Nursery / bedroom logistics with second baby

[UncleBunclesHouse]

Before I start this is very much a first world problem so please don’t all jump on me. I’d really appreciate the advice of those with more than one child - we are due DC 2 and are trying to work out the best option with bedrooms when new baby is tiny. Will try to make this as simple as possible!

• DC1 still in cot in nursery at other end of house to our room
• Have got a next to me crib which I was thinking of putting in our bedroom in the early days so easier for nights and less likelihood of waking DC1
• however, no other baby furniture in our room and is all in the nursery, plan is to move DC2 into the nursery when ready. We’ve also made it super smart and am not keen on getting sick on the carpet etc
• we have a spare bedroom which we could move DC1 into and transition to a toddler bed (will do this at some point not sure when) but my mum is planning to stay to help for the first few weeks and therefore wouldn’t have a bedroom

WWYD and how would you arrange for best sleep and ease of day to day life for all?

Am sure I’ll think of more factors in the mix. I’m quite nervous about having a number two and coping as had bad PND after DC1, so this is making me more stressed atm

You are meant to have baby in the same room as you for as much of their first 6 months as possible. Assuming no PND is suffered I would say you have the next to me and either a bed for your mum or your eldest in the nursery. I think probably your mum if you think she’d help at night wakes. Then a bed for either your mum or your eldest in the spare room.

Baby has to sleep in your room until 6 months anyway so no issue there. Once your mum has gone (assuming she doesn't stay longer than 6 months?) you can move DC 1 in to her new bedroom and then baby in to the nursery at 6 months.
I wouldn't put 2 little ones in together until they were both reliably sleeping through if I could help it to avoid waking each other up.

How long did you have DC1 in with you for? I would assume same time again.

We have a little one who will be 3 when the new baby arrives and are planning to have them share a room eventually. We will have new baby in with us for probably the first 6-12 months. Undecided yet whether to get a bedside cot like next2me, or just the cheapest ikea cot and convert that. We had a co-sleeper for the 3yo but it was crap so we got rid of it. He is still in his cotbed. I don't want to move him yet.

So plan is some time between 6 months pregnant and baby's first birthday, whenever the time seems right (I want DS properly sleeping through), we'll move DS to a single bed rather than the cotbed. Then we can move new baby at around 1yo into the shared bedroom. No idea if they will be sleeping through at this point - neither of the other kids were! If that turns out to be disastrous and baby wakes toddler, possibly back into our room, with a travel cot if we do any half in this room-half in that shuffling, until nights are a bit more settled.

We have changing station set up in nursery and will do all dressing etc there. Middle of the night nappies probably in middle of bed. I don't think you can always avoid sick on carpet, but will keep muslins handy and some carpet cleaning spray in the house and it's not too bad to clean up. Mop up, spray, scrub, pressure soak up, new cloth and pressure soak up again. If stain still there, spray/scrub and pressure soak again. Do ASAP. Get a waterproof mattress protector, get 2 so you can wash it with the sheets.

Thanks everyone

DC1 I actually moved into the nursery for first 6 months as there is a double bed. DH joined us while on pat leave then went in there probably one night to cover and I had uninterrupted sleep in our room. So bringing into our ‘master bedroom’ is a new thing for us.

@BertieBotts thinking about night time changing, are you planning to get a bin etc for your room? We also have all the changing and dressing stuff in the nursery but was thinking this might not be a great idea in case we need to change DC2 clothes/bedding etc in the night

Slightly strange suggestion here, but based on your above comments:

• older DC into spare (their "new" bedroom before baby is born)
• you, DH and baby in nursery
• your mum in your bedroom

Especially if she is only coming for a few weeks you can have your bedroom back from your mum when she leaves and do your uninterrupted nights etc.

Nah, newborn nappies don't smell so will probably just roll it up and stick on bedside table then move to bin in morning.

Our DC1 is still in the nursery and DC 2 10 weeks old with us. We have a basket in our room with nappies, Muslim and change of clothes in our room for nights and have a towel handy to put on the bed for changes. We then got an extra storage unit for babies clothes etc and put in the spare room. Means easy access for babies things without disturbing dc 1.

@StrawberryPi I have considered a variation of this...but this sounds better

Only concern is moving DC1 out of cot, he is a real wriggler and we anticipate it maybe being an interesting move, so were trying to keep him in the cot as long as possible! But am definitely going to discuss this idea with DH, thanks!

I would keep baby with you and then move everyone around later as needed when it's time to shift to own rooms. Realistically, none of mine ever slept in their own rooms before 1. And then even after that, they still slept with us part of the time. With very rare exceptions (like dh or I needing to get up ridiculously early or being ill), we've always slept all together with baby in the same room. It's fine. If one of you is tired enough, you'll sleep while the other attends to the baby.

And yes, realistically, you only change them at night during the first 3 months or so, but you just have all the changing stuff and anything else you might need (change of clothes, etc) in your room.

With my second, I ended up having baskets of changing stuff everywhere. With one baby, its easy Togo to the nursery to change them. With a toddler in tow, it's easier to change where you are. We stored the clothes, boxes of nappies etc in the nursery, but rarely went in there with the baby, as it was DD1s bedroom.

I hope you work something out!

@BertieBotts sorry to derail but I saw you were considering a N2M or an IKEA one adjusted for side sleeping.

I’ve had both, N2M then when DC got old/heavy enough changed for sniglar cheapest one we could find and bought a nice memory foam mattress to go in it since that’s the part he’s actually touching. The sniglar I have turned into a co sleeper by cable tying the bed base into the foot/head ends, the super strong ties hold >50kg each there’s 4 of them on there and it’s just to stop the pins falling out. Anyway, I would 100% not bother with Chico next time and just go with this. This is far sturdier that Chico and multipurpose. There are a few ways to adjust the sniglar online but this was the cheapest and least damage long term (none). I have pictures of you’d like?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves this is a great idea

No it's OK :) I did the same with DS1 many years ago when co-sleeper specific cots weren't a thing, but it wasn't an IKEA cot. It was 10000 times more sturdy than any purpose built one I've come across later, and it doesn't have a pointless 9kg weight limit. We will likely go for the Sniglar, especially as realistically I am expecting my toddler to try and jump in it at some point. I am just considering one that you can easily pull the side up between you, but I don't think that will be the winner really.