To let our baby sleep in a guesthouse in the garden

[Zipfer]

We are in between moves and staying with family. Our family has a guesthouse (a kind of extended shed with a bedroom kitchenette and bathroom) in the garden about twenty metres at the end of the garden. The guesthouse is visible from the house.

In the evenings we have taken to putting our baby (6 months) to sleep in the guesthouse while we stay in the mainhouse. We have a baby monitor and the house is door is locked. We know the area. We are also sleeping on the guesthouse.

DW and I both agree that this is safe as the risk is low. However, thinking about other famous cases (not drawing a parallel), we think it might be odd to let our baby sleep in a different building for part of the evening. Would you consider this sufficiently safe to allow your baby sleep in this situation?

why though ? if the baby is asleep why cant he /she stay in the main house? i definitely would not

It's isn't really any different to sitting in the garden at night when baby is asleep in bed.

If you're comfortable with the situation then continue with it.

Em I am torn. I think it's ok? I mean people live on mansions that their babies are probably a fair way to get to!
You've got monitor and you're going back to sleep there...so yeh I'm sure it is fine!

@Zipfer

Genuinely interested to hear this is so unanimous. We both (and our family) feel very comfortable with this. The guesthouse has a fire alarm by the way.

Well I hope the fire alarm can unlock the door and carry your baby to safety in the event of a fire.

Absolutely not. I’m surprised anyone would be okay with this.

Burglary, fire, choking, losing the keys...

Not a fucking hope would I ever do this. Baffled as to why you're in the main house and the baby is in a glorified shed.

The logic of not keeping the baby sleep in the living room is that the lights would be on, we would be talking, and the baby is able to sleep in the dark and peace and quiet in his cot

No way

I personally don't see how it's any different to the baby being in another room upstairs. As long as you can see the house as have monitors that's perfectly safe. If you want to add extra safety you could always pick up a couple of WiFi cameras that you can view on a tablet or phone. One watching the bay,the other watching the house from outside

I just couldn't. The risk wouldn't be worth it.

I don’t think this is any less safe than baby upstairs napping whilst a parent sits in the garden and reads book, which I have happily done.

@Zipfer

The logic of not keeping the baby sleep in the living room is that the lights would be on, we would be talking, and the baby is able to sleep in the dark and peace and quiet in his cot

Your baby should be able to sleep with lights and noise.

How do you ever get them to take a nap if it has to be quiet and dark every time they sleep?

To make it clear, we are also sleeping in the guesthouse. But from say 8pm to 10pm, the baby if he’s asleep, is put in bed while we stay in the main house

Personally, no fucking way.

I suppose if you’re sat in the lounge looking out at the garden room having a cuppa with the baby monitor next to you then it’s not really any different to the baby being upstairs on an evening.

But something about it doesn’t sit right, I suppose because you can easily be distracted cooking dinner, chatting etc. The baby isn’t upstairs, theyre 20ft away in a different building.

Why take the risk when you could just stay in the guesthouse, take it in turns to nip to the house or sit in the garden having a glass of wine / socialising etc.

The guesthouse has a fire alarm by the way.

Great, hopefully your 6mo knows how to safely evacuate a burning locked building.

No way

What good is a smoke alarm in the event that a fire actually happened? By the time you hear the alarm, get out to the guesthouse and have unlocked the door, how certain are you the baby would still be safe. Not just from the actual fire, but from smoke inhalation?
Also what if the lock breaks.

I am a relaxed parent but I couldnt do this personally.

Is this going to be one of those threads where you ask for opinions and then make out anyone with a different opinion is paranoid and ridiculous?!

Are you out of your bloody mind?? No! Absolutely not!

@bloodyhell19

Burglary, fire, choking, losing the keys...

Not a fucking hope would I ever do this. Baffled as to why you're in the main house and the baby is in a glorified shed.

It's hardly a glorified she'd when it has a kitchen and bedroom etc. Jeez

@Blippibloppi

The guesthouse has a fire alarm by the way.

Great, hopefully your 6mo knows how to safely evacuate a burning locked building.

I was going to say that exact thing

Is this a serious question.

I’m a relaxed parent (didn’t co sleep with my bubs as they were all very noisy sleepers and I couldn’t get any sleep). But they were right across the landing a mere few meters away.

There is not a chance in hell I would have done this. I feel pretty horrified at anyone leaving their baby alone in this way. I was always stunned when hotels would say we have a baby listening service so you can enjoy dinner downstairs. I once asked them what would happen if the fire alarm went off. How many babies did they have to try and get to. Receptionist looked shocked and didn’t know what to answer.

My response? If could afford to have a nice dinner, I could afford for a local nanny to sit quietly in the room for a few hours. So that if an alarm went off (or anything else happened), they could safely comfort/ get to the baby/ move them to safety.

Is this going to be one of those threads where you ask for opinions and then make out anyone with a different opinion is paranoid and ridiculous?

Absolutely not, just genuinely interested in the spread of opinions.

No. That's a different building not a different part of the building. No thanks. We share external doors as a matter of general safety.

No way