Nursery and office in small flat?

[SpanxAreMyFriend]

Wondering about the best way to organise our flat and interests what other people do at the moment.

DH and I live in a 2-bed flat with 8month old, first baby. First of all, I know we are really lucky to have 2 bedrooms at all so this is a first world problem!

Due to pandemic DH is working from home at what was my desk. When not on maternity leave I work as a lecturer so half of the week in uni and the other half at my home desk doing planning, writing etc. DH has now commandeered my desk for his work but I'm on maternity leave until this summer so it's ok for now but not for much longer.

Until now we've kept baby sleeping with us in our room in a next to me cot. However she is too big for it now and we really need a larger cotbed. Also there's the question of when to move baby to her own room. Most of my new mum friends have already moved their babies into their own rooms now and say that the whole family sleeps better as a result. Our second bedroom is set up with baby's changing table and all her things, so effectively the nursery except she doesn't sleep in there, and the one desk and computer is in there. Obviously if she moved in there to sleep we couldn't work in there as she would be napping during the day. Also DH works v late evenings and baby goes to bed at 7-7.30.

Do we keep baby in our room until (if) DH goes back to the office? Or do we prioritise baby having own room and kick DH out - but then not sure where he could work, (or me when I go back to work)?

Suggestions welcome! Thank you x

What times does your DH start work?
It could be both an office and a nursery, but he moves into your bedroom to work at night.

Tbh, i think whatever solution you come up with in the meantime, in a handful of months you're going to need a bigger place to live. Is that going to be possible?

Could you move the desk into your bedroom? Have that as your office space instead of the second bedroom.

@underneaththeash he could but he reckons it's not feasible, as he used two screens and does a lot of zoom etc. Also the baby would be napping in there twice during the day. It would be fine for me if I was the one wfh as I could be more flexible and take laptop into another room, but not DH.

@Ohalrightthen uuurgh yes, I think you're right! But we live in London and 3-beds are really costly so not at the moment. I was hoping others with a 2-bed would have some clever ideas! :-)

@fredred not sure everything would fit. But I've been thinking about this and trying to work out if we could.

Does moving the baby really improve things? Eg will we all sleep better? She's still feeding once in the small hours so I don't know whether to wait until she drops that feed anyway...

I think your DH can still work in the baby's room, and come out for the naps. 2 naps a day will not be for very much longer. Your baby will move to one longer nap soon.

I know he's got 2 screens etc but he's unlikely to need them all the time?

Also, he's working from home for now, is that likely to be a more long-term plan or only during Covid restrictions? When do you return to work?

I think you need to plan a move however, as you will need more space regardless.

Finally, I do think you'll all have a better sleep when your baby moves. I always slept better anyway, once the baby moved!

Could you squeeze 2 work spaces into your bedroom?

Long term you need an office space,your bedroom,baby room and living room. You might as well give your daughter her own room while you are still on maternity leave/working from home. Easier to cope with any issues than when you are both out the house at work. Is the living room bigger than your bedroom? Big enough to double as bedroom/study ? You could think of using living room as study. I know people who've built a cubicle or big cupboard (lockable) to use as childproof study. You can even get ready-made soundproof cubicles.

We're in a 2 bed with 2DC and 2 wfh desks and its pretty stressful tbh.

Atm we've got DHs desk in the living room, my desk in DS1s room and DS2 in a travel cot in our room. DS1 could climb out of it by 18m (DS2's just turned 1) so I don't know what we'll do then. Maybe move my desk to our bedroom and put DS2 in a toddler bed?

If you like your set up now, my suggestion is to get a travel cot (plus proper mattress off amazon) as they are about 20cm shorter than normal cots so you might be able to squeeze it next to your bed. Hopefully by the time your DC can climb over the top things will be more normal and you won't need the wfh desk.

Lots of people continue to share a room with their babies for much longer than 6 months. If you have space in your room for a cot, you could move baby into that once they outgrow the bedside crib. If everyone is sleeping ok (and just one night waking isn't bad at all!) then you might as well continue.

If you want or need to move baby into their own room, I think you will need to move house sooner rather than later, or create a home office elsewhere (your bedroom, living room, dining room?) You could do something clever with a dividing screen or a desk within a storage unit (with folding/sliding doors) so it can be hidden away when not in use.

Thank you for the helpful ideas X