2yr bedroom- upstairs or downstairs

[csm1th]

I am expecting my second child in May when my son will be 2 years old and can't decide which room should be his first big boy bedroom!

We have a double bedroom and a nursery on the one floor and a third bedroom (up some steep stairs) on the top floor. The original plan was to move our son up to the top floor so that we would still be beside the nursery. However my husband has raised the good point that our son may then be potty trained and won't be able to manage the steep stairs by himself to go to the toilet. So we thought about my husband and I moving up to the top room. But then we wont be on the same floor as either of the kids.

Sorry for the long post but would really appreciate any advice! Do kids really need to get up during the night to go to the toilet??

Thanks!

[Writerwannabe83]

Following this with interest as my house is a silly lay out in terms of bedrooms.

One floor has the living room with a double bedroom opposite it and the next floor up has the nursery and another double bedroom.

It's not a problem now as we are all on the top floor now, me and DH in the bedroom and DS (22 months) in the nursery, but we are planning on TTC in the next few months and I can't logistically work out who is going to sleep where....

The only practical solution would mean that me and DH would be on a different floor of the house from both toddler and baby and I'm not sure how I feel about that....

[minipie]

Most kids are not toilet trained in the night till well after 4, I believe. day time potty training happens between 2 and 3.5 but they mostly stay in nappies at night for a long time afterwards.

I would move your DS upstairs, and put a stairgate across so that when you put him in a bed (not a cot) he can't wander and fall down the stairs.

[minipie]

Writer in your case I'd do the same and put DS in the room by the living room

[Akire]

Most 2y old woulnt be happy pottering off to the toilet at night even if all the nights were on. Like been said they would generally be more 2.5.
Quite common for small children to have a potty in their room at night if the bathroom is some distance away and to stop them getting wide awake going up and down floors!

I would have a stair gate on their room till they are older then can call you to take them. Even if they only had access to top floor I would be worried about them getting carried away washing hands and getting up to all sorts of helpful things in the bathroom while you are fast asleep.

[Writerwannabe83]

I don't think I could DS in the bedroom opposite the living room as it has an en-suite and I would be panicking as to when mischief DS would get up to whilst I was sleeping on the floor above.

I'm trying to convince my DH we should just move house! The lay-out of the house wasn't an issue at all until DS came along and now it has all sorts of problems. The living room is on a different floor to the kitchen which means whenever I need to use the kitchen, to make a cup of tea, do the washing up, cook, sort washing out etc then I have to take DS with me as I can't leave him alone in a room on a different floor.

[eastmidswarwicknightnanny]

Our last house was 3 storeys our bedroom was on top floor and at 6mths ds1 went Into own room on middle floor next to bathroom was actually furthest room from us if he was I'll dh slept in spare room next door to him but that was rare we moved 2yrs ago when he was 3 and was odd having him just across the hall equally now with ds2 at 14mths I wonder whether being on different floor would felt different having two.

[minipie]

writer just put a lock on the door to the en suite, on the outside iyswim, and lock it at night. DD is on the floor above us, she could go play in the bathroom in theory but never has and we do have a lock on the door in case she starts!

Having kitchen and living on separate floors is a pain though, agreed.

[Artandco]

I would keep both on same floor tbh.

Baby put in your room the first 6+ months as recommended. Then by then eldest will be 2 1/2. Then either move baby in with toddler to share or keep baby in your room a few years.

Use the top floor room as storage for stuff that was in either bedroom to make room for additional cot etc.

Once both older I would still keep them sharing a bedroom tbh and make the other one a playroom. That way one can be kept sparse and relaxing for sleeping and closely, the other can have toys spread out or left up more

[TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams]

Writer - I would put them both on the top floor when the new baby is old enough and use a video monitor. Or have them share a room My two insisted on moving in together after our summer holiday when they shared a room. DD1 would sleep through a bomb and DD2 is much happier in a room with her big sister. Now that they are a little older too, [both in single beds] we find that they will occasionally play together on a Saturday morning instead of presenting themselves to us at 6.30am which is bliss.

OP - depends on your definition of "steep" stairs. I've seen some children sling themselves over a stair gate in a gro bag so if there's no landing on the other side of the stair gate then I'd avoid. if you have ancient plasterwork or very narrow doorways [victorian] you may not be able to get stair gates that fit.

Toilet training kids have a nasty habit of procrastinating over a loo break when it's bed time so you could find yourself up and down the stairs like billy-o. If the nursery isn't big enough for two children I would move upstairs and have them share the larger bedroom / be across the two rooms. It might be handy to have a spare single bed in the larger room as in my experience you spend a lot of time crashing in there once they realise they can wander around at night. It also gives you somewhere to sleep if a child is unwell and you want to be closer to them. Extra bonus is a pre-made up single bed if there is a vomiting episode....

[Writerwannabe83]

There's no way I could get them to share a room at 6mths and 3yrs, wouldn't the baby be waking the toddler up every few hours??

My current DS didn't reliably sleep through until 11 months old and even now, aged 22 months, at least 2 nights a week he wakes up in the early hours and has a slight meltdown.

I couldn't think of anything worse than them sharing - if they kept waking each other up throughout the night I think I would want to throw myself out the window!!

[rainbowunicorn]

We are upstairs two kids are downstairs it has never been an issue. They both slept with us in our room until they were 6-7 months then moved to their own rooms. If they ever woke I heard them and the toileting was not an issue either. If you are getting up to help a child with nightime toileting it really does not matter what floor you are on as long as you can hear them via a monitor if need be

[minipie]

You could be on a separate floor from the baby if he/she is a good sleeper. Mine are not good sleepers - in that situation you want to be on the same floor as the baby so you're not traipsing up and down stairs in the middle of the night