From 1 make 2: 7 advices for dividing a nursery?

Many parents feel uncomfortable with the thought of not being able to allow their children to each have a nursery. Other parents make a conscious decision to allow siblings to share a room. Children learn to be considerate and compromise as a matter of course. It can also be great fun to share a room with a brother or sister and have adventures together. Here are a few things you can look out for to support peaceful coexistence.

When does a nursery for two make sense?

If children share a bedroom, this has many advantages, which also have a positive effect on their development. From the very beginning, children learn to be considerate and to compromise. In the first years of life, communication with peers is very important. If the children are the same age or almost the same age, they like to occupy themselves together and share their toys with each other.

This is where a shared nursery is a great thing! Maybe you remember those precious moments before sleep when you shared secrets, discussed worries or made jokes with your sister or brother? These experiences weld together - for a lifetime.

1. Outsource functions from the sibling room.

Is the room very small? Then it might be worthwhile to outsource certain areas. Perhaps your partner or you have a study where you can also accommodate the child's desk? Or the closets can be stored in the wide hallway? This creates more space in the kids' room and your kids can spread out and romp around better.

2. Use the room structure to divide the room

Even if children share a room: everyone likes to have their own area. A clear division is therefore an advantage. It is especially good if you can use the architecture of the room for this. Niches or an imaginary line between the door and the window sometimes already provide possibilities to divide a room. A simple square or rectangular room can usually be divided without any problems.

Important: It is ideal if both areas in the sibling room are well ventilated and flooded with daylight.

3. Explain differences when sharing rooms

Children quickly become jealous. So if the room is divided into uneven or non-equal areas, it is especially important that you explain to your children why. The little sister will certainly understand that a school child needs more space because of the desk. And the fact that a loft bed leaves more room for playing than a low bed is certainly understandable even for the youngest children. This makes it easier to accept differences in room sharing.

4. Dividing rooms by optical separation

A visual separation is very important, at least when it comes to retreats. In larger rooms, furniture such as cupboards or shelves can serve as room dividers. However, it is then very important that they are securely fastened to the wall. In smaller children's rooms, a screen or curtain is often the better option to divide the room. They don't take up as much space and can be moved aside if needed. This creates more space for playing together.

5. Harmony in spite of peculiarities

Especially in small rooms, it looks calmer when large areas are presented as a unit. Nevertheless, it is important that siblings can live out their individuality even if they share a room. For this purpose, you can, for example, provide uniform furniture with different colored accessories or the same wall color with different wall tattoos. This way, an exciting underwater world can be created on one side and a fairytale forest on the other, and everyone can identify with their part of the room.

6. Prevent disputes

Of course, siblings with a larger age difference can also share a room. Arguments then often revolve around "He took it without asking me" and "That's mine and she broke it." That's when it can help to keep personal toys in separate places. If the older one worries too much about his toy, he can put it on the top shelf, for example. This way, the little sibling can't get to the "precious items" and peace is maintained in the children's room.

7. Friends visiting

Of course, children sometimes want to invite friends over to show them their toys and have adventures with them when they share a room. Such situations cause the least problems if they are agreed upon beforehand. It is also important to reach a compromise that both siblings agree on and that both can benefit from at some point. For example, if one is at sports, the other can bring a friend without disturbing the "roommate." Or one child may volunteer to go play in the living room while the other sibling has a visitor. Other times, it's the other way around. If your children are about the same age, they may have mutual friends. Then a nice common sitting area can be set up where everyone can play together.

As you can see, with a few tricks you can help your kids have a nice shared room. Especially if siblings have a similar character, similar interests and not too big age gap to each other, there is nothing against a peaceful coexistence in the children's room.