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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think its perfectly do-able to live in a first floor flat with a baby?

71 replies

annabanana84 · 28/05/2013 11:15

DP and I have the home of our very humble dreams. Its large and airy, and we live above a shop, so dont have to worry as such about the potential of upsetting tenants below with noise.

Dp and I have decided that we would like to start ttc. Yippee! However, my mother has recently expressed her concern that it would be a great struggle to live in a first floor flat with a baby with regards to the stairs (which are outside stairs iyswim) etc, but people do it all the time, dont they, and I can always take baby up first, put him/her in bouncy chair while I go back down for pram (coz dp will be at work most of the time when I take dc out in the day). I know its a silly concern really, but I want to plan properly.

OP posts:

WorraLiberty · 28/05/2013 11:17

You'll be fine and you can always use a sling.

Neighbourhoodwatchbitch · 28/05/2013 11:18

Completely doable!! I managed second floor with my ds, and my under-neighbour has just had a ds2 is managing fine as well! The cot is your friend!

Thumbtack · 28/05/2013 11:19

I live in a lovely flat above a pub with my 7 mo ds and yes it's doable! Like you say, you can put the baby safe and transport the pram up or down stairs.

I do miss not having instant access to a garden though.

Good luck ttc!

badguider · 28/05/2013 11:20

I live in a city where lots of people live in flats. It's the done thing here as the flats are big and spacious. I am pregnant and I know LOADS of people who have babies and live on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floors (most of the flats here are in 3-story victorian or georgian blocks). We're 2nd floor. Most people don't even think about moving until their baby is more of a toddler if at all.

Our city also has a LOT of steps and there's the issue with only fitting one pram per bus so I am planning to use the sling mostly in the first few weeks/months while he's very tiny. Also, when he's in a lie-flat pram, you can lift the top bit off and carry it up and put him down safely in the hall, then go back down for the wheels.

meditrina · 28/05/2013 11:20

Yes, it's fine.

When I lived on 2nd floor, my neighbours had a new baby. They got a playpen, so when coming and going they could pop the baby in there whilst they took the pushchair up/down (not allowed to leave stuff in hall and not really enough room). So you'd probably want a foldable easy-to-carry (maybe a McLaren) rather than a bulky travel system, but apart from that, I don't think anything is different.

Thumbtack · 28/05/2013 11:20

Sling is actually really handy. .

ots · 28/05/2013 11:21

We do :) . It's not ideal as if we've been for a walk and he falls asleep, it would be nice to just wheel him indoors and let him stay asleep! But it is do-able. When DS was small, I used to take him indoors and put him in bouncer, then cot as he got a bit bigger, then go back and get the pram. As he got older, but still not properly walking, I would take him in and sit him either in his highchair, or just on the floor with his toys while I got the pram. Now he's 2, and I have a BJCM which folds easily with one hand, so I take him out pushchair, fold it and hold his hand while he walks up the stairs.
As I say, it's not ideal but definitely do-able, especially if you are happy to stay in your flat. We are trying to move at the moment, but not to do with the stairs, just because we only have 1 bedroom!!

MortifiedAdams · 28/05/2013 11:21

Use a sling for the first six months. Another alternative - do you have a car? If so, keep the buggy in the boot then just pop it in the boot when you get home from your walk.

RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief · 28/05/2013 11:21

Totally do-able but make sure you have spare keys hidden somewhere in case you put the baby in the cot/chair, go back downstairs for the pram/shopping and lock yourself out.

........and dont buy a really heavy push chair :-)

Mantella · 28/05/2013 11:22

Lots of people live in first and even second floor flats and cope perfectly well. You'll be fine.

SummerRainIsADistantMemory · 28/05/2013 11:22

We were in a first floor flat with outside stairs from when dd was 8 months to 2.6 and ds1 was born when she was 18 months, so I had a year of two babies in the flat.

It was fine, a bit nervewracking when dd started walking as the steps were concrete but honestly it was no real hassle. Took a bit longer to get in and out than a ground floor entrance but I don't remember being especially bothered. I carried ds1 in a sling until dd was a confidant walker and never had a double buggy.

