Welcome to the fifth Help Me Wednesday!
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(sorry we’re late, here I thought I was early, and then I realized it IS WEDNESDAY! Ahhh!)
The ladies I’d like to feature this week are:
Jessi at Yankee Belle Home, who is looking for some pillow inspiration. Love her new sofa and room!
Crystal at Jus Keep Smiling, who is weighing the option of vinyl floors in her bathroom and removed the top of her desk hutch to let in more light. Looks great!
Carolyn at My Backyard Eden solved her Ironing Board Quandry, the result looks amazing! Looks like its right out of a catalog, I love it.
Okay, my topic this week is not so much of a dilemma, but asking for your input and personal experience!
Have you had two toddlers sharing a room at some point?
A boy and a girl?
I know this isn’t a huge issue, people have been sharing rooms forever, and I actually really like the idea.
Currently, Ben sleeps in our room,
but eventually him and Lily will be sharing a room. We have a small room and don’t have a ton of room for two dressers, two cribs, plus toys. Plus there’s the whole issue of decorating for both a boy and a girl.
So I have some questions…
1.) Both kids are just babies, how do they do with sleeping in the same room? When do you move a 17 month old into a bed? Ideally, I’d like to move Ben into his room anywhere from 8-12 months, do you think she’d be ready to give up her crib and move into a bed?
2.) Have you decorated a room for both a young boy and girl?
I originally chose neutral bedding for Lily, greens, browns, and cream (you can see more pictures of her room here), so that I would be able to use it for multiple children. I’ve been thinking about adding pink and blue to the mix, on each kid’s side of the room. What are your ideas?
3.) What do you do as far as storage?
Right now, Lily’s clothes are in an antique dresser, dresses get hung up, and Ben’s clothes are in bins. It’s been organized (better since this pic was taken) and I have been looking for a dresser that will fit inside the closet for Ben. I think I have a good idea on what I want to do, but I’d LOVE to hear your input!
now it’s YOUR turn!
This week, not only would I like you to link up your “help me” posts, but if you have a link to a post about your child’s room, I’d love to see it. Shared or not shared, toddler or teen, I could use all the inspiration I can get!
for more details or suggestions about Help Me Wednesday, please read this post!
Heaven went to a bed when she was 12 months, but I still had TJ in my room. TJ is out of the crib and in a bed at 17 months. Put her in a bed, but don't move the baby in w/ her yet till you teach her how to stay in bed, for the 1st week she'll prob fall out and you'll find her on the floor..dont be alarmed I think it's better teachin them to sleep in a bed at this time, cause I know kids who our heavens age still in cribs and not doin well w/ the transfer. I dont have any dressers in their rooms or anything that can cause harm if I'm not around. I have a video monitor and I put a gate in front of Hevs door cause she can open it.
My son (seven in november) and daughter (2 this month) share a room. I'm using Dr. Suess's book Oh the Places You'll Go! as the theme for their room. They've been sharing their room since she was born. She moved to the side of her crib being taken of a few months ago and they are getting a bunk bed this month (it's just needing to be painted, but all this rain is making that hard!) the oldest will be on the top bunk. I've been looking for a new dresser for them both since I can remember, but we don't have much a budget for furniture right now with the hubby out of a job.
Wow! Thanks so much for featuring me! I am still searching for pillows and trying to avoid the need to sew covers myself.I think that some kids can do very well sharing a room. As a matter of fact, I even think my son might would do well sharing a room because the kid hates to be alone.I'll have to give some thought to ideas for a small shared space. (have you checked http://www.ohdeedoh.com?)
I am (almost) in the same boat as you, so I would love to see the responses on this one. We did buy samantha a toddler bed though. so when the baby is here, she will move to the toddler bed and the baby will use the crib (after the first 3 months or so). It really depends on when the baby starts sleeping through the night for the most part. i don't want to deal with them waking each other up all the time. but our bedroom is very small and cramped, so i don't want to keep the baby in there for too long, ideally. I dunno. i guess i was just going to take things as they come.
I just conquered this struggle myself with my two kids to make room for our next baby. Aubrie is 4 and Everett is 3 – here is their room: http://housethatjadebuilt.blogspot.com/2010/09/best-of-friends-share-rooms.htmlAubrie never slept in her crib so at 12 months we got her a twin bed. Everett slept great in his crib but his sister still wasn't sleeping well so at 18 months we got a full sized bed & both kids slept in it together with side rails – it was GREAT! They loved having someone in bed with them and they both went to bed happily. Now they each have twin beds & that works well too. We arranged their room so we could fit two dressers that hold a lot of their clothes & I put their beds on risers so I have storage under the beds as well. Luckily they have a large closet so we do have a lot of space there too. They love sharing & I am sure yours will too :)
My sister's girls are 22 months apart and they share a room now, but when the youngest was born, the middle had to move into a room with the oldest. They moved her early to get her used to the idea, and she was about 20 months when they moved her in there. They have bunk beds and she just started her in there with a ton of stuffed animals & her side guard so she'd feel enclosed like she did in her crib. The switch was super easy for them and since they have three girls, two being the same size, they've never had a problem as far as organizing boy girl stuff. Sorry I can't help with that part!
