Builders will still be here when newborn comes home. Practical tips if you’ve been through this?

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Feeling stressed up to the eyeballs because our loft won’t be finished by the time the baby comes (and we left loads of contingency originally. Too many things have just delayed them.) Anyway, it looks likely that I will be bringing home a newborn to a house where they will still be builders. If anyone has been through this, please let me know your advice or tips. I hate the thought of lack of privacy or the pile of storage that’s just heaped up in every room. I really just wanted to get everything deep cleaned and prepared, but it looks like they will be here until baby is six weeks old.

info

• no, we can’t go to either parents house because they both live abroad.
• I’m trying to deal with builders the best I can, but we have no leverage.
• yes, they’re on the roof so they’re not literally in the downstairs of the house but a bit worried that they might still be making noise if I am trying to rest and recover in case I have a C-section?

I’d make sure I had one room in the house that was clear and deep cleaned that I could escape to and shut the door. -is that a possibility?

If they aren’t IN the house, it’s fine. Your baby will sleep through anything at that stage. For you, earplugs and your partner takes over with baby so you don’t need to be listening out during your daytime naps.

We have building works ongoing currently. Will be for about 6 months total. I don’t have a baby anymore but I do have advanced cancer and need to rest during the day. We don’t have bedrooms or a lounge, just a kitchen and spare room and home office where we’ve tossed mattresses on the floor. Builders are literally in our house knocking down a wall and re-building it. If I need to rest, I go in my office, shut the door, earplugs in and rest.

That was the plan, but sadly not. We have two bedrooms on the first floor and our toddler is in one of them. And then we were making a bedroom in the loft which should’ve been already decorated and everything. Trying not to feel sad about it. Obviously, baby will be with us for about six months and we can share the changing mat station with our toddler’s bedroom.

i might have to insist that builders get a portaloo rather than come into our house to use the downstairs toilet. And yeah, baby will sleep through anything but I just feel antsy about trying to recover, with bleeding, boobs out etc and random men going up ladders!

Privacy is the biggest thing. Absolutely builders need to use an outside portaloo. And I second the idea that one bedroom needs to be clear and comfortable and nice so you can sit there all day.

I was half naked a lot of the time, on the sofa, tits out trying to establish BF. I was also bleeding a lot etc, it's a tough time and you need privacy. I had a c section so couldn't even go for a long walk to escape the house for about a month, it took 2 weeks to build to a 20 minute slow walk. I was mostly house bound for a good chunk of time (and I had no complications and a healthy baby).

Presumably your DH will be on paternity leave so he can deal with the builders, bring you food etc

Sleep will be an issue. Not the baby as they sleep a lot in the day at that age, but your sleep. You need to be able to sleep when baby sleeps as they are awake A LOT in the night. Good earplugs and insist builders don't come too early in the day.

I did it. We had no downstairs, literally dug out, no proper floor downstairs. We had a temporary kitchen in our bedroom, we moved into the spare room, tumble drier squeezed into my older daughter’s room. It was hard going. Cluster feeding in a kitchen table chair is not fun! I didn’t have a sofa until she was about 5 months old and we lost the feet to it for another 8 months! Being disturbed by the noise was annoying but you just get on with it. We had a few day with no heating so borrowed fan heaters. If you can try and make one room a kind of sanctuary, so less piles of crap in it, that would be nice to escape to. Our builders had been around for ages so I knew them enough. Did have one awkward moment with a plumber when I just couldn’t answer his basic question and he was kind to me and sat me down to explain things very gently with me holding a week old baby. If you think it necessary set boundaries, or if you’re finally getting a chance to nap, let the builders know not to knock with questions for an hour. White noise to help block out the loud noise - some babies don’t mind but mine was a nightmare to get to nap, so it helped a little.

It will be fine. I think better when they’re newborn than crawling or running about eating screws off the floor. Good luck.

Portaloo would be great. Also a decent hepa air purifier with an air purity measure - we really relied on this with our newborn and toddler. Otherwise it honestly wasn’t so bad, if you have some clean rooms with privacy

We had builders in for all 3 of our children as newborns. Don't ask - essentially a decade-long huge renovation and multiple extensions!
There was always a space for me to hide, and actually the builders were very helpful at times. The builders are local and still wave to our children and stop and chat - they feel like family.
You'll be absolutely fine. And baby will learn to sleep through anything!

