Children's bedroom difficulties!

[Shittenshite]

Hi, can any MNers help with a quandary about my daughter's bedroom please?

We have 2 bedrooms. One is my 3 year old daughter's, and the others is mine and my partner's. We have a 7 month old baby and he is still in our room - we're not ready to move him out, so there's no need or rush to. He is still breastfed and wakes twice in the night for a feed so practically he can't go in his sister's room yet anyway.

He's in a Next2Me crib next to our bed but rapidly growing out of it. We already have a travel cot ready which will be his upgrade!

Anyway, eventually we're going to put them in the same room. But, it's a nightmare. My 3 year old has additional needs and is still in a cot bed (with both sides on) for a number of reasons. I expect she will be ready for a proper bed later this year.

Problem: in her room there's her cot, a small wardrobe, large chest of drawers, and a toy storage area with wall-mounted bookcases above it. We can't find a way to fit another bed or cot in there. My daughter definitely would NOT be able to use a ladder on a bunk bed and won't be safe to even try for the foreseeable future.

So that leaves our only logical option as:

We get two very small beds - a toddler bed and small cot for the baby. What happens when baby grows out of said small cot and/or 3 year old grows out of toddler bed?

We can't swap rooms (the little ones have our room and we move into our daughter's). There's no way any of our furniture would fit in her room once we've got our double bed and bedside tables in there. We need drawers and a wardrobe too but no chance.

If you're wondering why we didn't think of this before having another baby, we did! We planned to move house before our son was born but the rising cost of living changed that for us when I was already pregnant.

Obviously we're looking into moving again, but that won't happen quickly even if it's possible. We also know that having a boy and girl means eventually they'll need their own rooms anyway.

I've scoured the Internet looking at different options for children's beds but drawing blanks.

Obviously with our baby in our room there's no urgency but I'm trying to come up with a plan for later this year. My partner and will want our room and space back eventually!

Thank you!

You're coming across as quite rude OP.

You are the one who fell pregnant despite not having enough rooms and a child with additional needs.

Buy/rent a 3 bedroom house?

Can your daughter manage stairs? Get a bunk bed with proper stairs instead of ladders with a cot below.

Funky bunk beds do them. You can also add storage into the stairs so that would help for some toys.

This one for example…

Have a look online to see if you have a toy library locally? You could cull the toys down to the one cupboard in the living room and borrow larger items, toy garages etc. for a period of time and then return them.

Also look whether a mid-riser bed, so not high but tall enough to have drawers underneath, gives you enough clothes storage.

You may want kid free living space, but you don't really have much choice with 2 children and a small house.
Re-think storage for toys in the living room.
Your children will grow and you will need 2 decent sized beds for them.

Could you move into the smaller room but keep your clothes in the bigger bedroom? Maybe do the kalax bed hack so you can keep some stuff in your room

There's 2 bed houses and there's 2 bed houses

OP is your house a 3.66m wide 2 bed house?? Mainly built by persimmon! If so, I can imagine the floorplan and I honestly don't know what to suggest other than you having the smaller double bedroom and the children having the larger double bedroom?

We had 2 dc in a small bedroom. Small chest of drawers which was dc1's only, mid-sleeper with floor level bed under for dc2. Trofast toy storage unit and bookcase. Dc2's clothes were in a chest of drawers in our room as no space for him. Mid-sleeper had steps that were sort of in between stairs and ladder (sloping ladder with deep treads). They managed like that until youngest was 7 and we could afford to move.

We did have toys and books in the lounge too, it was unavoidable. I think maybe you're going to have to let your "grown up" space go, at least for a little while. Or rearrange your lounge so toys are behind the sofa so you don't have to be looking at them when watching TV once the dc have gone to bed?

Push the double bed right up into the corner

And squeeze 2 little beds into the larger bedroom

You can keep out of season toys and clothes in the loft to minimise storage requirements.

And when I say small it was about 8' x 5'5".

