Advice re no nursery!

[RainMinusBow]

My baby is due in May but we don't have a spare bedroom for a nursery so he/she will be in with us.

Just don't know how we're going to store all of his/her baby stuff!! Space is at a premium!

Any advice very much appreciated 😊

Bed ottomans are a great storage saver!
Ikea also have some fab storage solutions.
My friend brought a black walk rail (it looks lovely) and she hangs her little ones clothes from it.
You can also buy some really nice storage trunks these days which look stylish but fit a lot in!
Dunelm also have some amazing storage ottomans, cube size and ottoman size. They are study and can be used to sit on too! Good Luck and enjoy every second!

Sturdy*

@Annie20019 Thank you, some great suggestions. We still haven't got wardrobes ourselves (using hanging rails!) so hopefully OH will get his bum in gear and sort some wardrobes out!!!

I think the biggest problem is space because our room is not big and once we've got a cot in there there's not going to be much spare floor space left at all!

I'm stressing out about the whole thing because we don't have loads of money to buy new stuff

We used a Chico next2me cot which attaches to the side of the bed and took up hardly any space. Baby clothes are tiny- I still use just one chest of drawers, and roll the clothes rather than hanging/folding. Tbh changing units aren't really necessary- you can change a nappy on a bed/floor/ couch- obviously always keeping one hand on baby. The only other really 'bulky' thing is the pram. Get one where the bassinet (0-6months) converts into an upright pram, rather than one where you have to store a separate bassinet and seat.

Be realistic about what you need, ignore the "essentials lists" you see everywhere and get clever with storage.

We lived in my Mum's spare room (4 adults, a teen and 3 kids under 1 in a 3 bed so it was completely overcrowded!) and now we're in a 2 bed with 2 kids so we've never had a spare room to use as a nursery - it's really not necessary!

We had one of those hanging fabric shelves in our wardrobe for clothes, a plastic drawer unit for a folding changing mat, nappies, wipes, a few toys, car seat stayed in the car and we choose a pram with a lay flat seat to avoid needing to store extra carrycot/seat unit when not in use.

As long as the baby is safe and has a loving home, everything else will work out!

Here are those ottomans

www.dunelm.com/product/foldable-grey-ottoman-1000111410?defaultSkuId=30420486

www.dunelm.com/product/foldable-grey-cube-ottoman-1000111409?defaultSkuId=30420485

Ikea storage boxes can be great for little baby bits or the trolley on wheels, my friend uses that for all of the babies nappies etc. Ikea also do some great under the bed storage options, which are reasonably priced.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/raskog-trolley-white-20382932/

She was in a similar situation and we went on a budget shop.

@RainMinusBow were in the same boat, all in one room until we can move about a year after baby is born. Were also due in may next year!
I'm clearing out all rubbish we can get rid of and finding ways for extra storage. Going to keep the pram in the car.
I'm also stressing about space/money for stuff but atleast we don't need money to decorate a nursery lol!

I don't have a nursery for my toddler and I'm also pregnant at the moment. I started to actually become more of a minimalist person in clothing especially. You'll be amazed how much space it saves getting rid of what you're actually not wearing. Also store baby clothes I don't need yet under the bed in plastic storage boxes. Got for my toddler a small 4 drawer plastic organiser. It fits most of her stuff.

I didn't want to invest a lot of money as I'm renting. For us it works well.

Aw thanks all, really great advice and much appreciated as I'm feeling pretty down at the moment about everything. Guess I just feel like a rubbish mum/mummy-to-be because although both OH and I work ft, we're both low earners and can't afford loads of nice things for this new baby.

OH is sad because he's just wanting to enjoy the prospect of becoming a daddy for the first time, but as I already have two I know how hard it can be at times. Of course I don't regret my kids for one second, just that nothing quite prepares you and when money is tight I can imagine it's even more stressful!

@RainMinusBow you’re not a rubbish Mummy at all, the fact you care so much shows how much you love this baby!

The baby doesn’t need nice materliastic things, it sounds like the baby will have the nicest thing in the world, love!

A good friend of mine is extra sensible with money (I wish I could be) and she set her baby up on a budget and the stuff she brought was amazing! She went to a lot of nearly new pop up events, which I will be doing too!

Congratulations on your new little one, the baby is lucky to have you guys by the sound of things!

Don't worry about it, you will be a great mum. I've got a small bedroom and box room but happy I have my own home.
If your on Facebook there is a DIY budget page with lots of ideas, people make beds out of ikea kallax units and you can fit lots in..
I've got a kallax unit for the baby room and going to fill the boxes with baby grows, nappies, clothes, bibs.... Just means folding the clothes as we don't have space for a wardrobe.
As for baby clothes I've got a lot second hand - ebay, Facebook market place are really good as you can buy 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 bundles to get you started. Also I've been to a few local new and used baby faires to pick up some bargains. Good luck and don't be so hard on yourself x

We had baby #1 a few years ago and had minimal space. We avoided wasting so much money on stuff we didn’t need as we would wait to see if we desperately needed it before buying anything

Pram was stored in boot of car so that didn’t clutter up the place.

Baby number 2 due May and still in same house.
I’m not too worried as anything we needed for child 1 we still have.
Might invest in some garden storage for overflow if necessary.

We planned to cosleep using the guidance from the infant sleep group for safety - www.basis.org.uk . We also Used a sling initially rather than a pram. It saved so much space and so much money. You can always go out and buy a pram, but once your house is full of a great big pram and a great big cot they are just sitting there in the way! Thinking about small solutions for nappy changing (we used a little pacapod bag at home and out and about and just put a towel on the floor in a warm place) and baths (thankfully we had a bath in our little one bed flat, so we had a bath together with the baby in with one of us, it meant we didn't need any extra kit) etc also make a big difference.

Ds stayed in with me until he was ready for a proper bed age 2.5. The bedroom was only 10' square, once my king size bed, a standard cot, 2 bedside tables & a chest of drawers was in there wasn't room to swing a cat.

I got loads of things second hand from gumtree and facebook. I got a lovely cot and changing table mamas and papas, for £50. I know you don't have that much space but just an example. You really don't have to spend a lot.

We had a change mat on top of drawers but tbh the drawers were only ever half full and often felt wasted. We had a tall book case that we lined to make it pretty and I ground this much more versatile. Books and baby toys on the bottom then baskets with grouped clothes, nappies, wipes, toiletries etc further up. Also took a shelf out and fitted a tension rod so it was like a mini wardrobe too. It had a smaller footprint and made use of vertical space. We also didn't really use the change mat- we had a couple of sets of the old cloth nappies/towelling squares for changing on and a nappy caddy that I took with me from room to room so really could have done without the drawers altogether! Now we're in a 2bedroom apartment with our second due in a couple of months so I need to get creative again 😬

Same issue here, husband was supposed to be decorating and insulating the spare room in time for DD arrival. For one reason or another he didn’t so currently managing with Moses basket and changing table in our room. Changing table has two shelves so all nappies, sleep suits, vests etc are stored in the small Ikea drawer organisers until it’s finished. Not ideal but doable.
As long as whatever interim solution you find is organised then it’ll be fine.

The current recommendations are that the baby shares your bedroom anyway for at least the first 6 months. Many other countries now say 12 months. So almost everyone with fancy nurseries are only using them for storage anyway.

We have a spare room, but need to keep as long as possible for guests and family will visit a lot next summer with baby. It also needs furniture, new flooring, electrics rewired and curtains before 'baby room'. So I doubt that will be done until 2021.

We will have a cot in our bedroom, with storage drawers underneath. 2 drawers emptied for baby stuff, and changing mat ontop of drawers