To ask you to help me work out how a baby will work in our one bed flat (diagram)

[HackneyP]

DH and I have found out we are expecting a baby due end of May. We live in a one bed housing association flat (third floor) in central London and will likely need to stay here for a while after the baby is born.

Logistically I need some help on making our flat work! (See attached diagram- not to scale!)

Bedroom is a small double. Our bed takes up 3/4 of the room.

Very small bathroom, shower over the bath.

Large front room/ living room.

Large kitchen.

I don't know where we could put a cot/ changing table/ pram etc. Everything we get will need to be relatively compact. I did think about us sleeping in the front room and getting a big sofa bed and making our bedroom the baby's room with a cot and changing table (it would work for this) but then there's nowhere for either of us to go of one wants to sleep early and I still want the place to look decent enough for visitors (wishful thinking).

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Smaller pushchairs (expensive) baby zen yoyo, icandy raspberry or bugaboo bee. There are loads on resale sites on Facebook, everything from £50-400.

If you wanted something new a basic pushchair which lies flat (it will need to if you want to use if from birth) from mothercare or Argos also works just as well. Again from £50 or so.

Depending where the outside door is in the hall you could at least have storage shelves there for baby stuff. If the door is (unlikely) nearer your bedroom you could make a baby area at the end with a screen. Though it may be draughty.

That hall looks big, is there a window? Could you turn the hall into a living room and then have two bedrooms for the short term.

I lived in a one bed flat with 3 kids for a few years! I'm sure you will manage

something like this?

We used to hang the pram up high on hooks in the hall way.

No changing table,a mat will do.

Get a small dining table in the kitchen. Put a sofa in the new bedroom space as well. TV too, if required. Living room as a games room, space to escape to.

You dont needa changing table.
I never used one. Just had a mat.
Baby clothes can be stored in boxes under the cot.

We did have a cot but 2 of mine learned how to climb out before they were one, no idea how the others didnt. In the end it was safer for them to sleep on a mattress on the floor.

In the longer term can you make the kitchen a kitchen come living room?

www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/baby/cots/stuva-cot-with-drawers-white-spr-19927000/?cid=gb%7Cps%7Cpla%7C%7C%7C%7C

Don't worry, babies don't need to take up much room - at least initially! What about these ideas:

• Changing table: As mentioned by others you don't really need this, changing mat on the floor / chest of drawers is fine. But if you want one (e.g. maybe if you need a C-section) ikea do small fold down dining tables which attach to the wall (if you're allowed?), maybe something like that could work in your front room? A shelf on the wall or hanging storage baskets from ikea could be a good place to store essentials like nappies / wipes etc. No real need for a separate nappy bin.
• Cot: Would it work to put your bed against the wall and get a small co-sleeper to go alongside the other side? - that should be fine for first 6 months and keeps your front room free. If not, agree with others, maybe simply switch the two rooms round.
• Pram/buggy: Get a small folding one (depending on budget, they can be pricey!), but ones like baby zen yoyo, mountainbuggy nano etc fold down super super small. Alternatively, there are also some prams which can be used as an alternative to a moses basket at night too - you'd need to check carefully as most aren't suitable, but that way it'd be dual-purpose & portable at least.
• Other bits: under bed storage is a lifesaver. Babies generate a lot of washing so if you don't have a tumble drier or outside space you might want to invest in driers to go over your radiators or a heated airer so your space isn't taken over with washing.

In the short term I would use the living room as the bedroom and make the bedroom a small living space if it can fit a small double will be able to fit a small sofa
maybe cot at end of the bed as room looks more rectangular than square,..
Longer term I think the sofa bed in living room for you and baby/child in other room...you have to be ruthless with stuff but is def doable

small ikea cot
no changing table, complete waste of money
foldable Malaren buggy and get a baby carrier

twill all be fine OP

Meant to add congratulations.

It's doable for the next three years!

Assuming that your kitchen and living room are both separate rooms rather than open plan, then I would swap your living room and bedrooms around.

The larger room can be your bedroom - and when the baby is out of the first newborn days and you want a bit of a demarcation between your room and the 'nursery' then you could buy a room screen to give a little privacy and visual break between you and the cot.

The smaller room can be your living room - turn it into a TV snug. So if you currently have a 3 piece suite then maybe sell that and look for one of the all in one sofas you can get (they normally come in sections so they are easy to install).

I currently live in a 1-bed flat and the key issue is storage, storage, storage!!

