How to Prepare Your Child to Share a Bedroom
When a household doesn’t have enough rooms for each child to have their own, there’s no choice but to share a bedroom. So, whether it’s a baby or a younger sibling, it can be quite difficult for the older child to accept the situation. That’s why this article will tell you how to prepare your child to share a bedroom.
In fact, sharing a bedroom can help siblings to increase their closeness and to sleep better. In addition, they’ll achieve a much deeper sibling bond. In that way, they’ll learn to share, communicate better, and have a good basis for conflict resolution. But before all that can happen, parents need to know how to handle the situation in the best possible way.
Challenges to sharing the room
We can’t forget that sharing a room may involve some challenges that you’ll have to know how to deal with to avoid complications. For example, if your children are older, they may want to play before bedtime even if they have to get up early. In these situations, you need to consider the following:
- Take into account the temperaments of both siblings.
- Try to have them go to bed at different times.
- Think of creative ways to give both siblings the space they need in the bedroom.
- Encourage acceptable behavior as sleeping partners. For example, silence when one sibling is sleeping, respecting each other’s space and things, or knocking on the door before entering, among others.
By keeping this in mind, the challenges or problems that may arise from sharing a bedroom can be greatly minimized. Of course, the rules of coexistence that are established must be respected to the maximum at all times.
When is the best time?
You may wonder when is the best time for siblings to start sharing a room. It may seem like the perfect time will never come, but in reality, you can create the right time.
The first thing to keep in mind is that you need to take some time for your child to adjust to the transition. For example, you can keep the crib in the parents’ bedroom for a few days and start setting up the room for both of your children. It’s key to warn the older child that the baby will sleep with them when they reach a certain age.
How to do it correctly?
Doing it correctly can be easy, as long as you keep some issues in mind. For example, when they’re little it doesn’t matter so much that they share a room. However, when they’re older, they may require more space and privacy. In any case, if there isn’t enough room at home, they’ll have to adapt to the circumstances.
Ideally, the younger sibling should go to the bedroom with the older one when they manage to sleep through the night so as not to disturb the rest of your other child. In addition, encourage key habits and routines, such as getting things ready for school before both go to bed. That way, you avoid disturbing the sleep of one of the siblings. In any case, it’s essential that both siblings have personal space. For example, each one should have their own part of the closet or their own drawers.
Strengthen the emotional bond
With all this in mind, you’ll see that the fact that the siblings have to share a bedroom doesn’t have to become a problem. In fact, quite the opposite is true. This will be their refuge where they can share experiences and laughter that will allow them to strengthen an affective bond that will be impossible to break.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Bilbao, A. (2015) El cerebro del niño explicado a los padres. Editorial: Plataforma Actual
