Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Can you sleep a baby/toddler on a separate floor from yourself?

5 replies

daydreambeliever · 29/04/2007 21:19

Seriously, this isnt as heartless as it sounds. I am due in June. DH and I are in a rented 2 bed house, both bedrooms are v small and one is upstairs, one downstairs. We are planning to sleep the baby in our bedroom (upstairs), in a moses basket which will just fit in the room with us, for the first few months (?six months? i dont know how long it will fit in a moses basket for). This realistically means dh will sleep on his own downstairs most week nights as his job is stressful and he will need his sleep. But when its time to put the baby in a cot, we couldnt fit a cot in our room with a double bed too. But I cant imagine it would be safe to put the cot in the 2nd bedroom, downstairs, on a separate floor, whilst we sleep upstairs?: Am I getting in a stew over nothing, would that be fine , with say a baby moniter?

Its just that if its really not ok to sleep a child on a separate floor, then we will need to look at moving house in december when our rental contract is up, ( but we are lazy and hate the thought of moving) which means I should take it easy and minimalist when it comes to making the 2nd room a nursery/cutesy baby room. Im not exactly planning to go mad but I would like to make some new curtains etc and try and re-arrange stuff. Or perhaps DH and I are destined to sleep in separate rooms for ages so I can be on the same floor as the wee one. Or we could move the single bed upstairs and the double downstairs as there is a little more room downstairs and we could feasibly fit a cot in there with us. Some friends have even suggested we have the cot in the sitting room, which is also upstairs next to our bedroom. But that would be messy. Aaargh! Please could anyone advise me on whether they have had the same problem/ would feel happy putting a baby downstairs while they slept upstairs?

Please tell me frankly if I am making a mountain out of a molehill and it is perfectly ok to put cot downstairs.....

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
PenelopePitstops · 29/04/2007 21:26

it will be fine, my mum slept a floor above me and my sister whilst we were little, In fact she still does now for my other sister. She did this without a baby monitor and we were fine.

Or is there any possibility that you could turn the sitting room into a bedroom and the bedrroom downstairs into a sittying room?

Bellie · 29/04/2007 21:32

In our old house we used to sleep downstairs and dd slept upstairs. It was fine and worked with the baby monitor. Just meant that I had to put my glasses on to go upstairs if she did wake during the night though!

fizzylemonade · 29/04/2007 21:37

As long as you can hear the baby when he/she needs you, whether that is with a monitor or not it will be fine. You'll be lucky to get your baby to stay in a moses basket till they are 6 months. They tend to need a bit more room to move about.

My intention was to keep our DS2 in our room with us till he was 6 months so that we could get to him before he woke DS1. After 4 months we moved him into his own room as every time we turned over he woke, and every time he sighed, murmured, moved etc I was wide awake checking on him (paranoia alert)

I used to put DS1 to sleep in his cot in the day, potter around downstairs and then have a snooze on the sofa - it is just the same. It is not like you are putting him/her in the shed at the end of the garden - although on some nights that will appeal

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

mylittlestar · 29/04/2007 21:39

I really don't think there's a problem with sleeping on separate floors, especially if you have a baby monitor.

But if it were me, I don't think I would let ds sleep downstairs whilst I was upstairs. Not sure why. Perhaps I am just a worrier and wouldn't feel like he was safe/secure enough if something happened as he's 'far' away from me...

Definitely don't sleep separately to your partner long term - remember you're still a couple! So if you don't want to move house, I'd either look at all moving downstairs so you can have the cot in your room, or changing the rooms round in some way so you could have both bedrooms on the same floor...
Or I think I'd even feel more secure if me and dh slept downstairs and ds upstairs... again don't know why! Just me!

But there really wouldn't be an issue with it. Do whatever you feel comfortable with xx

daydreambeliever · 29/04/2007 22:49

Thanks all for your advice. Yup, I guess we can sleep the baby on a separate floor. I will use a moniter. Actually, I know what you mean mylittlestar about feeling better with us downstairs and baby upstairs, I hadnt really identified that maybe it was the idea of the baby being more sort of 'exposed' if say someone did break in, that was making me feel uncomfortable. The idea of having the babys room upstairs may be the best thing.

Hmm no penelopepitstops, we couldnt shift the sitting room, couches/chairs to big to move/fit elsewhere.

Dh will be delighted at the thought of moving the double and single bed upstairs/downstairs. I had better pick my time for this one. Or maybe I'll sleep on it

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread