For many families, there will come a time when kids will be sharing a bedroom. Whether this is due to a lack of space, lessons to be learned, or other reasons, it’s really the way you set up the space that will prove how successful this experience will be for the entire family.
To help you in doing this successfully, here are three tips for setting up a shared bedroom for your kids.
Create Some Separation
Just because your kids are sharing a bedroom doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be allowed to have any of their own space. However, achieving this can sometimes get a little complicated, especially if the bedroom is small.
To combat this, Claire Sibonney, a contributor to Today’s Parent, recommends coming up with creative ways to put a little separation between your kids and their space, even if it’s just something small or seemingly insignificant. For example, putting a tent or canopy over their beds could be enough separation to allow your kids to feel like they have a space to themselves even though it’s not sectioned off completely. Additionally, installing something seamless and natural, like a Scandanavian-designed bookcase, to section off the room into halves could also do the trick.
Situate The Beds
Figuring out how to fit two beds into one bedroom, especially a child’s bedroom, can often be the most challenging part of having two kids in one room.
If your kids’ room is pretty small, Heather Levin, a contributor to Money Crashers, shares that you might want to consider getting bunk beds to save space. But if this isn’t something you or your kids want, you could also consider thinking outside the box as far as bed placement goes. By putting the beds head-to-head or feet-to-feet along one wall of the room, you could find that you have a lot more open space to work with for their other belongings.
Bring In Some White Noise
In the beginning of sharing a room, your kids might have a hard time falling or staying asleep if their sibling tends to make a lot of noise while they sleep or requires something like a nightlight. So to ensure that you don’t wind up with cranky kids who haven’t gotten the rest their bodies need, Sleep.org recommends that you bring in a white noise machine to help your kids relax and block out any sounds that their roommate might be making during the night.
If you’re soon going to be transitioning your kids into shared rooms, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you do this successfully and make this space something that both of your kids will enjoy and appreciate.