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 28/05/2013 11:24

totally do-able and have done so myself, with two dc. you need a bjcm - the easiest folding pushchair ever, perfect for stairs.

exexpat · 28/05/2013 11:27

I did it - first floor flats, no lifts, until DS was 2.5, then moved to a house which had a longish flight of stairs up to the front door, which was where I lived when DD was born.

The only tricky bit really was arriving home with a sleeping baby/toddler in the pushchair and wanting them to stay asleep. I had a lightweight pushchair and got quite good at carrying it upstairs with sleeping child inside. Lucky I didn't have twins...

Skinnywhippet · 28/05/2013 11:28

Possibly not idea....BUT.....if you are ready to TTC then I think you should go for it. Realistically when would you be able to move anyway? No point putting your life off. Your mum should be grateful you have a place to live. Plenty of people start families in rented without the security of knowing they can stay there as long as they like.
You may want a garden in a few years though and the steps may be a bit of a hazard for a toddler...but that is at least 3 years away.

megandraper · 28/05/2013 11:30

Manageable. More of a pain when you have a toddler and a baby, because you'll have nowhere to put the toddler while you go up/down stairs. But that is a way off yet.

Original poster

annabanana84 · 28/05/2013 11:32

Thanks all for your replies. Im so happy you all agree that the stairs wont be a problem because I love my flat so much, and the room which will be the baby room will be beautiful with a bit of paint and lovely baby things in there and we live right in town centre, lovely small market town which is extremely child friendly and even the cafes here hold parent and baby clubs weekly. Its perfect and an ideal time for us to start ttc! So excited now, just hope my bloody endometriosis doesnt cause much of a problem while we are trying for a baby! Did anyone else feel reeeeally excited when they decided that the time was right to start a family?

OP posts:

cory · 28/05/2013 11:33

Coming from Sweden I never knew that it was impossible to live in flats with small children: it was what everybody did. My SIL had 3 at the same time, on the third floor; she was fine. It is only in the UK that a garden is seen as a necessary adjunct to child rearing.

StellaNova · 28/05/2013 11:34

I lived in a two-bed first floor flat with a baby, then a toddler, then a baby and a toddler, it was fine. Our steps were inside though - it was our front door, hallway, stairs, then our flat.

I had a pram where you could lift the bit the baby was in off the top and it became a carry cot. So I would leave the pram downstairs and carry the carry cot upstairs with sleeping baby. When he was older I just left the whole thing downstairs with him in it (but as I say he was inside our front door, no-one else had access).

ben5 · 28/05/2013 11:36

I lived in a first floor flat in Scotland with outdoor steps. You can and will be able to do this

BrokenBanana · 28/05/2013 11:36

We did it in a tiny flat with steep and dark stairs. Was a PITA but its manageable

Original poster

annabanana84 · 28/05/2013 11:37

Hi Skinnywhippet, we are in rented accommodation, so no security for the longterm really, but we do get on with our landlords and see us renting this home for a long time, unless we fall out with landlords or they sell up.

We are really lucky indeed as we do have a garden, but we do share it with 3 other households, two single people, one is nice, other we have never seen, and the other household is a family of four with two teenage children - again they are nice people.

OP posts:

ImagineJL · 28/05/2013 11:38

I don't think the stairs would be an insurmountable problem at all, but the lack of garden (assuming there isn't one) will be a pain when you have a toddler. Even with a park nearby, it's not as handy as being able to let your child play in the garden while you do essential housework indoors. Both my kids love the garden and we'd struggle without it.

ImagineJL · 28/05/2013 11:39

Sorry crossed posts about the garden

quoteunquote · 28/05/2013 11:40

All the Edinburgh and Glasgow mothers who live in the thousands of (four story double flights per level stairs), flats manage just fine, keeps you fit.

showtunesgirl · 28/05/2013 11:41

Of course it's possible, what on earth does your mum think people in places like Amsterdam do where they have tall houses with lots of stairs?

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