I'm completely confused as to why, if there aren't too many kids to fit in the bedroom, they wouldn't sleep there. That's what bedrooms are for, isn't it? I don't remember ever doing sleepovers in any other rooms, unless it was a big slumber party. Then we were usually tossed into a dungeon--I mean basement--or something.

The bedroom door should be at least partially open, though.

We always stayed in the bedroom if it was just one friend staying over, but in the living room or on the deck if it was a slumber party.

The kids, for the most part, will sleep in the living room, but there are times they sleep in the bedroom. The youngest has only a twin bed, so she usually either has the sleep overs in the living room or on the pull out bed in the sunroom. The oldest and her friends usually like to sleep in the living room because they like to stay up late and watch TV.

My kids have only stayed at two people's houses in their lives, both times they were kept in the family room. I feel more comfortable that way. If we did have someone stay the night it would be more or less made into a movie night with sleeping bags and possibly a tent in the living room. This way they still feel like it is their own private club but are under a watchful eye.

The nine year old and friends are willing to sleep in his room, but first they do everything they can to make it not seem like his room. This is an elaborate process involving the removal of every cushion from every piece of furniture in the house to make a giant pillow-palooza in his room.
This means that we are free to get up and move around the house as we like in morning....we just have to sit on the floor.
It also provides a nice padded room for those moments we we feel the insanity creeping in.

That other adult is wrong.

Unless I have something planned for the next day, I let them sleep wherever they want to sleep. I don't tiptoe or whisper the next day if they are in the living room though. We just step over them.

When the boys were in separate rooms, sleepovers were always in the bedrooms. However, now they share a room, and the 2.5 year old isn't QUITE ready for sleepovers (he needs his beauty rest), so sleepovers are now held in the playroom on the sleeper sofa. However, if I had my choice? It'd be the bedroom for sure!

We're still working on this, as we've only hosted one non-family sleep over so far. It involved 4 extra kids and a birthday so they all slept downstairs in the "toy" room. (If you can call an entire basement filled with the kids' stuff a toy room.)

But the family type sleep overs with kids, they sleep in either the boys' or girls' room depending on gender.

And my memory is really going, I don't remember what I did as a kid with my friends. (I think bedrooms...)

Both happen at our house. We have a pull out sofa in the basement where our oldest prefers to host her sleepovers. Our youngest has a trundle bed in her room so usually hosts hers there but now that she's an official teenager I have a hunch hers will retreat to the basement too. Sometimes just the two of them decide to have a "sleepover" and they always head to the basement. At this stage, my DH is the only one up early so it's not too hard to keep quiet until they come up from the dungeon!

We let the boys land where they will... BUT. We refuse to be quiet and tiptoe around them if they are in the play room or the living room. Why not pitch a tent in the yard for them?

Kid's bedroom. And remember, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Sleepover guests sleep in the kid's bedroom here. We had hardwood floors in our family room, so that wouldn't too comfy if they wanted to stay there, but I, like you, don't want to tiptoe around at night to avoid sleeping children in the main areas of my home.

I love natural consequences for the actions of minors. When you stay up absurdly late and then sleep in a public part of the house, you get awakened early. Why is that so bad?

There is no such thing as a "sleepover."

The kids don't sleep.

But if that battle is lost, I think the "other adult" in your house has the right idea: Remove the non-sleeping child and his or her guests as far as possible from the rest of the household.

Long Suffering Spouse and I refused to have sleepovers as much as we possibly could, back in the day. Sometimes, though, we'd be backed in a corner. We didn't really have the option of putting the non-sleeping guests in with the non-sleeping child when the kids were younger because our girls bunked together and at least two of our boys have always bunked together. By the time we moved to our current house, a decade or so ago, and Oldest Son got his own room, he was past the prime age for sleepovers... or so we thought. (See this post, if you have the time for it, for proof that this a problem that just doesn't go away.)

But even without that, we wouldn't want a kid and his or her sleepover guests in a bedroom together. Then nobody would sleep. And I desperately need my beauty sleep.

Our son had relatively few sleepovers, and it was usually several friends, so they slept in the basement. Our daughter often has one friend over, and they sleep in her room. At age 12, she is just deciding that she prefers the basement. And larger sleepovers. In my view, that means fewer sleepovers as well, but somehow I got talked into one this Friday night. Can I just send them to your place?

I'm not too fond of the sleepover thing. However, on occassion, when I let them have friends sleep over, they end up in the den on the sleeper sofa. I would prefer that they sleep in their bedrooms, but they see sleepovers as an "event", so they like to party big, and that means TV until late at night, instant access to the kitchen and pulling out the sofa. Of course, when I get up and start moving around, making coffee, etc., they end up awake, but not my problem.

Back in the Jr. High days of 2 years ago,all sleepovers were in the basement because of the TV /room-to-spread-out thing. All sleepovers came to a grinding halt freshman year when we caught them smoking pot in the basement. Not your particular problem, I know, but, file it away anyhow. PS--Even though it was a traumatic way to end it, I'm glad those damn sleepovers are OVER.

Wait, Wait, Wait!!! You have sleepovers where the kids, you know... actually SLEEP?

I agree -- in the bedroom. Or, if you have a "playroom" in the basement or some other out of the way place, then there. but not the living room, hall way or other "in the way" place.

I haven't taken the time to read your other responses, I mean it's 12:45 in the morning and I still have journals to write in and get to bed. But, here's my take on your question.

Tony only has sleep overs with his friends from one family. Those friends consist of two boys (ages 12 and 10) and one girl (age 8). For the girl's sake, the kids sleep in a common area such as our family room, and I'm usually sleeping out there with them. The parents prefer that, and I do too. While the family room shares a wall with our room, I have to walk all the way through the house to get there. In case of emergancy....well, we all feel better if I'm there too.