Large Family Bedroom Solutions

As we are getting ready to move,  I have been pondering the best options for organizing bedrooms and space for our kiddos. To my surprise and delight, Amy over at Raising Arrows addressed this very subject today! To read her thoughts and suggestions, head on over here.

For our family, since our second daughter was born, we have only lived two places. But we added 4 children while there. We had 4 bedrooms, but we only used three of them. For the first few months, our oldest was in a room by herself. Once our second daughter was old enough (we usually have the babies in our room until between 6-9 months depending on the child) she moved in with big sister, moving from a pack and play to a crib. When our son was ready, he moved into the room across the hall from the girls and his little brother joined him there. Our youngest was still a baby when we moved so she was still with us.

Where we live now, we have two bedrooms, so the three oldest share a room and the two youngest are with my husband and I. Once we move, we hope to have a three bedroom, so we can return to a boy room/girl room set up. It seems to work pretty well for all the kiddos that way.

As far as bedding goes, we usually have the children in a pack and play for the first year or so, then transition them to a crib until they are ready for a big kid bed. Space can be a real issue; trying to fit all those beds can be tight. We have a daybed and trundle for the girls and our oldest son had a daybed as well. Our youngest son has some physical limitations that require him to stay in a crib for a while longer and our baby is still in her pack and play, so we have managed so far. But as they get older, we are getting to the place where we are probably going to have to make some adjustments.

My favorite creative short term solution mentioned in Amy's post is the pillow chaise. My kids often want to sleep on the floor with pillow and blankets. They love forts and "camping" in their rooms. The pillow chaise (found here) makes this just a bit more comfortable. It's not really a great long term solution, but it's adds an element of fun to summers especially! Plus it would work great for Friday night movies or for sleep overs.

What kind of creative solutions has your family used?