We actually have three kids sharing one room right now. I would drop the side of your daughter's crib if you can and start transitioning her now to get used to the idea of having her own bed. Then when she doesn't climb out, you could move the matress out of the crib onto the floor and when she stays put, she's ready for a bed of her own.I actually have a "bed" for my middle daughter that is made out of rubbermaid totes, covered with a bunkie board and then her matress goes over it. I have three totes that act as the "base" and are filled with off season clothes for all three kids. It is a great way to store stuff.For the closet, I'd get some of those wire shelves and stack them on top of the closets top shelf and maximize the storage all the way to the ceiling, we did that and I can cram WAY more stuff on the shelf that way. For one of the kids, we store their clothing in the closet in stackable bins with open fronts. In their bedroom closet (which is about the size of yours) we have clothing for our daughter, hung up clothing for all three kids, all three kids shoes, hats/backpacks and the upper shelf is filled with things and we have one of those hanging toy storage things that is filled with stuffed animals. I have a TON of stuff in there, you can do it!
My brother and I shared a room until I was in 4th grade I think … we're 17 months apart … I don't remember our room really being boy side/girl side … we had bunkbeds & we had the same comforters (woodland scenes) and pillow cases … he had a blue blanket and I had a pink one … I do remember our closet being halved, there was a board between my side/his side … we also each had 2 drawers in the dresser … we had a couple small bins that went under the bottom bunk for OUR special things and everything else went in the toybox
Honestly, for me, I'd keep your sweet lil girl in a crib as long as you can. It's just torture for mommy and daddy. If you've got to (and you probably have got to), just lead that lil girl right back to her bed when she gets out to set the precedence that bedtime is bedtime, ya know?
My oldest is special needs and stayed in the crib until he was too long to fit any more. (One blessing in disguise!) I didn't move my youngest into a bed until he started lifting his foot over the rail of the crib around 18 months old. I would have kept him in there longer but was afraid he would eventually crawl (fall) out. I echo leaving your daughter in hers as long as possible, but before you move your son so she doesn't look at him moving into her room and taking her bed. :) Someone gave me that advice when DS #2 was coming along. We also took down the crib and then put it back up six months later so it an obvious "cribs are for babies, big boys sleep in beds". That being said, we also used a toddler bed (given to us) for them so that they could safely exit their beds and we didn't have to do rails on the twin. I don't know that I would have bought a toddler bed though. I love the Dr. Seuss theme ideas but also the sage-y green, neutrals for gender neutral colors. Can't wait to see what you decide!
Our daughter went to a "big girl" bed recently, she is 2 1/2. I think it all depends on the kid. Here is what we tried, when it came time for a nap, we tried putting her in our bed. At first, it didn't work, so, into the crib she went for a little longer. We just tried about once a month until she decided it was fun to sleep in a big bed. She has been in a big bed for about 3 months now, and she loves it! I highly recommend getting one of those remove able plastic and fabric sides on the bed to keep them from falling out. Our daughter fell out after about a week of sleeping in her own bed, it was of course in the middle of the night, and it was not a happy night. :) I think it is just fine for kids to share a room, just be prepared for them to wake each other up occasionally. As for storage, we use a set of shelves with fabric bins on them for our daughters cloths, it works well, till she discovers them and pulls stuff out, but that's life! I love the colors you've chosen, they would be great for a boy or a girl!
Hi Ann Marie. I attached pictures of my daughters boy/girl nursery to your Help Me Wednesday. We painted every other wall blue and pink. I never had a boy/girl room, but with 5 children I had a 2-girl room and a 3-boy room. We had bunkbeds and dressers – top two to oldest, bottom two to youngest. The issues were in the boys room – they are a year apart and once they hit junior high – fought over whose clothes were whose. My handy husband built a wall of closet – 3 closets with 3 doors with key locks. Each boy (and dad) got a key to their closet and if they wanted to keep anything to themselves – it went in their closet. I was done referee – ing between t-shirts and sports jersys.
I would go ahead and move her to a bed now. If it's something she can help with (even if it is just choosing bedding, etc.) it will probably help.Next I would give the crib a makeover. This way when it is back in the room she wont look at it and see her crib. A couple of cans of spray paint should do the trick! I know it is a pain, but I would take it out and paint it while she adjusts to her bed. Kids learn fine to sleep in the same room. Sometimes they keep each other awake, but that's life.
I think you could try adding another rod in the closet for the lower level. Then that way you can get more room. Also, if you can find another cute dresser, put it in the room as well. When I was younger, I shared a room with my brother. I think he moved in when he was about 3. My parents didn't redecorate the room, it was basically my stuff scatter and his stuff scattered around the room. Just Better Together
I just did a post on my daughters room a couple weeks ago if you want to check it out, shes almost 6 and JUST not finally decided she wanted to sleep in her room, so only one more down for me, and finally will have my bed back, lol. Can't wait to see what you come up with. I would not choose a boy or girl theme obviously for a shared room, but soemthing that goes for both, maybe animals, jungly kind of. Also toys like a kitchen both like to play with, so soemthing like that.
Lots and lots of advice! I love it! :) Thanks so much, girl!!Rachelle
Oh, and our house is White with Black shutters!!!