Baby in a one bed flat

Hardup_Hester

My DD & her OH had a one bed flat when they had DGS, they managed fine till he was about 1, they did have a small garden. Their bedroom was so small you couldn't walk round the bed & had to get in at the end.

Jaycee1972

Hi
I ended up co-sleeping with my little one, intially out of necessity but there are actually loads of benefits. We bought a bedside cot but he was hardly ever in it. I set up his own bed in his own room at 15 month and he sometimes sleeps there and sometimes with me. He is 2.5. I wouldn't worry. Like you say, at least a year before baby arrives and allowing just a year in your room that gives you 2 years. I wouldn't worry until he/she was about 3 about having their own room as a priority. Just declutter and don't buy anything unnecessary. In my case, it took 3 years to conceive which happened without any intervention by the way and then for most of his first two years he has been in with us. If you turn out like us, you have 5 years grace! Go for it! Yes you might have twins but they don't take up that much more room, you would probably have then in the same cot to start with. Baby won't mind the lack of space that's for sure. It depends how you and OH feel about it. Oh and for private time when you co-sleep, there is always another room

ethelsmum

We was in a one bed flat up until ds was 10mths old and it was fine. The bedroom was quite big and was plenty big enough for a double bed and cot. It was lovely and cosy and I was really sad to leave.

Spendless

zimm143 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any experience or advice to offer on this one. Myslef and OH and would very much like to start a family and really don't want to wait any longer. The problem is our flat is almost certainly in negative equity as we bought in 2006 on 100% mortgage. The situation is not dire as our area of the country is holding up well house price wise (comparativly speaking) but I would estimate it's worth about 20k less than we paid. So we're not going to be able to sell for a while.

How bad would it be having a baby in a one-bed? I mean we've got a least a year before the baby actually arrives and then a year when he/she would be in our room anyway. But if we still can't move after that we may have a problem. Our mortgage provider won't give us permission to let the flat unless we fit very specific criteria, which we don't. Moneywise we are fine, it's just the not being able to issue.

Any advice gratefully recieved.

Z

I went into negative equity during the last downturn in the housing market (and it took 7.5 years to get me out of it). My house was the bottom of the rung type for my area (older 2 bed MTH) and it plunged further into negative equity and became harder to sell as buyer 'leap-frogged' over my type of place to buy bigger or newer properties. Obviously no-one can say what will happen this time round, I can only say what happened to me last time.
I'm not going to say 'go for it' or 'wait' as you do what's best for you and your family, but I would suggest that you give some thought to the 'what if' scenario before deciding what to do.

Bea89

Hi

i live in a one bed flat with my partner , our 8 month old daughter and 2 cats. i wouldnt say its hard at all , we have a tiny bed room that just about fits a double bed and a cot bed. we actually co-sleep, not becuase of the size of the room as the cot bed is already up and has been for 8 months but because co sleeping has other benefits. babies dont need as much stuff as the magazines tell you of course if its your first baby you will love to have every latest thing but when baby hits about 3 months you find yourself either throwing stuff out or trying to sell it!

i wouldnt let the fact you live in a 1 bed flat stop you from having a baby! i would love another baby if my body would let me

HowardZ

As nadnad said, there is rarely the perfect time to have kids (economically at least). So you have to jump in and go for it As long as your partners job is relatively secure and you can continue to finance the mortgage. The 1 bedroom aspect isn't much of an issue, since for the first 1 to 1.5 yrs it's common for bubs to be close to their parents.

1sue23

I live on narrow boat and where i am moored there is a couple with a young baby on their boat and they manage very well ,I think the answer is to just get rid of as much clutter as possible.

zimm143

Thanks everyone for your views and advice. Scary thought that negative equity could last 7.5 years! I heard in the last downturn the bank let people take their negative equity with them once the market bottomed out. Anyways we can't wait 7.5 years, will be too late :-( I think it's a good point about babies not needing all that stuff, magazines havea lot to answer for.

Barneysmom

Just go for it! You can have fun trying too!

ailuro2

I fell pregnant unexpectedly when we were in a one bedroom flat - because we both worked shifts the noise factor meant we decided to move. Luckily we were in a position to do so, otherwise sleeping might have been more difficult. Everyone's circumstances are different, so go for what you think is best.