great little girl but will have a brand new baby sibling at the time, and I know from experience that such things can turn a little one's world upside down.

So, thoughts? Should we consider having two kids' bedrooms? Seems like a waste of money, but it won't be a vacation if we have sleep issues. If we stick them all in one room, any tips? I was planning to suggest we put the oldest in charge and let them deal with each other (within reason, of course) on the theory that peer pressure might work better than parental threats.