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Original poster

Anyone sleep on a different floor to their children?

31 replies

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 11:24

Just wondering as we are buying a three storey town house. the master bedroom is ont he first floor, next to the lounge. The three further bedrooms are on the second floor, along with the bathroom.

This means that Dh and I will sleep on the floor below DD. DD will be just over 3.5yo when we get in there. But we are TTC so at some point a baby will go on that floor too - at around 6 months or so.

How do you find it?
How much hassle is it to have children on a different floor?
What are the benefits?
What about safety issues - in case of fire, etc?

Any advice or insights would be great. Thanks.

OP posts:

noddyholder · 02/01/2005 11:27

Sounds exactly like our house.My ds sleeps on the top floor but he is 10!When he has friends over it is great as we can't hear them but I have had thoughts about fire aswell and haven't come up with anything yet

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 11:28

I do like the idea of the second floor belong to DD and baby ~2 - they can have a room each and the other room will be a play room, with a guest sofa bed.

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noddyholder · 02/01/2005 11:32

It is a really great layout.Is your kitchen on the ground floor?Ours is and we live there most of the time The garage is being made into a chillout room with a loo so the 1st floor is all ours.We also liked it as we may rent a room out and it would feel more private

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 11:36

Yes. Our floors are:

Ground
Garage is on this floor but has no access into house from it, for security.
Then main entrance, leading into hallway. ON right is stairs upstairs and downstairs cloack room. At back of house is the kitchen/dining room, leading out into the garden

First Floor
Hallway leading onto a front living room, with juliet balcony. To the back of the house is the master bedroom, with a dressing area and en-suite shower room.

Second Floor
Stairs come up into middle of house. To the front there is a single bedroom, and a double bedroom. To the back of the house is another duble bedroom and a family bathroom.

Is that similar?

We liked the idea of having the kitchen and dining bit on the same floor. Several round here had the dining room on the floor above the kitchen which I thought would be a bit of a hassle.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 11:37

Considering having a small cnservatory off from the kitchen/diner - just to add a bit more space, maybe for a little sofa and my computer. i can envisage myself spending a lot of time down there with DD and baby ~2 playing outside.

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noddyholder · 02/01/2005 11:41

Exactly like ours!We do have access from house into the garage though.Our kitchen is bigger than in any of the other houses we viewed and we have a huge table and chairs and could fit a small sofa too.It goes straight out to the garden like yours and is so convenient with kids I think you'll love it!All our friends who live in 'normal'houses are3 so envious and I must admit I wasn't 100% sure but dp convinced me and he was so right!!!

fisil · 02/01/2005 11:48

Hula, we have just put ds up onto the 2nd floor of our house this week. The new baby will be on the same floor as us when little, but when he gets to be a big enough boy he will also go up onto the 2nd floor.

I love the idea of the children having the top floor, and Mummy and Daddy having the middle floor and the whole family sharing the ground floor (slightly different layout, I know). When they're teenagers, it'll be fab (there's a shower room up there, so I'll never have to share bathroom space with dirty teenage boys!).

We have reintroduced the baby monitor for ds. It is great fun as he has come understanding of what it's about. We have one where you can talk back, so I will lie in bed in the morning and talk to him. When I go up to his room, though, he tells me that he's been talking to mummy (correct) and that she's in there (not so correct).

I hadn't thought about fire, except that I know that when we had the loft extension there are stringent fire regulations about how it is laid out and built, so I assume it is safe.

The only hassles I can think of is that we are still getting used to new routines with getting dressed, bath time, laundry etc. - but that's not a major issue, is it!

She won't know what's hit her after living in a flat all her life!

joash · 02/01/2005 12:06

DS now sleeps on floor above us. Before that it was DD1 and when DD2. It's brilliant and they love it. Plenty of smoke alarms and a fire door fitted at the bottom of their stairs.

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 12:18

I know fisil - we are so used to all being on the one floor, next door to each other at all times. Going to be very strange having three floors after having just the one! DD is very excited about having a garden. It means moving into rented house, in same area, for up to a year (well, about 10 months maybe) bu it will definitely be worth it to get the new house we want.

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tallulah · 02/01/2005 12:44

We also have a townhouse. Ours is slightly different layout in that we have kitchen/diner on ground floor, with integral garage & cloakroom. First floor is lounge, main bathroom & DS1's bedroom, & top floor is master bedroom with ensuite & DD/DS3s room. (her room officially but she's at uni so he's in it)

We converted the garage into a bedroom (internal) when we moved in & it was originally DDs room. She was 11. The 2 little ones (6 & 8) had the room next to ours & the 10 yo was on the middle floor. DD & the DSs swapped over when they were about 14/ 11 & 9

Didn't like all being separate when we first came here but you get used to it.

maddiemo · 02/01/2005 12:50

We used to live in a town house with a similar lay out. Our first two children were born there and we had no problems with them being on a different floor. We did use the baby monitor.

I remember that friends found it strange that our bedroom was on the same floor as the living room but we never forund it a problem. I just kept the door shut it was a mess..

We moved to a two storey house when ds1 was five. Even now, seven years later he talks about our big house, where he had his own floor. Our new house is larger but he remembers the town house as more spacious.

