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Original poster

Townhouse with a baby

30 replies

PrincessConsuela12 · 07/03/2021 10:49

Hello all,

Can you please tell me your experiences in having a 3 storey house with a baby? Our current house is very small & DC is in the room opposite us, I have a video monitor on but even without it can still hear if they cry. DC will be 1 soon & sleeps through the night if that makes any difference.

Thank you Smile

OP posts:
MeadowViews · 07/03/2021 14:37

I'm currently in a snall 3 bed townhouse, just me and DH and the house feels 'full'. The owners before us had a 2 year old and a baby imminently due.

When the first baby arrived, they had their bedroom on the middle floor and the baby's room in the small single, same floor, and used the upstairs en suite bedroom as an office/storage.

They say they loved it with baby 1 but as soon as baby 2 was on the way, they had to move to a 'normal' 3 bed with more room and less stairs!

We're only here temporarily, the house is very small and having to go up 2 flights of stairs when you've left your bag in the top room is painful!

MeadowViews · 07/03/2021 14:37

*small not snall...

Tallesttiptoes · 07/03/2021 15:07

We lived in one with our babies and I did get sick of negotiating steep stairs and stair gates everywhere, especially when they still needed to be carried up and down. We also used to joke that nothing was ever on the floor we needed it on! If I had the choice again I wouldn’t have chosen that house but we bought before having children.

To be fair though, once they were 3+ and could go up and downstairs reliably it really didn’t bother me anymore.

HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur · 07/03/2021 15:11

We had a 4 bed townhouse when our dd was tiny and it was brilliant for us. We had a huge main bedroom so plenty of room for her cot etc while she was in there. Then she went into her own room on the floor below and we had the monitor on but it meant we didn't disturb her if she was sleeping by bathing, cleaning the rooms etc which we often needed to get done after she'd gone to bed. Stairs were a bit of a pain occasionally, but not in any major way. It was a great way to have the feeling of plenty of space. We moved area so don't live there any more, but I loved that house and have very fond memories of it.

rhombuspocahontas · 07/03/2021 15:15

Fine with one as we both had bedrooms on the same floor. Hated it with two mainly as the children's bedrooms were on the floor below ours.

Forevernamechange12333333 · 07/03/2021 15:15

We’ve a three storey townhouse and it just depends on the layout as to whether they are good, our kitchen and living room are on the 1st floor. Bedroom on the ground floor and 3 bedrooms on the top floor.

It’s a poor layout.

There is zero sound proofing and noise travels up the wall from the ground floor bedroom to the top floor. You can literally hear everything.

I can’t wait to move

HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur · 07/03/2021 15:17

Sorry, forgot to say layout. Ours was kitchen, longe-diner and cloakroom on ground floor, 2 dbl and 1 single bedroom and main bathroom on 1st floor and main bedroom, ensuit and dressing room on 2nd floor. We liked the layout, I'm not keen when the lounge is upstairs.

SwimmingInToys · 07/03/2021 15:18

We're over 3 floors and yes I've cursed it while the children were babies and couldn't really walk. I was constantly carrying one or other of them up and down the stairs and trying to stop the other one climbing or falling and we had about 10 stairgates at one point.

That said, the phase does pass quickly and now mine are 5 and nearly 3 they are absolutely fine. We taught them early safe ways to go up and down the stairs and they've been fine. They could both say 'hold the bannister' before they could say mummy Grin

We are expecting no 3 and looking to move to a house with more bedrooms on the one floor, as I'm not happy moving the 5 year old to the middle floor (where our extra bedroom is). We thought about a loft extension but being over 4 floors is just too much.

BackforGood · 07/03/2021 15:18

Do you mean the general carrying up and down stairs, or the sleeping on different floors ?

We didn't move into our current house until dc 3 was 22months, so not a tiny baby, but we've never had any issues with them sleeping on different floors from us, if that is your concern.

Original poster
PrincessConsuela12 · 07/03/2021 15:28

Thank you all, it gives me something to think about.

My main concern is us being on a different floor. The living room / kitchen etc is on the ground floor, 2 bedrooms on the first and master is at the top.

We're so close to her room now I worry about every creek and we're constantly whispering. It's also a bigger house which is great but going all the way up to the top if I've left something behind doesn't excite me Grin

OP posts:
jaundicedoutlook · 07/03/2021 17:31

We had a 3 floor plus semi basement house until 18 months ago. Only issue was that it had steps up to the front door which could be a bit of a pain when we had a pushchair, but not a biggie.

Once our 2nd DD came along the first was unceremoniously shunted up a floor, but was bribed by the fact that she was getting a bigger room. All in all it was a good house, but by the time we moved we definitely wanted more ground floor space.

