4 months pregnant - move to a house or stay in flat??

carolan0_0

Hi,
We live in a second floor flat with our 7 month old and its definitely do-able.
On a practical level we leave the pushchair in the car.
I would recommend that when looking at getting your changing bag, get one that you can carry across your chest or a rucksack type, so you have both hands free.
It's also worth looking at the weight of car seats / carry seats - we had an older style maxi-cosi and it was bulky to carry without baby in, nevermind as he got bigger.

pinkladyof66

i would say stay in the flat my son is 5 and we are in a house he makes a hell of a noise if he wakes up in night which is normally at least twice every day... where ever you live you have to put up with some sort of noise i wouldnt worry too much about the neighbours

Frugalbride

nimbo wrote: »

A friend of mine swears by slings - and where she lives has a sling library - it helped her to find the perfect design for her, without having to but half a dozen before finding one that was the perfect fit....

:j thanks so much nimbo! Just found a sling library in my area. Would never have realised that it even existed if I hadn't posted on here.

claire16c

Yup a baby can make just as much noise in a terrace or a semi

My parents house is detached but didn't stop them hearing the baby from the detached house next door in the summer! I really wouldn't worry about that.

As you've got 2 beds I'd stay put.

Frugalsod

peachyprice wrote: »

I would stay put and stick to your original plan of moving in 18 months time.

If you move out to a rented house now, paying an extra £300 month on rent, then factor all the other expenses that will rise like council tax, water, electricity, gas, insurance, you be putting back buying for an awful long time.

18 months in a flat with a baby isn't unbearable, there's no reason why they have to have their own room, infact it's recommended that they share with you at least for the first year.

You have a solution with the garage to keep a pram so other than that all your baby will need is warmth, food and love, not parents who are stretching themselves and putting of their dream home, all for a bit more space.

Also if the flat is cheaper you can save a lot more. Plus people are pretty tolerant of young babies crying. You never know what the future holds.

Adrenalina

Congratulations!

I would also recommend staying where you are. We lived in a flat at the top of a hill and then six flights of stairs up (no lift) (72 stairs). Right up until three weeks ago (my dd was 2 in aug).
Yes at times it was a bit stressful, mostly when she just started to walk so was quite heavy but refused to & I had to carry her kicking& screaming. But the flat was beautiful.
I recommend slings, keeping the pram in the boot of the car and getting a rucksack. We got shopping delivered and always gave the driver a couple of quid cash as thanks. Living that high up makes you think twice about anything you bring home.
I also recommend keeping a book in the car or carrying your e-reader with you - even if your baby stays asleep when taken out of the pram/car, chances are it will wake up during the journey up the stairs. I used to catch up on reading rather than wake her (but that's also down to parenting style).
Dont worry about crying disturbing neighbours. Toddlers cry much louder than babies! And if it bothers them so much they can move.

As someone else has said, having no indoor stairs with a baby is fab!

Plus, it's never a good idea to move while you're pregnant. We did, and lost the baby. I know scientifically it's probably because of chromosomal defects, but I will never stop wondering if the move or stress of it triggered it.

Sorry, don't mean to scare you off, it's just an aspect to consider.

You're so close to gettin your deposit, it would be a real shame to postpone that permanent move

Good luck!

belfastgirl23

We had a couple with a baby upstairs from us and it was a nightmare. Not the baby itself oddly enough but the parents forgot that not everyone was awake when they were. Example, 4.30am yelling from one end of the flat to the other 'do you want a cup of tea?'. 1am hoovering etc. I think they just genuinely forgot what time it was lol. So just keep an eye out for that!

Yorkie1

fran-o wrote: »

We're 8 months pregnant and in a two-bed first floor flat. Our plan is to keep the buggy chassis (frame) in the entrance to the block (under the communal stairs) and take the seat upstairs with us. We have our supermarket shop delivered so the poor delivery guy brings the bags up.

Bear in mind that many flats don't allow stuff to be stored in the communal areas, for fire hazard / risk reasons.

Your block may permit this, but OP shouldn't rely on this being the case in her block without specifically checking.

neverdespairgirl

OH and I were living in a 2nd floor flat when our first son was born. We lived there until he was 6 years old, when we moved to our current place - which is still a flat, but bigger, and has a tiny garden. We are expecting our second child in May.

We didn't have much of a choice - in the part of London where we live, you need several million quid to buy a house!

Internet shopping people will happily deliver to your kitchen in your flat, at least, they always have to both our flats.

I'd definitely stay and not look at taking on and extra large monthly expense while you have a small baby.

onlyroz

We lived in a flat until our son was 18 months and he slept in a cot in our room. It wasn't ideal but there were no particular problems. The most difficult things were bumping the buggy up two flights of stairs, and having little space to entertain him once he started crawling.