You will always stay in shape running up the stairs

Freckle · 02/01/2005 14:29

We have a four-floor house (if you include the cellar). Ground floor is living room, playroom, laundry room, dining room and kitchen. First floor is loo, bathroom, 3 bedrooms (for the boys) and a study. Second floor is master bedroom with ensuite (ensuite being the same size as the bedroom ). So we are above the children at night - we have a flexible ladder in our room which you can chuck out the window in the event of a fire.

We've not found it a problem, but our children are olders than yours (nearly 11, 9 and 6). It's quite nice sometimes that the boys can get up and go downstairs to play without necessarily disturbing us - although the downside is that they can get up, go downstairs and create mayhem without necessarily disturbing us .

There are times when the noise gets too much and I take myself off up to my aerie and shut the door. Can't hear anything then. Bliss.

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 17:53

Thanks all. Think I am worrying about nothing I guess. Afterall it is a new house and will be fitted with proper smoke alarms, etc. anyway.

Really looking forward to the house

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noddyholder · 02/01/2005 18:17

we have smoke alarms on every landing and if its a new house the doors will be fire doors.Ours was built in the 70's and it has them Good luck with your house sounds great!

soapbox · 02/01/2005 18:22

Hula - we had virtually the same lay out in the house we had when the children were babies and I have to say that I really did not like it at all

We also had a small sitting room on the ground floor as well as a big kitchen diner. The end result was that the sitting room on the first floor was never really used. Too much hassle trailing drinks etc up and down the stairs and the stair carpets were trashed from stuff dripping as we went up and down!

The downstairs always looked like a bomb had hit it as the small living room wasn;t really big enough for all the toys etc. But when you are cooking and generally pottering around the kitchen I wanted the children to be occupied so needed some toys around. No matter how much I tried to get guests upstairs rather than hanging around the kitchen dining room, it never worked! They always ended up mooching around while I poured drinks/made cups of tea/ finished off cooking dinner etc!

As for the children sleeping on another floor - I just couldn't do it - the fire thing haunted me

We all ended up squashed in on the top floor while the guests got a good deal with the master bedroom whenever they came to stay!

I'm not saying don't buy it, but just wanted to give you another view point. We only lasted 18months in it before we sold and moved elsewhere - I really never liked it! Had a tiny garden too. I had been in a huge docklands apartment before moving there and really missed the openness of the layout with the feeling of space which you really don't get with town houses.

AzureSelfaMerryLittleChristmas · 02/01/2005 18:23

We've always been on a different floor to DS (3), even when we lived in a flat. In our house now, DS is on the 1st floor and the master bedroom in on the 2nd (loft conversion). I am newly pregnant and - all being well - the baby will go into a bedroom on the 1st floor after the initial few months of being in our room. I've never had a problem with being on a different floor - I can still hear DS if he wakes in the night (I've never used a monitor), and we keep the downstairs hall light on. We don't have any special safety arrangements apart from smoke detectors. Your new house sounds great - best of luck with the move.

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 18:28

Thanks all, for both viewpoints.

We are buying it anyway - already decided. Just wondered how people found it more than anything, especially as so different to where we are now. We just couldn't find at older house that suited us anyway. Rooms look pretty good sizes. Obviosuly not huge open plan areas, but better than many places we have seen recently.

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posyhairdresser · 02/01/2005 18:35

It's not great to have your lounge on a different floor to the kitchen if your kids are young as you can't leave them in the lounge whilst you are in the kitchen - so you may well end up not using the lounge very much.

I think the layout works well for families with older kids though.

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 18:38

I envisage using the downstairs kitchen/diner during the day quite a bit, as goes into garden, but upstairs later on in the day, and around (baby) nap time. I don't actually spend much time in the kitchen on a week day normally! LOL!

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JanH · 02/01/2005 18:38

Then the lounge will stay lovely and tidy!

I think your conservatory idea is good, Hula - the kids can be safe in there while you're cooking. Can you still add one VAT-free as part of a new build?

noddyholder · 02/01/2005 18:40

we use our lounge to chill at night buy an old 2 seater and a portable tv for the day in the kitchen.We are thinking of a conservatory too Any ideas of cost?Something v plain with no fancy bits IYSWIM

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 18:47

JanH - looking into whether to get it done at same time as building house, or afterwards. Will have to see as already adding optional extras!

A nice, adult and toy-free (or minimal) lounge sounds a lovely idea!

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codswallop · 02/01/2005 18:49

what happened to the other house H?

katzguk · 02/01/2005 18:49

i'm sooo jealous!! a want one of these houses too!!!

Original poster

Hulababy · 02/01/2005 18:57

Coddy - had to let the other house go. BIl (bulilding surveyor) did a full survey on it and it was a nightmare! Damp in every downstairs wall, and into floor boards. So all rooms and floors needed treating. Woud have lost new kitchen too. Extension had been done on cheap and likely to leak; already needed improvements. Chimney stack needed stabalising as likely to fall in next 2-3 years. Wall in garden was unstablle. Electrics upstairs and in loft were unsafe. Just too much for us really - we don't like the whole DIY and renovating scene TBH, it's just not us.

Katzguk - oh, go on!!!

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