Is a 2 bedroom house too small for a newborn and a 7 year old ?

Question

after my sisters judgemental outburst about my house being too small to fit a newborn and judging my financial situation ( which she isn’t fully aware of) I was wondering.

Is a two bedroom house too small for a newborn as well as my 7 year old son? The newborn would be in our bedroom for the first year and after will share a room with our eldest.

Answer

Would I make it work? yes. Would I intentionally do it? No. like the other comment said that’s a pretty substantial age difference. They are in totally different life stages and an 8 year old is going to want/need privacy that a young toddler cannot understand. I also just can’t imagine being a preteen, starting puberty and dealing with all those hormones while sharing a room with a toddler who is pushing every boundary. It would probably lead to a lot of resentment in that older child who has had their own space for their entire life. it seems kinda selfish to create that situation if I’m being honest.

Answer

In my opinion, yeah that’s not enough room for two children of those ages. I wouldn’t want to share a room with an 8 year old as an adult. I’m absolutely fine with kids sharing rooms in most situations, however that’s a large age gap, a 1 year old and an 8 year old aren’t going to be in the same sleep schedule. And as they grow up you have a privacy concern if they’re different genders. I’m not saying you need to be living in a 14 bedroom mansion, but the situation you’re describing is not one I would bring a newborn into.

Answer

I think there's too big of an age gap for the kids to share a room. If you can afford in the future to rent/buy a 3 or 4 bedroom place, that's what i would do.

Answer

Temporarily it’ll work out fine 
The age gap is huge and that’s where the issue concern etc is when you want them to share a room 
I’d personally have your youngest room share with you guys until you can get them their own room

Answer

I think it is fine for now while baby is in your room but I also feel the age gap is a little big for them to share a room. But it would still work out if this is what you have at the moment and can’t get anything bigger . I shared a room with my little sister for a long time and she’s 6 years younger then me . It was fine for the most part but sometimes it got frustrating with asking her to clean her messes or being forced to shut off the lights because she needed to sleep but I was older and didn’t  have too yet. But regardless  no one should be judging you for this .

Answer

You can make it work. Is it ideal, absolutely not. My sister and I grew up sharing a bedroom. We had no problems with it until we got a little older and wanted our own spaces. ￼

Answer

If that’s all you can afford, you gotta do what you gotta do. 
Is it ideal, no. 
That’s a big age gap. An 8 year old isn’t going to want to share a room with a baby. In just 2-3 years, puberty will hit and they will want their own safe space which a 2-3 year old won’t understand. 
I was 8 when my sister was born. I had to share a room with her until I was 14. I hated it. Especially because she had severe reflux and made the room smell like rotten milk and vomit until age 3. I also couldn’t have friends spend the night. But my parents couldn’t afford a bigger house until later. Before my little sister was born, me and my other 2 siblings shared the main bedroom. It was a 3 bedroom house. My parents had one room, my aunt (21 and going through a divorce) had the other bedroom, and the kids (2 girls and 1 boy 18m and 3y older than me) in the biggest room. This worked for us at the time. 
I am currently living in a 2 bedroom. The bedrooms are for sleep only at this time. My kids are 2&3. They each have a bed in their room but only my 2 year old sleeps in there. My 3 year prefers to sleep in our room. They are 13m apart so we have a few years before we need to figure out adding another room. We bought this two bedroom because of location, land, and potential.

Answer

I moved overseas to my husband's country of origin 3 years ago. Kids having their own room is practically unheard of here even with financially comfortable parents. They dont understand how thats the norm in America and think it's weird and icy for kids to sleep alone in a room. If theres a spare bedroom they use it as a guest room here rather than 'make kids sleep all alone because why would you want them to do that'. My husband is one of 3 kids and he roomshared with his brother who was 6 years younger than him. My neighbor has 4 kids in 2 rooms and her boys are 13 and 6, they roomshare and are actually super close.  Another friend has 2 girls ages 13 and 8 who roomshare.  My mom also is super against it like theyre suffering somehow lol but we have 4 kids in 2 bedrooms, my oldest is 12 now, and it's fine. Occasionally like once every few months my sons fuss at each other for waking each other up and they find a solution and get over it. It's not like you have a 5 bedroom house and youre making them roomshare so you can have a spare yoga room for yourself. Im also a former social worker and saw women escape domestic violence with all her kids in 1 bedroom and mom slept in the livingroom until she got on her feet and honestly the kids were fine sharing a room with their siblings. Youre doing the best you can with what you have in this horrible economy and theres NO SHAME in that momma, your kids will be fine. Having their own room may be a want, it is not a need. When hes a teenager (and you have several years until then) if youre still in your 2 bedroom and it really bothers him that much there are solutions like a tented bunk beds or room dividers.

Answer

Yes it will work out just fine. You can just keep the baby in your bedroom with a mini crib or bassinet set up and keep toys in the living room. This will work for up to a year or two and give you time to find a 3 bedroom housing option. We are doing the same thing. We currently live in a 3 bedroom house with my mother in law and our 6 year old daughter. We are expecting in June. So the goal is to finish renovating the house throughout this next year, and hopefully by next summer we can sell this newly renovated house and purchase a 4 bedroom house in another state further north where we have have more seasons than just summer lol.

Is a 2 bedroom house too small for a newborn and a 7 year old ?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey