Need opinions, please! First time mom!

[Mer12345]

So my husband and I just purchased a home before we found out I was pregnant. The home has the master bed room on the second floor, and all of the other bedrooms on the first. There is, however, a small walk in closet that we could technically turn into a nursery.

Would a first room nursery be too far away? She would, of course, sleep in our room until she is 6 months or more. But at the point that she is able to move to her own room, would you feel comfortable having her sleep downstairs while we are upstairs? The walk up and down the stairs doesn’t bother me at all, I am more worried about break ins and fires! Am I being over worrisome since this is my first? Also - we are planning on having more children shortly after her, so what would you do when we have another if we are still in the house?

 

[hmcx]

My room is a converted loft
My 7 year old sleeps on the floor and the nursery will be there too.

 

[MindUtopia]

Baby will most likely be with you at least for the first 6 months or even a year. So long as you are waking up lots during the night for feeds and other wake ups, I would keep her close to you. This is more for your sanity than for her safety. Just make sure your doors are locked and you have fire and CO alarms on every floor. You will be up alot during the night and I would not want to be running up and down the stairs to do that. You may not think it matters now, but it really will.

Once she starts to sleep longer stretches at night, I would just put her in her room as planned when you are ready. The extra floor won't make too much difference (obviously, after the first few months, most people put babies to bed upstairs and go back downstairs for the evening and use a monitor, it's pretty much the same). Obviously, just take all normal precautions and be careful with stair/door gates once she's mobile.

If you find you still have lots of wake ups once you are otherwise ready to move her to her own room, then you could explore the option of using the walk in closet, but I wouldn't worry about it now. You may end up co-sleeping longer than planned (I planned for at least a year, but it worked so well we did it for 3.5). Or you may have a baby that sleeps all night from early on and you might not need to worry about loads of wake ups.

 

[Bonnie11]

I would feel a little uncomfortable about having them on a different floor but to be honest i would be more concerned about having to walk up and down stairs in the night. As pp said it might not seem like a big deal now but it will be a massive pain when it comes to it and you are sleep deprived up and down the stairs 3/4/5+ tims a night when they are teething! Not to mention having to carry them up and down the stairs sometimes with you in the night (trust me it will happen!).

I would make the room downstairs into nursery with decorations/toys etc and just leave some room to put a cot in the closet room next to you. Baby won't care if it's decorated etc, just have the cot in there and maybe a lamp and chair if you need one. Think it's a good compromise for the first year when they start sleeping a bit more reliably! X

 

[Reiko_ctu]

I would feel uncomfortable having them on a different floor for their whole lives honestly. What if your baby monitor goes out? When they're teenagers they can sneak out??

Is there a bedroom big enough to be your master on the lower floor? I would probably forgo the master suite and sleep on the same floor as my kids

 

[krissie328]

I would feel uncomfortable having them on a different floor for their whole lives honestly. What if your baby monitor goes out? When they're teenagers they can sneak out??

Is there a bedroom big enough to be your master on the lower floor? I would probably forgo the master suite and sleep on the same floor as my kids

Same here. My husband has suggested letting DS move downstairs when he is a teenager, and I just cannot do it. I would look into putting the master on the same level and/or moving if you are able to.