Is is better to house children by age or by gender?

Question

I have a 5 year old boy, a 1 year old boy and a baby girl on the way. We only have 2 bedrooms for the children so would it be better to put the two boys together or the youngest two children together (after the baby starts sleeping through the night of course)? I'm just wondering right now.

Answer 1

By gender would be better. Let the boys have a room together, and give your girl her own bedroom. You can do it the other way though if you would prefer it.

Answer 2

by gender

Answer 3

By gender...I would put the 2 boys together.

Answer 4

I would put the boys together. You will have to do that eventually anyways. That way you don't have to move all the youngest boys stuff in with his brother next year. This way there is only one move.

But, if you prefer to do it the other way, go ahead. They are so young that opposite s*x doesn't matter, and those two will play more together whenever they are tots because of the age difference. Good luck!

Answer 5

I think by gender would be better for the boys.  The older one could help you out a lot and model how a boy should behave, and even help you teach him some things...like how to potty and bedtime/wake-up routines.  5 year olds like to feel like they're "big boys" by helping mommy with the younger siblings, and it would give you more time to focus on the newborn.

Girls need their own room in a houseful of brothers anyway. :)

Answer 6

I would think it would be better if you put the boys together. I have three girls and a boy. My two middle daughter share a room, my oldest has her own room, and my son has his own room. When they get older, you don't want brothers and sisters sharing rooms. Best to make it easy on yourself

Answer 7

Age is ok when they are younger but the girl will need her own space at some point so it is better to just start out with the two  boys together

Answer 8

I would actually put the youngest two together for now until the oldest are say 5 and 9 -- then if you are in the same house with I assume 3 bedrooms then put the boys together and give the girl her own room. :-)

Answer 9

definitely put the boys together and give the girl her own room

Answer 10

It makes no difference whatsoever when they're little.  The girl should have her own room when someone has hit puberty or when someone asks for privacy when they change their clothes, whichever comes first.  Either way, it's not for a while.  The only reason in your situation I'd say to put the boys together is that I wouldn't really trust a 1-year-old in a room with an infant.

We've done different sharing pairs at various times, usually trying to keep an infant in its own room so as not to be a safety issue and also not be an issue with waking up the siblings every time the baby cries.  All the pairings (boy-girl, girl-girl, boy-boy, 4-year-age difference, 2-year-age difference) have worked fine.  Now that my oldest is 9 I wouldn't have her sharing with a brother any more as a regular thing, but I still have no problem putting everyone in the same room when we have overnight guests.  If she had a problem with it, that would be different.