Babies and small houses - they do mix don't they?

[WaitingforaSproglettoFall]

Looking for some reassurance after talking to my mother (who I love dearly but can bit a bit overbearing once she gets an idea in her head).

DH and I are trying for baby no.1 and live in a small 2-bed house. Love the location/local facilities etc. so plan to extend in the future, but mum is adamant that we need to extend now or we won't fit in all the 'stuff' a baby come with.

I don't want to extend now, I don't know yet how long I want to take on maternity leave and don't want extra financial responsibility with a new baby.

But she has made me question how we'll fit everything in so I need reassurance that it is possible.

Did anyone else cope in a small house or did you all move to a 'family home' first?

When I was pregnant with DD3 the number of people who said to me "well you will have to move now" or "when are you moving to a bigger house?" we are in a 3 (well 2 1/2 bed) detached house with large garden. People seem to have become obsessed with one child per room, these were the people who shared with 3 siblings in one room, when I was growing up very few people had 4 bed detached houses with 3 bathrooms.

Be ruthless about decluttering.

Think upwards for storage so shelves and storage units from Ikea.

Agree get as much out in the shed as you can.

We were in a 2 bed flat when DD1 came along and it was fine, we had a bit of a ngihtmare moving and she was 16 months before she moved into her own room.

We had a tiny house when we had DD1. I can't explain just how small it was. And everything was fine. Now we have DD2 and our new house is merely small. Ruthless decluttering is good, so it not buying anything unless you know that you need it - you will need to rein in any enthusiastic grandparents-to-be to achieve this I've found.

Anyway, there is nothing for you to worry about, you will be just fine.

we lived in a tiny two bed flat on the third floor when dd2 came along and we were happy there for two years!! I agree with the previous comments about de-cluttering and finding storage solutions that work for you.

How about making a list of the things that you think you will need with a newborn to help you think about where you might fit everything in. Then... work out what will be essential.

The biggest thing for me was not where everything would go but how I would survive in the space - staring at the four walls. I kept the pushchair in our car (no lugging upstairs) and tried to get out most days.