How would you sort sleeping arrangements? Floor plan included.

[PickledElectricity]

I am probably overthinking this, but only because bedroom #3 is effectively a prison cell. It's 1.95x1.7m! There is literally just enough space for a single divan bed and an IKEA tallboy. I feel bad for whoever ends up in there.

Photo attached, please bear with me if it's loading.

But here's my dilemma:

• I am in master bedroom with 9 month old baby in cot. Wakes up c.3 times per night, meaning...
• DP sleeps in box room
• DC1 (2y9m) is in middle room in his cot still. He hasn't tried to climb out in earnest yet, but...
• DP and I think we should move him to a bed soon, maybe around his birthday?

DP thinks it's a no brainer and we should put the single bed in toddler's room, put the cot bed in the box room, and he moves back in to the master bedroom.

BUT if baby keeps waking up in the night I won't have anywhere to feed, change, or resettle him, whereas the middle room has a rocking chair in it already. So I will likely be waking DP up if I bring baby back into our room at night multiple times. He has a medical NHS job so can't really afford to be a tired zombie.

But then it doesn't seem fair to evict toddler from his room - he's got used to the space and plays with his mega bloks in there etc. On the other hand, I think he would enjoy the box room because he can easily sit on the window sill and look out at all the cars. On the third hand. I don't want to give him additional reasons to hate his older brother.

Small side issue in that our new mattress gives DP neck pain but that's a whole other thread.

With the middle room where your toddler is already, do you use that to feed, change the baby, and if so does toddler sleep through that? Or do you do that in the master bedroom currently?

If the box room will take a single bed plus a tall boy, would it not take a cot bed plus rocking chair in place of those?

Nope, all done in the master. I have the changing mat on top of my chest of drawers.

Yes, I suppose it might, but then where would I keep the baby's clothes and where would I change his nappies etc?

Why don't you stay as you are for now?

Clothes in your room, the toddler’s room or is there room for storage under the cot? Once you don’t need the chair you can move some storage back in there.

Changing nappies - get a fold-up changing station?

Why is it a dilemma?

Keep it as it is for now until baby is sleeping through more consistently (or when sleep trained etc).

Let 2 year old have a big bed in the room they are in, put a lockable baby gate on the door.

Let DH sleep in the box room until you are ready to swap him for the baby, then get a new mattress.

I'd just keep things as they are until the baby is sleeping through.

We are for at least 3 months, but just trying to plan ahead. I'd like to decorate the box room (it's white) and change the carpet in the middle room (it is stained).

Need to make decisions and arrange trades and order things.

I won't have time when I'm back at work, either.

I have never seen a floor plan with such a simple fix. As long as the wall between the two smaller bedrooms is not load bearing, slide it over to right next to the window in the bigger room.

I'm not sure that knocking down and rebuilding a wall constitutes as a "simple fix" in my book 🤣 building works are so disruptive.

We would then go from 2 double bedrooms and a box to one double and 2 singles, which I'm sure will affect value. I'm not sure I'd want to do that given we don't plan to stay here forever.

I'd go with DP's solution, toddler moves in to box room, baby and their stuff goes in toddlers room, and toddler can have their toys in babys room for daytime play, so their box room is just for sleeping.
Once baby is a toddler, they take the box room, and current toddler moves back to bigger room/ they share the bigger room with a single each (if you haven't yet moved)

I'm sure your Dp is sick of sleeping alone in the box room rather than in his own room with you!

If you move the toddler they might stop sleeping and you’d be scuppered. Keep the one that’s working well consistent.

I would put the baby in the smallest room for now. You may find he wakes less if he’s not sleeping in with you

This is an excellent point. I don't want to nonsleepers.

Keep the toddler where he is but just change to a bed (but equally don't rush this if it will cause more disturbances in the night)
Keep baby in with you until sleeping better, then he can share with his brother when he's a bit older. All mine have slept better together than apart. Then box room can just be storage, spare bed, somewhere for a desk and chair, anything really! Seems silly to have one child in a big room and another in a tiny one as presumably toys etc will end up all in the bigger one.

When mine were small DH and I had a double room , DD1 had the second double room and DD2 had the single room. When we moved DD2 from the cot to a bed, we put both DDs in the double with matching single beds and made the single into a playroom.

Stay as you are until baby is sleeping through better and then move him the the boxroom.

Or what we did, which was moved the 2 children in together between about age 1-6. Keep changing table etc in the little room if you want with a nice chair. When children sleep together IME they quickly learn to sleep through each other's noises. We have had one child vomit all over bedclothes, we've stripped and cleaned them and the cot, wall and carpet and the other child has slept through the lot. It's a known problem that small children often don't wake to fire alarms. I would consider our DC a light sleeper actually but when they shared a room they would absolutely sleep through "normal" disturbance including settling and nappy changes.

Stay as you are but work on baby sleeping through. Though it is harder, IME, when they wake and can see you.

How much feeding is going on in the night? 3 times seems a lot at 9m.

But anyway, once better sleep is achieved, put cot in the small room and then graduate to toddler bed.

You can do a lot to make a small room suitable as the child grows. Cabin bed, space underneath etc.

Eventually put both Dc in to share the biggest bedroom.

Would the kids like to share a room in a few months? If so they could have the biggest room, you and DH the middle and you can use the smallest as a spare room if anyone is sick or having a bad night.

Longer term with the small room stop thinking of it as a prison cell, it won't help! We had a terraced house in a row that all had a 6'x7" room. Building in a bed frame helps loads and creates really usable space underneath. You can also squish a mattress onto a frame that's slightly shorter than it, or get a custom mattress made. In ours we hacked down a cheap bedframe by a couple of inches as we were on a budget. We bought a cheap (so it was small, and narrow front-to-back) 3 section wardrobe and had 1/3 hanging, 1/3 shelves for clothes, 1/3 cubes for toys, and drawers underneath too. (It needed to be hacked because of the stair slope eating into the bottom.) Built in storage would be even better for using every cm.

Another idea is using an IKEA or euorpean toddler bed (160cm) down the short side, which my youngest fitted in until Y1. If you keep toddler in the big room and little one in there you can get a lot of years' use before you need to worry too much.

My youngest has always had the small room but he gets perks in other ways. He had a cabin bed his sister was jealous of, now he even has a small double bed as we have spent time optimising every cm. It'll be absolutely fine - if you believe it will be.

I would just stay put for now as well and aim to get the baby sleeping better. Then put a cot in the wee room until the baby is consistently sleeping through and then have them share - create a playroom for the older one (for legos and stuff you wouldn't want the baby into) in the box room and have two beds in the bigger room.

Another vote for the children sharing the middle room. Much better for them and you.

OP I’d have it set up like this (pic incoming).
Cot where you’ve got the single bed but a cot isn’t as long. So you can fit a small changing table end on at the end of the cot, to the right as you come in the door. Basic changes of clothes and nappies etc on the bottom shelf of changing table.

As the cot is narrow, there’s room for a comfy chair next to the cot in front of the window.

Keep as you are then put the kids in together when the youngest sleeps better.