Separting their bedrooms

I have b/g twins. We live in FL and apparently there is a law of when they should be separated but I am having trouble finding out the age. Anyway, I was telling my mom a hilarious "poop" story that the kids did the other day (really gross but DD took off her diaper, smeared it in her crib and DS reached in and got the diaper and smeared it in his bed too-not funny at the time but now looking back pretty funny)

Anywhoo, I was telling my mom and she got real stern and said it was time to separate them. I told her no I wasn't ready and she said the longer I wait the worse it will be. So when did you separate yours and why? Was/Is there a law saying so?

TIA

 

That cannot possibly be a law, or if it is, there's a lot more to it. The government cannot dictate the sleeping arrangements of your family. I recall reading that in California foster families must make separate accommodations for children of different genders, so perhaps you're thinking of something like that. As for when they need to be separated, I'd say when they start griping about needing their own room. I would pull the cribs apart a bit to keep further performance art at a minimum though

 

I can't see there being a law either... That's ridiculous... How could they enforce that law, what if the family couldn't afford a house with enough bedrooms for each child to have their own?

I don't have b/g twins, but I have had my daughter share a room with her brother when they were younger... I separated them when she was 7 or 8 and my son was 4 or 5? There was no issue with privacy, but I wanted her to have her own space by then...

 

There is a law (ridiculous, I know!), but I dont think you have to worry about it until they are about 4yrs old. Try checking the DSS website.

I think the poop story is hilarious! Probably because it has yet to happen here.

 

they are only one I think u can keep them together for a few years yet, sounds like ur mom is the one with the problem of B/G together

 

My two are still together and probably will be for another year or so (until baby brother is ready to jump out of his crib). I think the law applies to foster families. My niece and nephew shared a room until recently because they simply didn't have the room in their house until they renovated. They were 7 and 9.

 

I am unaware of any laws, but we separated at 18 mos. I loved it because their sleep habits improved, they had their own space with their own toys, and it got some of their JUNK out of the family room and into their own rooms!

I just have to say though, I love that your mom is insisting on the separation. My mom was the same way!

 

I don't know about laws either. Mine have been separated from pretty early (~6 mo?), but only because they sleep better that way. If they were doing well together, I'd have no problem with them sharing a room as long as they wanted.

More food for thought: my grandma had a twin brother, and in some reminiscences he wrote for her funeral, he mentions sharing a bed with her as a child. They used to trace letters on each others' backs and try to guess what they were spelling when they were supposed to be sleeping. I don't know how long this continued, but clearly it was at least until an age when they could read and write. It used to be so common for siblings to share a bed - people haven't always been so uptight about this kind of thing.

Also, my niece and nephew had to share a room until they were about 10 & 8 yrs old, respectively. There just wasn't any space to do otherwise. And they're fine.

 

I think you should do whatever works for your kids! Ignore your mom -- grandmas always love to butt in with advice.

We separated K&K a few months ago, mostly because they were waking each other at night, and because that was the long-term plan, anyway. Part of the deal was that Nadia got the nursery back, which is the biggest bedroom with its own bathroom, so she's thrilled.

It is working much better for us, especially because Karina loves to sleep late in the mornings, and Kevan gets up and talks loudly for awhile, so now he doesn't disturb her. And, we alternate who gets a bath each night, so I can get one baby ready for bed and put him/her down, and then bathe the other baby....logistically, it just works.

I've never heard of any such law, though.

 

I dont plan on sepertaing them untill the get to about 6/7 as at the moment we only have a 2 bed house and need to stick an extension on to find another bedroom as we cant afford to move. I know they love sharing together and jack cant sleep without sophie being in the room( which i hope he grows out of soon even if it is cute!) So for us it wont be for another good few years. So i say do you what you want to if you are not ready for them to be seperated dont do it, its not going to harm them sharing a room x

 

When they start to interfere with each other's sleep!

 

QUOTE(Orestia @ Dec 14 2008, 01:20 AM) [snapback]1109951[/snapback]
That cannot possibly be a law, or if it is, there's a lot more to it. The government cannot dictate the sleeping arrangements of your family. I recall reading that in California foster families must make separate accommodations for children of different genders, so perhaps you're thinking of something like that. As for when they need to be separated, I'd say when they start griping about needing their own room. I would pull the cribs apart a bit to keep further performance art at a minimum though


I agree, that can't possibly be a law. It is a licensing requirement for foster homes, that I do know. I would be very surprised if any State would even attempt to impose such a law.

To your question, I agree you should do what works best for your family. Ours are 26 mo and I have no plans to separate them until they are 3-5. I really don't see what gender has to do with it (unless you're talking pre-adolescence, when I'm sure some privacy would be appreciated.) Not sure why grandma has such a problem with it.

 

We plan for ours to share a room for a while yet. Or until it doesn't work anymore. Right now I love having all their stuff in one spot.
And they do play and babble to each other sometimes, but they can also sleep through the other if they want.

 

I also seriously doubt there could be a law, not that I'm an expert.

Mine are 3 and still happily in the same room. When we move to big kid beds, I'm sure I will wish (sometimes) they could be in different rooms, because it's going to be a party in there every night. But on the whole it's a plus -- they entertain each other and don't keep us running back there after bedtime as much as many singletons do.

I'm sure with b/g twins there will come a time when they want some privacy, but I can't imagine that happening until elementary school at least. And b/b or g/g twins might want some privacy too at that age.

 

I am sure that a law like that applies only to fostering situations.

Mine still share a room & will for I don't know how long. They are still perfectly happy.

 

The law is when you are ready. That being said, we separated around 26 months. DD would throw things at DS and wake him up. I wish I had done it sooner. It let him sleep and also gave thm something that is truly their "own". If they weren't disturbing sleep I probably would still have them together.

 

I seperated mine at 5, because that was the easiest time for them. Before that, they were not ready. I had tried to seperate them at 3, but I always found them sleeping together on the couch the next morning. They will prob let you know when they are ready.

 

My twins are g/g and we separated them at about 4 months, because they slept better that way. Then a little after 2 yo, they moved back in together. But we had my DD and 2 DSs in one bedroom up until they were 9 (DD), 7 & 4. We had a 2 bedroom house and 5 kids (one baby was in our room and one in the living room). There just wasn't a choice for us. Now we have a big, 5 bedroom house, so it's not an issue. But I agree that the law wouldn't be a blanket one that applies to everyone, as it's just not reasonable. If your fostering, or adopting then it would be an issue. But otherwise I would be very surprised to find that in any state... though I don't live in FL, so don't know for sure.

 

Like everyone else, I can't believe there would be a law in Florida that dictates sleeping arrangements in private homes. But even if there is, I'm sure you don't have to worry. I mean... with all all of the problems out there, there's no way that it would ever be enforced. Many families live in just a few rooms, so how could they ever separate sleeping spaces by gender? Anyway, I think you should keep your kids together until they say they want separate rooms or until you think they'd sleep better apart.

 

Hiya!

Just to let you know, my two are going to be sharing a room for quite some time.

I did a quick check of DCF, it looks like the only regulations are really one baby per crib, and if you were going to adopt or foster another child, the newcomer to the family would either need their own room or share with a child of the same sex.

 

i think we have a law here in new jersey too. with a boy and girl child they have to sleep in seperate rooms. Im not sure when though.

 

We just separated ours last week. They had been napping in different rooms since 12 months though. The only reason we did it was because DS often cries for about 10 minutes at some point in the night, and it had been waking DD up, who then would be up for several hours.

My friend that has b/g twins separated hers at 3 years.