Fretting about how we are going to fit a baby into out flat!

[bumperlicious]

Woke up at 6.30 am (as is now customerary for me) and started fretting about how we are going to fit a baby - more specifically baby stuff - into our flat. Luckily we have a 2 bedroom flat so we have a spare room. But if I am breast feeding will I want the baby in our room? There isn't really room for a cot in our bedroom? Would I use a moses basket? Is there a difference between a cot and a crib? What type of cot should I get?!

I don't really want a nursery themed baby room, I would just like a nice simple room with furniture that will last a while. We have a spare bed in our spare room but should we get rid of it (not really suitable as a regular bed - it's the Ikea metal framed day bed - love it!) or will I be sending DH into the spare room to get some sleep, or if the baby is in the spare room will I want to be sleeping on it if regularly breast feeding? We have our tumble dryer int he spare room, which will now have to go our bedroom or the living room (eww!)

Arrggghhh! Sorry, I know you can't answer these questions for me but any advice would be gratefully recieved. How do you have a baby and still have a nice grown up house on a budget?

[Iklboo]

DS was in a moses basket in our room un til he was about 6 months old. They take up far less room than a cot.

[mustrunmore]

Keep the day bed. Babies dont need that much room to begin with! And it will come in handy for feeding, sitting on while baby mills around at a later date, and, yes, to sleep on if needs be!
If you want to get a moses basket, just borrow one, as they're in them for such a short time. You could get/borrow a swinging crib thing which is smaller than a cot but lasts a bit longer sizewise.Or how about a bedside cot, which opens out so you are almost co sleeping? Then you wouldn't need room between cot and bed.

[bctmum]

Babies need very little - co-sleep and bf - so no cot needed. Nappy change with a mat on the floor - no changing table needed.

Spare bed useful - keep this. Tumble dryer in the living room - can cover when not in use.

[mustrunmore]

When ds1 was born, we just changed the border in the spare room to an animal one, the rest was 'adult' colours etc.
Its recommended that you do keep the baby withyou in your room for the first 6 months to reduce risk of cot death etc.We kept ds1 with us for 6, but ds2 is stil with us at 10 months, as he's still too little to be with his brother re crying and disturbing him, and ds1 not really being trustworthy enough as a jealous 3 yr old.

[MumtoBen]

I slept in the spare bedroom with my son in a moses basket for the first 8 weeks. He then grew out of it and we bought a cot bed. Luckily the room is big enough for a single bed and a cot bed. I stayed in the spare room as I was b/f and thought at least my husband could get some sleep in our bedroom. Could you squeeze a cot and a bed in your spare room?

A crib is like a small cot. A cot bed, obviously converts to a toddler bed. This could save you money overall. I don't think my son would fit in a normal cot now (he is 21 months), but is quite tall for his age.

I would agree about the changing table. A thick towel or changing mat is fine.

With hindsight I wouldn't have bought a moses basket. My son was a small baby and he outgrew his very quickly.

The toys are the worst thing for taking up space. It wasn't too bad for about the first 6 months then it spiralled out of control!

[beckybrastraps]

We used the carrycot from our pushchair, in our bedroom. It went next to me (on a stand like the ones you can get for Moses baskets). Took up next to no space. Dh may have stirred for the first week when trhe baby cried, but after that he didn't notice at all. The beauty of breastfeeding is that there's no waiting around. We have a small two-bedroomed house, and have managed fine with two babies. It's only now that dd has outgrown her tiny bed that we need to move!

[macneil]

This has been a nightmare for me. I have to spend 6 months here in Canada. Before I went, I sold my 1 bedroom London flat on the third floor and bought a 2 bedroom one with a lift. Came to Canada. Then the sellers pulled out, so I had to tell our buyers I couldn't sell - because I have nowhere to live when I get back in April with a new baby, and can't afford to rent in London, and can't look at new flats from here. Paid for the buyers' survey. Lost the tenant I had lined up if I hadn't sold my flat - worth literally thousands to me over these 6 months. And when I get back, it's back to the nightmare of having 10 people a day round to look at my flat, while I go and look at 5 new flats, except with a baby.

I hate my sellers - they just decided to relist it at a higher price, despite letting me get really far into the buying process, organising a mortgage etc.

Anyway, now I have to find some way of putting a 4 month baby into a one bedroom 3rd floor flat with no lift and lord knows how long it'll take to find and get through the sale of a new flat.

[lupins71]

Hi

I know what you are going through, when we had dd we were in a 1 bed flat, it was a nice place just big enough for us and the dog, we ended up craming cot in room with us - there was no room for chest of drawers for her stuff so we cleared the book shelf unit and put little baskets on it with nappies wipes bodysuits ect in and put her clothes in straoge containers under the cot, we stayed like that for 13 months, then her toys just took over and she needed her own room, storage is the key to keeping it all tidy but it is hard once they are up and about with bigger toys

Good luck, Lisa x

[LUCIA22]

We are due to have our first baby in May and live in a one bedroom flat. Cant really afford to move anywhere bigger so were planning on staying put at least for the first 6 months. It is going to be v cramped but we will just have to cope. Would expect them to be in our bedroom for the first 6 months anyway so its just where to store all their stuff which will be the main problem. DP has just started his own business which is currently being run from our living room so all in all we should soon be experts on living in confined spaces!!!

[bumperlicious]

Thanks for all your positive thoughts. I think I'm just in denial about how much this is going to change our lives and I am feeling a bit resistant to it. Our flat isn't perfect but I love it, and I don't want to be living in the type of place where you have a tumble dryer in the living room! You know what I mean, what I really want is a big house where everything has it's own place and I feel like a grown up, rather than a teenager just playing at house (I'm 25 and DH is 41!).
Well, there's always the drawer in my bedside table