when and how do your kids use their room?

I have two daughters. 1.5 yrs and 7 weeks respectively. We have
designated a room in our house as theirs. We haven't done anything to
it. Not even fresh coat of paint. I know of many friends who decorated
the baby's room as soon as they conceived. But the baby basically
stays with the mom all the time. Most of them even cosleep so the baby
never sees the room.

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??


Thanks.

"ted" wrote in message
om...
I have two daughters. 1.5 yrs and 7 weeks respectively. We have
designated a room in our house as theirs. We haven't done anything to
it. Not even fresh coat of paint. I know of many friends who decorated
the baby's room as soon as they conceived. But the baby basically
stays with the mom all the time. Most of them even cosleep so the baby
never sees the room.

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??


Hi Ted! Congratulations on having your baby! Remind me again what flavor
you got?

As for rooms, I think it really depends on the layout of your house.
Sarah, our near two year old, always slept in her room, as we had a ranch
house in Florida, and we were all on the same floor. Going to get her in
the middle of the night was no big deal. Now that we've moved into a two
story house with the master bedroom on the first floor and the kids rooms on
the second floor, our newborn-ish son Jack sleeps in a bassinet in the
living room. When he is reliably sleeping through the night (or when he
outgrows the bassinet), I'll move him into his room. I don't feel like
trekking all over the house every three hours for feedings. As for
Sarah, at two she still doesn't play in her room. My (limited) experience
leads me to believe that until the age of about 8-10, kids generally use
their rooms for storage and sleeping, but want to play where their parents
are.

I hope that helps.

Donna

"Donna" ) writes:
My (limited) experience
leads me to believe that until the age of about 8-10, kids generally use
their rooms for storage and sleeping, but want to play where their parents
are.

My experience is similar. I agree. I suppose it varies a lot
from family to family.

I don't see much point in new coats of paint.

Why do you want them to use the room, anyway?

A room becomes useful when there's room there to do
things that there isn't room for in the rest of the house.
--
Cathy

"ted" wrote in message
In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??

DD#1 had her own room from birth. She didn't start sleeping in it on her own
until about 9 months old. This house was a one level /ranch type house. All
of her toys were in her room, but we also had a basket in the living room
that held a lot of her things. She played on and off in her room. At 12
years old, she has her own room and spends a great deal of time in there.
She has a desk and does her homework there.

DD#2 slept in our room in a bassinet until six months old. She then went on
to share a room with her older sister. They played in their room and the
whole house at will.

DD33 slept in our room in a bassinet until six months old. She then went on
to share a room with her older sisters. All three girls were in a room to
themselves and I kept one room as their play room. They also played in the
kitchen and living room.

At ages 9 and 7, they share a room and they will play in it if it's clean. I
let them play in the living room, but they have to clean up after.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

ted wrote in :

[snip]
In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??

I don't think they ever really played in their rooms until they were
about 4yo or so. Most of the time they wanted to be where the action
was - near me. They slept in their rooms almost from birth.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

ted wrote:

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??

My older two are nine and seven years old, and the
oldest has only recently started spending time in his room,
and only because he decided he wanted a little privacy.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In article ,
(ted) wrote:

I have two daughters. 1.5 yrs and 7 weeks respectively. We have
designated a room in our house as theirs. We haven't done anything to
it. Not even fresh coat of paint. I know of many friends who decorated
the baby's room as soon as they conceived. But the baby basically
stays with the mom all the time. Most of them even cosleep so the baby
never sees the room.

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??


Thanks.

When my kids were small, they used their room only for sleeping and
changing their clothes, which was what I preferred. We never
"decorated" it much beyond paint. I wanted them to play where I could
see them and keep an eye on what they were doing.

They varied about when they started sleeping in their own room -- the
oldest by about 5 weeks, one of the twins about the same time, the other
slept with us off and on until past his first birthday, though they all
had nights where they'd end up in our bed for many years. (Heck, one
would still climb in my bed when their Dad was out of town last year --
and she was 18.)

They started playing in it when they started having friends over and
wanted to get away from Mom and their siblings. (Of course, since the
three of them shared one room til they were 8 and 12, there ended up
being conflicts over who could be in there when...)

I'm not sure when they really started to use their room as a sanctuary,
but closer to adolescence, which would also be when we moved into a
house with one bedroom per kid.

They are now 19 and 22, and I sometimes get lonely even when all the
kids are home, because they are each in their own room with the door
closed. (Until *I* get into something solitary . . . then they suddenly
all want me for something....)
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

ted wrote:
I have two daughters. 1.5 yrs and 7 weeks respectively. We have
designated a room in our house as theirs. We haven't done anything to
it. Not even fresh coat of paint. I know of many friends who decorated
the baby's room as soon as they conceived. But the baby basically
stays with the mom all the time. Most of them even cosleep so the baby
never sees the room.

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??


Thanks.

My 8-year-old daughter has been using her room (other than for sleeping)
for about a year now. She has a sign, "Enter and Die!" on the door -
hopefully but illogically aimed at the pre-literate 2.5-year-old.

Clisby

"ted" wrote in message
om...
I have two daughters. 1.5 yrs and 7 weeks respectively. We have
designated a room in our house as theirs. We haven't done anything to
it. Not even fresh coat of paint. I know of many friends who decorated
the baby's room as soon as they conceived. But the baby basically
stays with the mom all the time. Most of them even cosleep so the baby
never sees the room.

In your experience when did your kids start using their room? Do they
play in their room or Do they just go in there at night to sleep? I'm
wondering if we should start working on the room. I'm also thinking
(selfishly) that if we make enough fuss about this room, DD1 might
actually "own up" to it and start sleeping in it in near future. Any
thoughts??


Thanks.

DD is almost 7 and DS is 16 months old.

DD just started playing with friends in her own room in the last year and
only if the friend wanted to play there. Otherwise, she plays in the living
room (and for a while in the basement playroom) and does her homework at the
kitchen table. We decorated her room when she turned 6 and she got to pick
out the colors and general decor (horse stencils running around the room).
Then over the summer, we got new bedroom furniture for her. Now that DS is
walking, DD has taken to putting "keep out" and "welcome" signs on her door.

DS moved into his own room about two or three months ago. He was sleeping
(or rather not sleeping) in DD's room (at her request). But because she kept
waking him up when she went to bed, we moved him to his own room. DS's room
is still generic. We'll probably wait until he's older as well, so he can
have some say in how his room looks.

Jeanne

ted wrote:

In your experience when did your kids start using their room?

What room?