We had a loft done when dc1 was 12-18 months. Was hell because they said it would be 3 months and it dragged month and month until finished at 7 months. Lying lazy builders.
he never properly napped during that time at our house so I always out with the buggy and exhausted.

can you get an air BnB for 6 weeks?!? I would be so tempted

Thank you so much, everyone. I really appreciate everyone who responded. We can’t afford to do an Airbnb for 6 weeks even though I would love that. The loft renovation is taken everything we’ve got.
Wow, sounds like you both had hard core renovations @Hotdoughnut and @seven201 you must’ve learnt to be very resilient. I think that’s what I’m struggling with. I’ve had a little bit of pregnancy and voted this time round and I just am a total perfectionist. And yes, it looks like our loft will end up being seven months by the time it’s finished due to all kinds of dramas.

Portaloo - 100%

DD arrived 5 weeks early so I remember bursting into tears in front of multiple carpet fitters/carpenters and decorators in those early months.

Undeterred, ‘we’ (I swear it was me actually being home all day that prompted it) had builders demolish an 80’s kitchen and bathroom extension to our house with us (mostly) living in it when my daughter was a toddler. We blocked off corridors with stair gates and nothing was allowed to be left in our “living zone” by the trades.

A builder’s portaloo is a must. They rigged up a water supply and “kitchen” outside our house for their teas/coffees. An outdoor power supply is really useful and worth the money if you don’t already have one, BTW.

We bought a couple of heaters, put an immersion heater in our hot water tank (without boiler for 9 months) and builders made us a cold-water kitchen in our dining room.

Buy privacy film/blinds for “your” rooms and an air purifier.

I would seriously consider an Airbnb for a couple of weeks until you establish a semblance of a routine.

Thank you. I love everyone’s perspectives. We cannot afford an Airbnb. We have used everything to pay for this loft conversion that was meant to be finished six weeks ago. It is just not an option while I’m on statutory maternity pay. This morning only one labourer has turned up instead of the three that we were expecting and told about. I’m honestly at my wits end – every time we have a bollocking call with The Builder he reassures us and then the same thing happens.

Where exactly are you up to in the process, OP? What is left to do?

We had a loft conversion done that dragged on for 6months in the end - our DD wasnt a newborn, but was 10months and crawling and trying to get into everything, which we didnt think about when we started it when she was so little!

We moved our bedroom downstairs into the lounge to be as far away from the work as possible. We didnt have another child at that point, but if there's space for the toddler as well, id say just have you all sleeping in one room. Newborns are sleepy to start with and if your toddler is a good sleeper they might sleep through the baby waking anyway.

We put a lot of furniture / boxes into a storage unit to give us a bit more space. They often have offers if you book for a set period so you could book for 2months, get a man with a van to move stuff for you, put sofas in the unit, set up a bed downstairs, then you can be comfy and camp out so the toddler can play. It will be cheaper than an airbnb. Don't stress about tv - let them watch whatever with you just to get through this periods. It will only be a few more weeks. I bought a snoozeband so I could watch tv through my phone whilst DD was asleep in bed.

Its a very challenging time anyway when a second baby comes home and there's a lot of figuring out routines, change for the big one etc. If they are not in nursery FT, id also consider putting them in FT so you arent worried about cooking for them / midday naps etc. FT nursery was a godsend for me when DD2 came home because it meant I had 7hrs in the day to just deal with one child, recover etc.

It will be worth it in the long run - our loft conversion has been amazingly beneficial to our life, and you are in the worst part of it right now.

We had a kitchen extension that overran so when we brought DS home there was a massive hole where the floor should have been and no back wall on the house. So I've been there!

I basically stayed upstairs in our bedroom, away from all the dust, and thankfully our shower room is right next door to the bedroom (and we had a downstairs loo the builders could use).
Do you only have one toilet at the moment? If so, then absolutely get a portaloo and say no builders in the house unless necessary.

It was quite good in some ways - DS is 3.5 years old now and still sleeps through anything. I also had a good reason to stay in bed establishing breastfeeding, resting and not feeling like I should be cleaning etc when he napped. I've got a 4 week old DD now and I've struggled to make myself rest this time.

Thank you! Our roof is still open so the front sloping bit needs felt and tiles. The back dormer is done. The first fix electrics have been done but there are no plaster boarded walls up, so no plastering has begun. Building control signed off.

The windows arrived weeks ago from the glazer but haven’t been installed. So basically they still need to:
Add the stud walls, then plaster them once the roof is sealed. Install the windows. Install the staircase (it has been ordered; and the hole has already been made). Second fix plumbing and electrics. Install flooring. Currently, it is a mixture of joists and a few OSB floors.
AND! We need all of our internal doors replacing with fire doors and then there are things like skirting, tiling, fixing in the bathroom sanitary wear and decorating.