Depending on how high your ceilings are, I once saw a bed in Ikea, that had a double bed up the top and nothing underneath. So you you could put baby in Cot underneath your bed and maybe an armchair for feeding in the night. The bed I saw was like a reverse four poster. Four long legs with a double bed up top.

Or how about a sofa bed for your and your DP in the lounge and make your room into baby's room with a small single for if either of you want to go to bed earlier.

changing mat on top of a chest of drawers, or you can get ones that sit on top of the cot.

get rid of all the things you do not really need/sentimental value.

use the full height of your flat for storage.

I would make the bedroom the baby's bedroom and use the living room as the adults bedroom

What could you fit in the kitchen? Arm chair/love seat and flat screen TV on the wall? So one of you has a place to retreat to even after the baby moves into its own room and the other person is in bed.

Go to IKea for inspiration on rooms that work for many purposes ( or get the newest catalogue which has a section on this). You can make a lounge / sleeper and still have it look stylish for guests if you use some inspiration from the IKEA catalogue. Ikea hemnes day bed in the small room (loads of storage in it, pulls out to double if required but if it just one of you sleeping there alone, you can use it as a single)

Loads of people do this forever (am also in hackney in housing association block). You could look at getting a storage unit somewhere if you have lots of stuff (books, CDs etc) you are desperate to keep but I would much more strongly suggest just getting rid of loads of stuff.

Fit some shelves/storage units up high on the walls to both make use of space and have places where baby cannot reach once they are moving. Locks for lower kitchen cupboards.

Since you are in Hackney, I assume you will get a nice compact easily foldable buggy anyway to make life on public transport easier.

As above. At first the baby only needs a small crib or box. At most a sidecar sleeper for your bed (which would do beyond 6 months). Adding a sofa bed might not be a bad idea anyway for less interrupted nights. You don't need a changing table or a baby bath.
A Moses basket or similar (cardboard box) is great as you can move around with somewhere to put the baby down. A baby gymn/ mat is useful for the same reason - both of these enough for about 4 months. Other space savers are a sling then just get an umbrella fold pushchair that will easily store and the car seat (if relevant). Clothes, you probably only need 1/2 as many as you think! If it is at all reassuring my friends managed in a studio apartment (both of them 6ft plus) with their child until he was 3 with a sibling on the way!

Take a look at Apartment Therapy's 'small cool' contest for ideas.

How many windows has your front room got? Could you put your bed in there and create a wall divider with a bookshelf or something - see here: www.apartmenttherapy.com/inspiration-using-a-bookcase-a-80938

Turning the living room into an adult bedroom is bonkers. You can all sleep together! If you're still there when the baby is 3, maybe but in the time being relax op- this is perfectly doable. Ideal even.

These might fit in your hallway?

www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-fit-a-nursery-into-your-very-small-space-243095

If you google/Pinterest there are some really nice ideas for making studio apartments and single rooms into really nice combined bedrooms and living areas. I would do this in the living room, and use your current bedroom as baby's room.

Don't go overboard with baby's furniture, they don't need as much as is marketed at new parents, but do make sure you really make the most of storage space with under cot draws, shelving units etc.

I personally think the best thing for you would be a sofa bed in the style Ikea do; they do really nice corner sofas that have an ottoman storage in one side and then a bit that pulls out from underneath the longer side of the sofa that turns it into a bed. That way during the day you can have a nice comfy space all cleaned away and at night you have a comfy sturdy bed.

While they are up to 4-6 months you need very little space.
A Moses basket, change mat on the floor, and a sling is what I used.

After that it does get a bit harder. But a mattress on the floor is fine-ds used a cot for about 2 months before he learnt to climb out (wearing a sleeping bag) so a mattress was safer. The mattress slid under our bed during the day.
Umbrella fold buggy is fairly small-and you can always keep it in the car if that's convenient too.

Where's ArtandCo when you need her?

Totally doable, OP.

• Moses basket, followed by co-sleeping in your bed.
• Padded changing mat on the floor
• Bugaboo Bee or similar pram - folds up v small and doesn't take up a lot of space unfolded
• Use front room for playing and toy storage
• Replacing sofa in front room with sofa bed is a nice idea for when one of you wants to escape

Also: be very mindful about how much stuff you buy - you don't need masses of toys and clothes. Make use of baby groups, stay-and-plays etc as your baby gets bigger.

We lived in a one-bed flat like this and it was easy.