My DC had trundle beds and they were comfortable enough to last until they were adult sized. Having said that my older two shared a small double from 18 m and nearly three for a couple of years. In your case I would put cot and little bed in the DD's room and massively restrict 'stuff'. Toys in a box downstairs. If the little bed and the cot have space underneath all to the good. I'm not sure if you have outside space but there are waterproof lockers for garden cushions that might help for storage space. Children's clothes are tiny, surely a small chest of drawers is plenty for two young DC. Hooks on the wall are helpful for bulkier items.

Small double for the kids to share? Mine have their own beds (4 and 2) but often end up in the same one because they like sleeping together.

Can you extend into lift for 3rd bedroom instead of moving

Stamp duty plus moving costs go towards extending

Seems by your replies you want it all

You don't want toys in living room yet don't have space in 2nd bedroom for wardrobe and drawers and toys

Can you take them out and have in your room their clothes and out cot in their place

How big is bedroom 2. Can you get a double /king bed in there and you have that room

And kids share your room and have all wardrobes /clothes possibly even toys in it

You only need a bedroom or bed to sleep in

Doesn't matter where other stuff is

And boys and girls can share in own home. Can't in social housing but in house no problem

Many of my friends lived in 2 beds and shared with other sex sibling

I'd get rid of the wardrobe and put storage boxes/drawers under each of the beds for clothes. Anything that really needs hanging can go in your wardrobe. My sons room is tiny and he manages fine with a chest of drawers, under bed storage and hanging boxes on the back of the door. More toys downstairs, find a way of hiding them if possible. You can get hammocks to store soft toys on the walls.

Under bed storage for toys, and clear out in your bedroom of your clothes to keep their clothes in with you so you can get rid of some of their furnature?

I guess by the time they both need bigger beds maybe in afew years your eldest could be ready for a top bunk? X

What about something like this high up for clothes? Put storage boxes on the shelf for foldable stuff and hang hangy stuff on the rail? Would save space otherwise taken up by the wardrobe.

I’m only guessing here, but from the OPs wording I don’t think these children are full siblings. She says my daughter and our baby.
In 3/4 years they will need their own space. Hopefully OP can move before then.

I'd never heard of a trundle bed before. I don't think it's fair or appropriate for a child to sleep on one long-term though really. what a bizarre response. You do realise a trundle bed takes the exact same mattress and has a slated base exactly like the bed it comes with don't you. It's just lower to the ground. @Shittenshite

@Meandfour I didn't pick up on that

So half siblings m/f can't share ?

They are full siblings, but what the bloody hell has our family circumstances got to do with it?!

Do you own the home op? My relative did a room swap, let the kids have the bigger room and massively reduced furniture. You just have to get inventive with small space solutions taking inspiration from caravans and motor homes for storage. You could also use your lounge as a bedroom and repurpose the kids room as a lounge.

They are full siblings, but what the bloody hell has our family circumstances got to do with it?! because you might have shared custody. This is relevant.

I don’t think a girl from around 7yo should be sharing with a brother; full, half or otherwise.
I picked up on the language used because the elder child may not be there 100% of the time which would then change circumstances slightly.

Some people have asked questions which I've already answered/addressed in my previous posts.

We pretty much have no landing. It's less than a meter square at the tip of the stairs and leads to either bedroom or the bathroom. Same with the 'hallway' downstairs.

Several of you have suggested moving the toys downstairs. I've addressed that too, but even if it were possible (and I never said I wanted my living room "toy-free" - it isn't and never has been), there's bookcases on the wall right above the toy storage area. There's NOWHERE else to put the bookcases and we don't want them right above a bed.

Thank you for the replies. I'll stick with the cot bed for OUR daughter and a smaller cot for OUR son.

Why did you actually post on here if you’re just going to be rude and not actually take anyone’s advice on board.
Of course your family circumstances are relevant to your living conditions FFS. Either take the advice or don’t bother.

I actually posted a photo of a bed up thread that would probably meet all your needs but you’ve chosen to cherry pick posts you can pick the tiniest bit of perceived offensive from. You’re the one in this situation, not me! Either go through and look for solutions or keep things as they are and struggle on.