Baby in a 1 bed flat

[Mum3202]

Our plan was to buy before baby’s first birthday but we haven’t found anything yet (location and budget) and our current tenancy is coming to an end.
We live in a nice area and in a good sized 1 bed flat and I’m thinking we might be able to continue living here until next year, until baby’s second birthday. Am I being mad?
We could rent a 2 bed but we can’t afford it in this area, so we would have to move further away which will increase other costs such as commuting, etc. Husband also works very close to where we live and this has been really handy with baby as he gets home early and helps a lot which probably won’t happen if we move further away.
It doesn’t make sense to me to increase our expenses to rent a 2 bed whilst we could be saving some more for our deposit and hopefully buy next year. But on the other hand I feel selfish that I’m not giving baby his own room and more space until he’s 2 years old. Is it ok to live with a 2 year old in a 1 bed flat? Or would he definitely need more space/his own room until then?

I know plenty of people that have done it out of necessity living in London. Saying that, moving our DD to her own room at 6 months drastically improved everyone's quality of sleep. So I would say while it's definitely possible, you might find yourself wanting to make the move sooner than 2 years!

My husband and I lived with our baby from birth to 20 months old. Only reason we moved to a 2 bed is because I was expecting number 2.
As long as you have a designated play area for him in the bedroom or living room and often go out for some fresh air and park to run, I think it's perfectly doable

Not mad at all.

We have a house but me, dh and dd were all piled into the master bedroom until she was about 2. There was room, but it didn't suit us to put her in her own room ("didn't suit us" = she screamed all night long if she wasn't in our room). Even once she turned 2 she'd run into our room in the middle of the night, almost every night.

Toddlers can share a bedroom with their parents no problem and it's the norm in many cultures.

The only problem is you might drown in Stuff unless you're particularly good at tidying and decluttering etc

Bumping

Yes, stay where you are!

You will manage fine for another year

DS is 5. The only time he goes in his room is to get dressed.

Absolutely fine!

You are not mad or selfish! We lived in a one bed flat until our son was 1.5 years old. He had a lovely, large (from his point of view), baby proofed area to roam in in the living room. Many happy memories. I'm from a (European) country where this is completely normal.

Much easier to be in a smaller flat with no stairs, with easy access to the kitchen, the bathroom. Too much space is a headache with young kids when you have to follow them around all the time

I'd want them to have their own room when they started school (whether or not they slept there).

I have a 2 year old and they sleep in my room - clothes go under their cot in a drawer that's under it ...... I'm not sure why a 2 year old needs their own room.

Try to get things to maximise the space - a cot with a draw underneath.
Kallax unit that stands up so you have space upwards against the wall to store clothes etc

Stay where you are and save :-)

Your child doesn’t care if they have their own room or not. Keep saving up rather than paying to rent a bigger pace.

Stay where you are. We did the same and bought a house by the time ours was 2.

We had a tiny box room in the flat which was enough for a cot (baby stayed in with us til around 8 months) and a rocking chair. That's all that was needed. He was fine in there til 2 years old and we even managed to fit a little bookshelf in there. He only ever slept in the box room or sat on our lap on the rocking chair for bedtime stories. It was such a cute little space. All of his clothes etc were in a chest of drawers in our room and nappies, wipes etc in a basket that got moved around the flat anyway as needed. Our living room became his play space.

Even if we didn't have that box room I'd still have done it to save the money til we bought our house.

You can create a little area in your living room with room dividers or, even better and more space saving, by hanging fabrics which can be pulled back in the daytime. You'll have baby in your room for a while at first anyway, then when you decide you want them out of your room that's all the space they need.

Once they're at the crawling stage I recommend keeping the toys to a minimum for your own sanity. IKEA Kallax units are great for tidying toys away at the end of the day so that the playroom can go back to being your living room again in a jiffy. We got an 8 compartment Kallax and made sure that baby's toys had to fit in there or not at all. Family knew not to go overboard buying gifts and that clothes or vouchers were always more welcome. They understood our situation with space! Now that we've moved and he's a toddler we're overrun! But there's no need to go crazy on toys for the first year or two.

Also recommend getting totter & tumble playmat for your living room.

You're not selfish for not giving your baby their own room, they have no idea what "their own room" is and if they did have it they probably wouldn't want it because they would be away from you.

Stay where you are, save up and enjoy all the little toddler snuggles as a little family. One day your family won't be this little, you might have more tiny humans and if not your baby will get bigger and it will feel completely different, enjoy the now as much as you can and don't stress your doing good 😊

Stay where you are. I have a 13 month gap between my two and was in a one bed flat till youngest was 2ish. Managed to buy a 3 bed with a garden. Definitely worth waiting they wouldn't have really appreciated the garden much sooner

Definitely don't move yet, save. DC1 was in our bedroom with us until 16 months and DC2 until 18 months. We could have managed longer both times if we'd have wanted to but my sleep definitely did improve once they'd moved out as I'm a terrible light sleeper.