Starting a family in a one bedroom flat

jetta_wales

fannyanna wrote: »

I think we would probably buy a second hand cot (although get a decent second hand cot) but would of course buy a new mattress.

Whilst I adore moses baskets we wouldn't get one as we'd have the cot and no need for a basket.

There's lots of good reasons to have a basket, we always had our in the front room during the day.

JBD

fannyanna wrote: »

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that took their time to share their views.

We've decided to give it a go and as of last night we are now TTC. Sorry if that's too much information :rotfl:

Best of luck

fannyanna

jetta_wales wrote: »

There's lots of good reasons to have a basket, we always had our in the front room during the day.

I would if we had a house but as our living room is right next door to our bedroom (where the babies cot would be) we'd be particularly lazy not to take him/her into the next room :rotfl:

pinkclouds

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Another idea is to getting down to a serious declutter of your own stuff. Think about going minimalist. It's incredibly freeing as I am finding out. There are some great declutter/down sizing/'minimalist wannabee family' blogs out there to inspire.
PM me if you want me to point you in the direction of a few.
It's amazing how much more space you have when you get rid of all the stuff you are hoarding.

And before baby is due, make sure you tell everyone you don't want loads and loads of toys: babies and children are overwhelmed with too much these days as are we grown ups. Keep life simples.

This is definitely the simplest solution - if you're able to stick to it/enforce it. I really wish we had significantly fewer clothes and toys in the house. They are not used. They only have a few favourites and everything else only has novelty value for 5 minutes and is then discarded/forgotten. Gifts are always appreciated (for the kind thoughts behind them) but they are difficult to let go. For example, all my son really wants is a few t-shirts and trousers and a handful of those small model cars. My daughter (if you swap the t-shirts for dresses) has a few extra favourites but really nothing larger than a dolly and some hair accessories. If I could bring myself to throw everything else away, my house would be sooo tidy!! The only things you really need that take up space are a stroller/pram and a highchair. Get a folding highchair so you can stash it out the way and a stroller/pram with a removable soft carrycot. Store the stroller in the hallway or car boot. Put a bedguard on your bed and co-sleep for as long as you feel comfortable and then put baby in carrycot on floor next to bed. Should work for 12 months, by which time you may be in your next larger house. Otherwise, if you can fit a full size cot-bed in the bedroom then it'll last for 5 years.

mountainofdebt

Playing devils Advocate here, OP, how would you manage if you had twins or even triplets?

michelle1506

I live in an area which is full of charity shops - I've yet to see a cot as they tend not to sell them. Anyway, my cots will be used for at least two years which is quite lengthy. I wanted to get a good one with teething rails to protects the babies delicate teeth and gums. Which means you are recruiting from a shrinking second hand pool.

Yes I do agree that a good NEW mattress is VERY IMPORTANT and it is worth spending a bit on that!

onlyroz wrote: »

Sorry, but I disagree. I'd suggest getting a second-hand one. Most are excellent quality because they've been used for such a short time. I'd start off with the local charity shops. In any case, even if you buy new, the thing you should be spending money on is the mattress, and not the cot itself.

Sequeena

Have fun ttc!

fannyanna

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Playing devils Advocate here, OP, how would you manage if you had twins or even triplets?

We could probably sell our place if we reduced the price by further than what we would WANT to. For now we're not reducing the price as we don't NEED to but obviously would do if we HAD to.

The other alternative would be to rent out our flat. Once again this is something that isn't an ideal solution but something we could fall back on.

michelle1506

I think that would be a good idea :-) It's not easy to manage even one baby in a one bed property. Have you considered the financial implications of have a baby/babies? They don't come cheap!

fannyanna wrote: »

We could probably sell our place if we reduced the price by further than what we would WANT to. For now we're not reducing the price as we don't NEED to but obviously would do if we HAD to.

The other alternative would be to rent out our flat. Once again this is something that isn't an ideal solution but something we could fall back on.

fannyanna

michelle1506 wrote: »

Have you considered the financial implications of have a baby/babies? They don't come cheap!
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We've wanted children for a number of years but I've always stalled because of finances and space.

Finances is now not a problem. I've worked out that we survive on a reduced salary for a year whilst I'm on maternity, we can afford childcare for when I do go back to work, we can afford to buy all the start up stuff (cot, pushchair etc) and we'll be able to afford things once the babies arrives (nappies, formula, clothes etc).

So finances are now not a problem. Just the space which we've worked out wont be a huge issue on a temporary basis.

We've just rearranged our bedroom furniture and we now have space for a cot. We're going to fill this space with our x-trainer (that's been living in my parents garage) for the time being but at least we now know that we can get a cot in the bedroom easily for when the time comes.