Should I have a nursery?

[Izniz]

I am feeling a bit down and keen to get views on what the right thing is to do. We live in a 2 bedroom house and since getting oregnant Inhave been excited about converting the guest bedroom into a magical nursery for our much anticipated little girl 👧

But it seems that everyone in my life thinks im being selfish and that I shouldnt do it. My mil says they need the room to come visit comfortably and the baby will be in our room initially in any event. Friends came over last night and basically said the same thing.

Am i being selfish wanting to make a room for a newborn? It just seems so natural to me and they do come with loads of stuff...

Do both if you can! We have a single bed in our baby’s room that has a pull out part so can convert to a twin. It’ll do for guests whilst the baby is in with us, it gives us a second bed so if baby won’t settle one of us can still get some sleep and eventually it’ll be our little one’s bed once they grow out of the cot bed.

I really enjoyed decorating the babies room when I was pregnant. The baby doesn’t care but I cared. All mine slept in my room to start off but all their clothes and nappies were in their room. You need to use the space the way it works for the people who live in the house

@MsSquiz I stayed over with one of my brothers' as a older teenager many years ago when their first child was born. I was in their second bedroom while their son was in their bedroom for over a year, which included the time when I wasn't there anymore.

The main reason my SIL had him in their bedroom was it was easier for her to bf at night and then for my brother to feed him.

My SIL was back at work part-time by the time he was a few months so I cared for him initially when she went to work. Then she changed her hours so my brother could parent on his own, and then she used a child minder when she got "normal" hours.

My nephew never actually had a nursery but a room for a small kid.

Second bedroom currently being plastered and painted so the shell will be ready. Going to use it as home gym for the next year as baby will be in our room for first 6 months and i'm only 13 weeks. Sold the spare bed and will be buying a z bed or similar for the occasional guest. We've had it set up as a spare bedroom for 2 years now and i wouldn't even say its been used for more than 10 sleeps!

But totally your choice, don't let others opinions get you down and spoil your excitement. Most people prepare the nursery months in advance. Enjoy, and do what's best for you and your family living in the house. :)

Thank you for everyones views! Really helpful just knowing what worked for everyone and that theres more than one way to skin a cat....

We did for our first - he never slept in it - slept in our room for the first year, then we changed our mind about which bedroom should be his (it was a three bed house), then we moved house six months later. For our second we knew which room would ultimately be the baby's, but didn't get it ready until the kid was about 11 months old, at which point I wanted to move them out of our room so that was the incentive to get it sorted. This baby, we have emptied a drawer in our bedroom for the baby's stuff, and I'm assuming that they'll sleep in there for up to a year again (my babies have been poor sleepers, and it's a lot easier to get up in the night to a baby who is in your room than one who is in another room!). We know which room will be his, and will sort it out when we're thinking of him moving in there, and can plan the furniture etc that we will definitely need, rather than trying to second guess what we'll need at this point.

It's your house, do whatever you want! There are many ways that work.

We had a similar dilemma, three bed house with one bedroom an office as we both work from home, another our bedroom, another the guest room. Plus we're planning to move to a bigger house next year.

We're going ahead with converting the guest bedroom into a nursery... cause we want one! A sofa bed will be in there for guests.

@BlueBug45 I completely appreciate that parents can have have their baby in their room for as long as they want. But I would still choose to have a nursery over having a guest room for visitors to stay over.
I can't see me wanting visitors to stay over while I have a new baby. And I absolutely wouldn't let anyone (friend or relatives) tell me I can't have a nursery as their must be somewhere for them to stay. If they want to stay nearby, find a b&b. I have a new baby to take care of

Should add, the room that will be this baby's is currently our spare room. We will no longer have a dedicated spare room - but think that our child's bedroom is more important than having a dedicated spare room for the couple of nights every few months when it's occupied. Our ultimate plan is that we will get one of the IKEA day beds for the room, which will be this kid's bed (our other kids went into a single bed at around 18 months old - it's what worked for us), and which can fold out into a double. When we have people to stay, we can move in with the kid for a night, or the kid in with us, freeing up a bed for guests.

We spend a lot of time bunked up in one or the other of our children's rooms if they're ill or can't sleep. I would decorate and set up as a nursery but fit a single/double in too if you can.

Personally I like a nursery. I like decorating it and choosing colours etc. I like having somewhere to store all babies things and having a room which is 'theirs'. BUT if I only had 2 rooms, I'd have storage and decoration of a nursery and a double bed or sofa bed for guests, until DC needed the nursery to sleep in.

Oh to hell with them, i'd definitely be getting the spare room sorted for baby, at the end of the day baby lives in the house, MIL/visitors don't, you can't keep a room specially for them! Plenty of people don't have a spare/guest room

We have a two bed. Even though baby will be in with us for the first 6 months I still want the comfort of decorating his room and making a little space for him. We’re gettting a sofa bed in the living room for guests!