It's important to know there are laws in place to help make sure everyone's home is safe and comfortable. Legislation states that children of the opposite sex over the age of 10 should not share rooms - and that this can be considered overcrowding.
For those who are homeowners or renting privately, the present guidelines are that once a child reaches the age of 10 years ideally, they should not room share with a sibling of the opposite sex.
Except for special and/or extreme circumstances, there are no laws specifying how siblings share a room, even siblings with different genders.
In some states in the USA, it is actually illegal for boy and girl siblings to share bedrooms when they reach a certain age. Now, no such laws exists in Australia, nor should they, especially when it family houses only appear to be reducing in size.
The simple answer: any age, but I recommend waiting until the youngest is at LEAST 2.5 years old (sleep regressions before then happen almost every 6 months, yikes!). If you decide to move your children into the same room, read the below and follow the steps, and manage your own expectations.
A pediatrician and a child psychologist say co-sleeping is OK until a child reaches prepuberty. Alicia Silverstone recently shared in a podcast that she and her 11-year-old son share a bed. A pediatrician said co-sleeping should not happen before 12 months and should stop at prepuberty.
With the average age of girls starting puberty being 11 and boys being 12, it's understandable that siblings of different genders will want higher privacy levels than a shared room accommodates. So, we recommend giving each child their own bedroom to make life less stressful and keep them comfortable and happy!
Generally speaking, boys and girls should have separate bedrooms when they reach the age where modesty becomes important. Initially, their need for privacy may be met by changing in separate areas or at different times.
There are no 'siblings sharing a room law' Australia enforces, so your perspective of the sibling dynamic is what matters most.
Siblings Will Share A Tighter Bond
Siblings who share a room will inevitably spend more time together, which means more opportunity to develop a closer and stronger bond.
It's important to know there are laws in place to help make sure everyone's home is safe and comfortable. Legislation states that children of the opposite sex over the age of 10 should not share rooms - and that this can be considered overcrowding.
No Rules Against Bedroom Sharing
This rule is the same regardless of the children's ages and whether the children are the same or opposite gender. It's perfectly possible for a 5-year-old female to share a room with a 12-year-old male, for example, if the parents think this is appropriate.
Men and women can absolutely be just friends and have nothing physical happen between them. But keeping a platonic friendship comfortable for both parties means that you need to look at not just what's happening now but what you want for the friendship down the line.
In theory, siblings of any age could share a room, but a good time to make the move is when the younger kid is sleeping through the night, so as not to disturb the other child, says Edwards, who runs Wee Bee Dreaming Pediatric Sleep Consulting in Kamloops, BC.
Co-sleeping with a child over 1 year old has a little less risk than with one under 12 months. At a toddler's age of 1 to 2 years old, they can roll over and free themselves in case they are trapped in the bed. As a child gets older, it becomes less risky to co-sleep, but it's still best for them to sleep on their own.
Keeping baby in your bedroom for those first 12 months can also help boost your bond. “The parent-child relationship is greatly enhanced by allowing the child to sleep in your room as long as possible,” says S. Daniel Ganjian, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
At what age is it okay for siblings to share a room? I generally don't recommend that babies share a room with a sibling until a MINIMUM of 6 months of age, but preferably until they are at least one.
The AAP does not recommend bed sharing for at least the first year – this applies to babies sleeping with parents and/or siblings (even multiples). For the first year, your baby should have his or her own separate sleep space. See my Safe Sleep Checklist for more.
Basically standards require one bedroom for each person in the household, unless they are an adult couple, two children of the same sex under 18 years old, or two opposite-sex children under 5 years old – these people, and only these people, can share a room.
Generally, a bedroom should not have more than two children in it. Two people per bedroom is generally considered an occupancy limit for rental purposes. In many cases, there is a “2+1” occupancy limit that states you can have two people per bedroom, plus one person in a living space.
2 In the "A-level" recommendation—the Academy's strongest evidence rating—the AAP said that room-sharing should continue at least until the baby is 6 months old, ideally until 12 months. The 2017 study suggests that it may actually be better for babies to have their own rooms starting at the age of 4 months old.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the best place for a baby to sleep is in his parents' bedroom. He should sleep in his own crib or bassinet (or in a co-sleeper safely attached to the bed), but shouldn't be in his own room until he is at least 6 months, better 12 months.
-- Concerned Parent
DEAR CONCERNED: It is not appropriate for parents to co-sleep with adolescent children, partly because adolescents need and deserve some privacy, as they engage in the developmentally important process of figuring out who they are and what they're about.
While some believe that siblings of opposite sex should be allowed to start sleeping separately early in life, others think they should be allowed to stay together till they reach puberty or decide for themselves. “There isn't really any specific age when opposite- sex children should stop sleeping on the same bed.
It's OK to carve out time for pre-bedtime cuddles and even to let him climb into bed with you in case of a nightmare, but at this point, nightly bed sharing should definitely be phased out.