Building works and a newborn?

[Ktd88]

Hi! Our baby is due in 3 weeks (can't wait!) however we're in the midst of pretty extensive building works. It was all meant to be finished before the baby arrived but due to weather and a few other things, it has run over. I'm really worried about bringing a newborn home to this chaos. I think all the practical stuff will be fine (we have water, heating etc), but I'm just a bit worried about the dust and noise. To top it off the grandparents are really concerned too and think that we should move out of the house whilst the work is still going on. I really don't want to do that but feel like that's selfish and not in the best interests of the baby. Has anyone been through something similar? And if so, how did you cope?!

We had the end of renovations going on with a new born - though the builders did pause for a week or to.

It wasn't a dusty phase, I wouldn't have coped with that. Especially if I had bottle fed. Indeed lack of serviceable kitchen was a contributing factor to extended breastfeeding.

When the workmen were back in it was tough. Baby slept through most things, but I didn't. So no catch up naps. Lack of privacy, workmen permanently asking questions at inopportune times, barging in, having to go past them to use bathroom in a hurry while leaking from multiple orifices. It wasn't much fun.
If it's the dusty phase I think you will have to move out. Bottle feeding, which you may have no choice over will be nearly impossible. Clean clothes will get dirty and regular laundry may be difficult to do. Dust gets everywhere. I remember thinking everyone I met out was getting contaminated by second hand dust . Every time I took .my coat off there was a cloud of dust emerging.

I brought our newborn special care baby home at 9 days old whilst our house renovations were on going. It wasn't the dusty phase but there was drilling, carpets, painting, a bathroom being installed. If it was dusty I probably would have moved out but we had 4 days notice of my c section and they worked hard to finish what they could. We asked for any work on what was our bedroom (before we moved up into the loft conversion) to stop so we has a 'safe room' that we could clean and furnish. The builders managed to finish all the dusty work before I came home so my parents deep cleaned the house. Baby mostly stayed in our room but for us this was normal having lived in the special care unit. Being confined to a room may be difficult for other's. We now have that room to decorate at some point. The worst day was when the carpets were laid as it was so loud that baby didn't sleep and got beside herself.

If it’s a dusty phase then no, I really don’t think it would be wise to have a newborn there. If it’s not dusty but just noisy then it’s managable. Newborns can sleep through most things when they’re very young!

I don’t think dust will be great and even with closed doors it will be hard to keep it completely away from a newborn. Noise wise I think when they’re very tiny they’ll sleep through it, but you might find that very stressful if you’ve had a disturbed night and want to sleep during the day. How much longer is left?

We've just done the same thing, although the majority of the work was done in time (just) and the builders were gone. Remaining tasks were flooring and decoration, plus some other noisy tasks, although one room has not been done at all and will create dust.
We've considered either using plastic to seal over the door when that room gets done, or me taking baby to my parents for a few days for the dusty work. Also some painting (gloss) which can be fumey/smelly - for this I will definitely go to parents.
For the other tasks it has helped getting a hand from my parents to speed things up, but I guess if you still have the builders there that is not such an issue.

Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed all the dusty work should be done by the time the baby arrives, but there will definitely be noise (fitting carpets, kitchens etc). Had a chat with the husband about it last night and if the baby comes early or the dusty work isn't done we're going to book in to an air bnb! Feel much better now that there's a plan B.

Doing it with a newborn is much much easier than doing it with a crawling baby or toddler.

We managed to complete our works to a reasonable point the day before my section. Whilst pregnant I honestly believed I could have lived through the filthy stage, as soon as she was born I knew I wouldn't have managed. It was so hard to keep anything clean and every room became dusty regardless of how much cleaning we did.

have you got a builders' canister vac? the dust will wreck a domestic hoover.

I'm in favour of (trying to) have a dust-free bedroom (you may have to hand a dustsheet over the doorway) and to be able to step to the bathroom without getting dirty (you can put down cotton dustsheets and wash them daily) where you can keep your clean clothes. Take off the dirty ones, and your shoes, outside the bathroom

Bathrooms with hard floors and surfaces can be damp-wiped easily.

A few other tricks that work:

you can get white lab coats to protect your clothes when you're in the dirty parts of the house. Even brushing past a wall can leave you covered in dust. And you can wear disposable blue gloves (even running your hands up the banister on the stairs will make it dusty). Builders dust dries out the skin, so even if you keep washing your hands, they will get rough. I use disposable masks a lot. Keep the internal doors closed. I like to hoover at the end of each working day.

Some people are affected by dust more than others. If the baby coughs, move somewhere else for a couple of weeks.