A MUM has sparked backlash after sharing a look at how she's set up sleeping arrangements for four kids in just one room.
Danielle took to Instagram to post a video of how she “makes it work” with the all sleeping in the same , as she insisted “it helps that our kids are small”.
Taking the camera into the room, she showed the bunk beds where her eldest, seven, on the top bunk and her five-year-old is on the bottom.
But it was when she showed where her “nearly three-year-old” that people were left stunned.
Instead of a bed like his siblings, the little one has a mattress on the floor, which is half in the closet – with clothes on rails above him.
The youngest, 11 months old, is then in a travel cot on the other side of the room.
Danielle also shared how she'd managed to get shelves and a “reading nook” into the room.
“They are still little, which helps a lot (well, kinda – try convincing a 2.5 year old to be quiet so the 11 month old can get to sleep),” Danielle added in the caption.
“But we’re getting there!”
She then listed some of the sleeping aids that have helped, including curtains on the bunk beds so that the eldest two kids can have some “quiet reading time at night and we minimise light pollution”.
They also use a sound machine, which works for “bedtime and morning protocol” – to help the kids remember that when the machine is on, they need to “respect your siblings' sleep/quiet rest time”.
“It isn’t always easy, but I grew up sharing a room with some of my siblings and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she added, revealing she's planning in the future to have one room for her two boys and another for her two girls.
But in the comments section, outraged people questioned why the three-year-old had been put in the closet – with many adding that the “reading nook” could have been turned into a bed space instead.
“I feel sorry for the closet child,” one sighed.
“Um……. maybe you shouldn't have had so many kids……. if you can't ethically house them,” another insisted.
“Nothing is cute about a s**tty mattress on the floor in the closet,” a third raged.
“‘Cute little floor bed'. No mama,” someone else said.
“Your baby got a mattress on the floor halfway through a closet.
“And I bet the parents' room is much larger than this!”
“What's cute about a mattress on the floor in the closet??” another questioned.
“Do you also sleep on the floor? I would rather give my children my own bed then to let them sleep on the floor.”
“Well, we know who the least favourite is,” someone else wrote angrily.
However, there were also those who understood Danielle's setup for her kids.
“Everyone is this comment section is so privileged,” one sighed.
“I like this setup for these ages. They don't need much right now, and it works.
“If it were me though, everyone would be on a king-size floor mattress.”
“You're doing a great job,” another added.
“Everyone has a safe place to sleep that is developmentally appropriate for them.
“A toddler is safer on the floor than in a higher bed.”
“You are rocking it mama! What a clean, safe, wonderful bedroom,” a third insisted.
“Way to get creative. All of our ancestors slept in much much smaller spaces and thrived.”
“Small but clean and organised! Lovely job mumma,” someone else praised.