Pipppin · 07/03/2021 17:34

Our bedroom is first floor, children’s bedrooms are second floor. It’s fine, just more stair gates! I have nappies etc on every floor. Sound does travel up though, I would prefer a ‘normal’ house but I’ve never even thought about having an issue with a baby tbh!

BikeRunSki · 07/03/2021 17:39

I grew up in a 4 storey townhouse, 4 children, 2 toilets. DM said she spent 10 years running up and down stairs with a child needing a wee. Basement, ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor.

The master bedroom was on the top (2nd) floor. Babies/toddlers slept in a tiny room on the 1st floor, the we lived into the basement. The bedrooms my sister and I shared from being about 3 and 6, and my brothers shared was in the basement. No baby monitors in those a days either.

Alienchannell21 · 07/03/2021 17:43

I wouldn't live in a house where the master was above the dc bedroom. Just doesn't sit right with me in case of fire / burglar or when they get older sneaking out!

bedroomcurtain · 07/03/2021 17:46

The separation anxiety phase made things difficult as everything on a different level and they can't just follow after you, I wouldn't ever again!

Hallyup5 · 07/03/2021 17:52

We're not in a townhouse but considering a loft conversion. We'd thought about putting a big master suite up there for us but, in reality, I'd feel more comfortable having our older children (10 and 13) up there and our younger ones (2 and 3) on the same floor as us. I wouldn't be able to sleep well, knowing that the 3 year old would attempt the stairs in the dark if she woke up in the night. I don't think I would ever buy a townhouse.

Original poster
PrincessConsuela12 · 07/03/2021 18:44

The room we were planning on using for DC is really big so we could potentially use that as our room until they are older & put them in the smaller room next door.

We'd use stair gates where needed but as PP mentioned if there was a fire or someone broke in we wouldn't be as close to them.

Thank you to everyone who has commented, it all makes an interesting read & I'll be discussing it tonight with DH.

OP posts:
VikingsandDragons · 08/03/2021 11:39

We had our bedroom on a different floor to our child's room (slightly different layout in that we had the master and a tiny study type room on one floor, then two big doubles on another floor), we ended up keeping the baby in our room until they were 2 years old, then they went in the study room (which literally only held a cot bed) until they were 4 and comfortably sleeping through the night. I would have hated to be up and down a flight of stairs multiple times every night while they were young.

irregularegular · 08/03/2021 11:48

I wouldn't, if you can avoid it. I had two under two in a 3 storey townhouse: ground floor garage and kitchen/diner; 1st floor master bedroom and living room; 2nd floor 3 bedrooms (we used largest as a study/family/playroom). Nightmare. Endlessly going up and down stairs and deciding whether/how to take baby and non-walking toddler with me. Not so bad with just one baby. Nights weren't the problem - I didn't mind going upstairs to their bedroom at night. But and upstairs living space on different floor from kitchen is bad. Admittedly we maybe made it slightly worse by having the family room right at the top! But the en-suite room was on the first floor so limited options.

We moved to basically a bungalow after that!

parietal · 08/03/2021 11:51

I grew up in a house with 5 floors - 52 stairs from kitchen to the children's bedrooms. and it was fine. you get used to it very quickly.

If the house that is in the right location with the right price is a townhouse, then go for it.

SecretOfChange · 08/03/2021 12:02

Townhouse is very, very hard with babies until you can trust them to go up and down the stairs safely by themselves. We've not even remotely considered it for this reason. That said, once children are older it's totally fine and you look back at those baby years as something that happened so lightning fast it's almost a blip in your imagination! So if you can get by in the early years (many people do!) then townhouse is a good choice for the family in the long-term.

Original poster
PrincessConsuela12 · 08/03/2021 12:05

The first 2 floors are the same as a normal 2 storey house, living room, kitchen, bathroom etc on the ground floor & 2 bedrooms and bathroom on 1st floor, it would just be our room on 2nd floor. DC sleeps through (for now) & even though I'm sure it won't be nice having to go down a flight of stairs during the night I'm more concerned about something happening while we're sleeping above them.

The house is great, we love everything about it but this is definitely a worry for me, although I am a worrier in general so wanted to get feedback from others.

Still no decision but I appreciate you giving your experiences.

OP posts:
SecretOfChange · 08/03/2021 12:09

If the house is a good long term option I'd go for it, and would sleep in the living room as a temporary solution initially then re-access if it's really needed.

AlwaysLatte · 08/03/2021 12:10

We don't have a townhouse but do have 3 floors. When the children were small they shared a room on the same floor as our bedroom (in our room as babies), then when they were about 7 and 5 they had their own rooms on the top floor.

AlwaysLatte · 08/03/2021 12:18

Oh they were 8 and 6, apparently!

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