Mum In The Madhouse - Parenting without stabilisers

I wish I knew!  Growing up I shared a room with my brother till I was 11 and then I was moved in to the attic room. One thing I don’t remember is playing very often in  my bedroom until I was older.  We always played downstairs.

• • Bed. We opted for a Bunk bed, which converts to two single beds for Maxi’s room in the hope that we could get the boys to share, but it wasn’t to be.  In Mini’s room we have a mid sleeper from Ikea, which he loves.
    Blackout blinds we tried to install ones from Argos, but they were a nightmare, in the end we got the blind man in, who supplied and installed two for 50% more than the cost we had paid from Argos in the first place (yes face plam thing going on)
  • Humidifier. Maxi has a chest condition and we were recommended pretty early on to get a humidyfer for his room.  We use it when he is wheezy, coughing or chesty.  It makes such a differernce that we got one for Mini’s room too.  We use the micromist type, then if they do pull them down there is no steam involved.
  • Night Lights. We used to put the boys to sleep in the dark, but all of a sudden when they were about 3 or 4 they became scared of the dark, so we installed night lights.
  • Bedside light.  Both the boys have a touch lamp by their beds, this means that we can turn their lights off easily is they are asleep.
  • Cotton Bedding.  Both the boys suffer from eczema, so we try to stick to cotton bedding, we also make sure that they are not too hot, sometimes this means that we add a fleece or throw over a summer weight duvet and in the winter they have brushed cotton sheets (bottom and top)
  • Ventilation. I am a great believer in rather being too cold than too hot, so I always make sure the vents on the boys windows are open.  You can now get things that tell you the temperature of a bedroom, but I have never had one for the boys.
  • Music Player. We have a CD player in each of the boys rom, so they can listen to music or stories.  Mini listens to his Relax Kids MP3
  • Books. even before both the boys could read they have always had books in their bedrooms, we also let them have their tag reading systems in their too, as they can listen to stories on them
  • Storage. We opted to try and make all the boys clothes storage accessible to them.  I make them put their laundry away and wanted to get them independently dressed as soon as possible.
  • Desks.  We have a desk in each of the boys rooms, so that they can spend quiet time at it.  Mini often takes himself off to his desk to write or draw.  we have Stokke trip traps at their desks to make sdure they sit at the correct height.
  • Child Level.  One thing we now do is put pieces of art work at child eye level.  This is their rooms and they should be able to make the most of any art, shelving or storage in their room.

What do you think is necessary for a good children’s room?