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I don't think it is a big deal until puberty, that's when everyone starts caring about privacy because all of the changes going on with their bodies. It might be easier to switch if the 3rds a girl when you set up the nursery; but it's not a big deal if you want to wait too.

ETA: I am 1 of 3 girls and we could/would all be in the 1 bathroom we shared at once. One going to the bathroom, one at the vanity, and one in the shower; so that's why I said when they're older change. I think the jack and Jill aspect makes it a little different than a hall bathroom... But honestly not quite sure what makes it feel different 🤷‍♀️

My opposite sex kids share. We encourage proper bathroom boundaries with our kids regardless of sex. If you are thinking it might be an issue in teen years there are far easier solutions (i.e. buying a vanity for doing make-up, etc). I think you are sending a weird message making your son give-up his room for your daughter [in this hypothetical scenario], especially since you previously gave him a choice.

My brother, sister and I all shared 1 bathroom growing up. We were all only a year apart. It was never an issue with my brother. Boys spend such little time in the bathroom anyways. Two teenage girls on the other hand...that's where the problems were . How we made it through that time and are still close today, I'll never know!

Opposite genders can certainly share the same bathroom. By the time they each want their own privacy they will have worked out a system where no one is waking in on each other. Besides Jack & Jill bathrooms are called such for a reason.

@annem1990: my sister and I literally didn’t get close until we stopped sharing a bathroom. It was a trying time

Sorry, this is really an odd question. Don't people just close the door when they want privacy in the bathroom?
Why does gender factor into it? We're not rich enough to have a "master suite" or anything, and my whole family (husband, boy and girl) will be sharing one bathroom. I can't fathom the idea that this could be problematic. Most of my friends live in NYC where normal apartments have one bathroom and (gasp!) children of opposite genders share bedrooms!

They don't have to be in there at the same time! So I don't think it's a problem.

My boy and girl share, and I'm starting to ask them to close the door and not pile in all at once - but for now, it's more because they wind each other up and goof around, than for privacy reasons. The goofing around is so bad though. Sometimes I've had to march one of them off to another bathroom just to make sure they brush their teeth.

My brother and I shared our whole lives until I left for college... no big deal.

@merriment: Same! Our whole family shares the same bathroom (one on the level with our bedrooms), so I do not think it is a big deal at all.

I don’t think it matters at all. My bro and I are under 3 years apart. We always shared a bath. You knock before entering or lock the door.

Most people I know have one bathroom for all the kids, and plenty share a bathroom with the whole family.

Agree that it doesn’t matter if a boy and girl are sharing a bathroom. BUT I could also see wanting to give the girl the private bathroom when they are older, since girls often take longer in the shower and getting ready and that just seems a little easier. Plus dumb things like boys peeing in the seat and leaving the toilet seat up and stuff. Obviously not huge deals or deal breakers, but as a girl I know I would have rather not shared a bathroom with my gross brother if it was an option. And then when she gets her period and stuff... since you have the extra bathroom and someone gets there own, I would let the opposite sex child have it.
Not sure what I would do though in terms of moving your oldest.

We have the same setup and girl, boy, girl. Well currently the baby is in our room but she’ll eventually move into jack and Jill when she’s older or when we feel motivated to move things around my husband said the same thing about the girls sharing the jack n Jill but I don’t think it matters and I think it makes more sense for the oldest to have the bigger bedroom and more privacy. Oldest privilege.

Also there’s a closer age diff between younger two so I’m sure they might be closer in life stages than with the older one. I figured if the sharing sibling hits puberty and need their own space the oldest would have moved out for college by then.

We had 6 kids sharing one bathroom growing up. I was the only girl. When we remodeled we made the sinks separate so everyone (well, really me, the only girl) could get ready at the same time as others.

I'll also put out there that whatever you decide now can be changed later. We did a lot of room switching as we grew older and wanted different things. One room had bookcases, another room to practice a musical instrument and another that was lego heaven.

Yeah.... I don’t understand why this would be an issue. My whole family shared a bathroom until I was 15 and we built and addition. Then my brother and I continued sharing until we left for college.
We just closed the door.
But also- he’s my brother. If I was in a rush and needed something while he was in the shower I could holler in and let him know I was coming in to grab it.
Kids will figure out their own privacy needs.

@cat620: I have three girls. We moved into our current house, they were 4.5,2.5, and 2 months old. We had the same bedroom/bathroom situation as you, and opted to have the two oldest take the bedrooms that share the jack & Jill bath and put the baby in the big “princess suite” with its own bath.
We did it for a number of reasons, but
One thing I’m surprised no one has mentioned is the issue of access between the two bedrooms. I did not want my middle child to be able to access the new baby’s room through the jack & Jill bathroom at night. I guess we could have flipped the doorknob around so it could be locked, or used a baby gate, but it seemed easier not to deal with that. Also, I felt it was easier to kick the baby out of her room than one of the older girls, so the nursery can double as a guest bedroom with its own bathroom. Also, babies don’t use bathrooms, so it meant only one of those two bathrooms was being dirtied!

But, since you’ve already got your boys split...I don’t think boys and girls sharing matters when you’re small - when they’re older you may decide to re-shuffle, and can come up with a variety of reasons to do so! I think we swap to have my oldest in the “princess suite” in a few years, just to be “fair” and say the oldest gets extra privacy, although I think the walk in closets in the jack & Jill bedrooms make them more attractive choices! Some of it may also come down to dynamics between the three of them.