How to transition from crate to kids' room at night

[Lily and Rocky]

Ginger is now 11 months old, and at a recent vet visit the vet seemed shocked that she was still sleeping in her crate (on the far side of the house from where we humans sleep).  My sons are 8 and 5 and have been bugging me to let ginger sleep in their room, but there are some issues I can't wrap my head around: 

1.  Both boys have loft beds.  I guess this is good, since I'm not sure I want the dog and kid sharing a bed.  Dog could sleep on her bed on the floor.  

2.  My youngest child sleeps in a separate room from the boys and still wakes up 2x or so a night (she's 2 years old...I have crappy sleepers).  During the day when she wakes from her nap and starts yelling for me Ginger will start whining and barking, and Ginger likes to be the first "person" into my daughter's room to say hi.  This delights my daughter, but it would seriously piss me off if I had to deal with a whiny dog AND a middle of the night wakeup from the toddler.  Is the dog likely to have the same whiny/barky reaction in the middle of the night?

3.  Very occasionally Ginger will bark at night, usually because of deer or coyotes in the back yard (I think...I do not go down to her when she barks).  Barking in my kids' room would wake the whole house.  Is barking likely to be less of an issue when Ginger is with her people and knows they're safe?  

4.  Doing a test run of leaving Ginger uncrated and free to wander at night is not possible.  Too much for her to get into - she would need to be closed into a room with my sons, and I would put her in there on my way to bed.

So do I need to bite the bullet and just put Ginger in with my boys some night and hope for the best?  Should I move her crate into their room and leave the crate door open?  Argh!

[Wasseem Sidhom]

The vet is shocked? That's a very strange reaction. If the dog is enjoying the crate, let her. If the boat is stable why rock it? Our 14 month old is a very loud sleeper and the rest of us are light sleepers. On the off chance where he slept with us upstairs and the kids had to go to the bathroom, the whole house woke up because of his excited barking. He now loves his crate at night and goes in willingly after about 9 months sleeping in a much larger pen. He's actually sleeping more quietly now in the crate vs the pen. Everyone is sound asleep.

You don't need another thing to deal with in the middle of the night.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

I totally agree with Waseem - if the vet's reaction was the only thing motivating you, but your current situation is working well, why mess with happy? Why cause undue stress/sleep disruption? You'll know when you can trust him/it is time to safely remove the crate. Rip let us know he was done with sleeping in the crate around 13 months (shortly after I tested him/trusted him alone in the house during the day). It was easy for us to just let him sleep on the floor at that point. You'll know when you're ready in your home :-) best,

[Susan & Randy's Kate]

I would go for a time when people don't have to work the next day and let the dog sleep in the crate in the boys room. Maybe the dog won't bark in a different room or if it knows her people are there.  If that works you could try just the bed. I have never been good about crating my dogs even though I can see merits of crating.  Good luck with Ginger.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

We've tried to get Gracie to sleep in our room, but as soon as all of the lights are out, she either whimpers or growls until we say: "Do you want to go to your room?"
Then she jumps off the bed and we take her to her crate which is in a different part of our house. She walks in without a fuss and we latch the door.
Their crate is like their den so I'm not sure why your vet would be concerned unless it is too small of a crate. Some boarders crate dogs too, not all have huge kennels.
If it were me. I would make the decision based on your boys' maturity. If she is still unreliable, what would she be able to get into in their room?
I would start with her crated in their room since she is used to that. Maybe after she gets used to the different room then leave the door open and let her acclimate to the freedom.
If she barks at strange noises, she might bark at noises the boys make as well.
Our room is too small for Gracie's huge crate so until she decides she wants to sleep in our room, she will be crated.

[Kerry L]

Our Hank (now 1.5 years old) hated his crate from the beginning, to the point that he was actually a better dog when we got rid of the crate (I think he had a bad experience, maybe left in way too long, before we got him) BUT I know this is not the norm. Hank sleeps in our room every night. I have an 8 month old and if/when she wakes in the middle of the night, he is foggy eyed, delirious and just as annoyed as I am LOL That being said, we prefer him to sleep in our room because my husband travels a lot for work and I feel much safer with Hank in our room. It's weird because he doesn't bark or get excited when the baby gets up or if it storms but if there is an 'odd' noise in the house he is sure to wake me up. The only advance I'd give is that "trial and error" are all you can do.