3rd Floor Apartment - No elevator. Possible?

[reeshy]

So my husband and I are in a pickle. We just signed a one year lease on a beautiful apartment. It is on the third floor (4th floor in the US) and there is no elevator. We would only be in this apartment when the baby is born until she is 8 months old. We use Madrid's excellent metro system so we don't have a car and we'll be traveling on foot everyday.

There is a storage room on the first floor that we could put a stroller that is folded up (can't just push it inside).

Is this going to be an impossible situation for us without easy access to a stroller? Any city dwellers out there with kids who have thoughts about this situation?

Alyssha

 

[purplecupcake]

Why not? We will on the second floor...I had never even considered it being a problem.

 

[EmzyJA]

When we had our first we were in a first floor flat. We even had a big bulky travel system and it was possible. Was a pain bringing in shopping when it was just me and her but we made it work. I think you'd be just fine. Plenty of people do it. Also i love using a baby carrier if I just needed to pop over to the shop quickly. So easy with no hassle of pushchairs, just strap them to you and off you go. I'd recommend giving one a go.

 

[Tigerlilyb]

I second the suggestion of a baby carrier, especially with the shopping! I'd say it's all made easier by the fact that you can put your stroller away on the lower floor, it saves you carting it and LO up and down the stairs all the time.

Totally doable.

 

[reeshy]

Thanks for your replies! I should clarify, this is European 3rd floor which is the same as 4th floor in the US. Without a car, going on foot is our only option so there will be a lot of trekking around the city. I guess I kind of freak when I think about having to wrestle with a stroller and groceries and baby getting up and down these stairs

We were looking at 1st floor (in US, it is the 2nd floor) apartments thinking it would be easy to bump the stroller up so many flights, but this seems to be getting into a different territory!

 

[CastawayBride]

My sister has a condo on the second floor (US) and its a pain in the rump. BUT if you are in pickle you will make it work!

 

[MumToEva]

You'll be fine Hun. Just make sure you buy a pushchair that is lightweight, suitable from birth without extra attachments, and can be easily folded and unfolded with one hand while holding a baby - one like the city mini might be an idea as it has a great one handed fold. And get a good carrier that you can avoid having to use the pushchair for shopping trips etc - that way you don't have to set down all the shopping to put away the pushchair before going upstairs, or use a backpack with the carrier for shopping so your hands are free for LO.

 

[Twelvty]

We are in the same position but without somewhere to store the pram. We do have a car though so,I plan to mostly leave it in the car. I think My OH and me the only ones who are not stressed about us living in a flat, our families seem really panicked about it!

 

[reeshy]

We are in the same position but without somewhere to store the pram. We do have a car though so,I plan to mostly leave it in the car. I think My OH and me the only ones who are not stressed about us living in a flat, our families seem really panicked about it!

Yep! My husband and I are discovering that we have anxiety by proxy - meaning we get anxious from other people's thoughts! It seemed like a fine idea when we signed the lease. But after talking to other people (no one who has already had small children), they are stressing us out and making us feel like it is impossible!

 

[Twelvty]

We will make it work! We will just be really fit from all the carrying!

 

[modified]

I'm moving to a 3rd floor flat in around 8 days - we'll make it work

 

[reeshy]

We will make it work! We will just be really fit from all the carrying!

Yep! I joked to my husband that I'll either get super fit buns from stairs and biceps from carrying OR I'll just get more lazy and use this all as a reason to stay home more