Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I thought of something last night and now I’m doubting the room I originally picked as the nursery. I’m not sure if it’s the “mom-instinct” starting to settle in or what, but I need your help please.
The original room that I picked is current our workout room. We were going to move all the workout stuff out of there and into another spare room since it’s a bigger room for a nursery. Tarzan and I have been in there talking about where to put the crib, dresser, and all the other things we need.
I like that option.
Then last night one of Houston’s Landmarks (so they say), Gallery Furniture, caught on fire and was burning for over 2 hours. Naturally this planted the “Oh my gosh, is it really smart to put the nursery upstairs and on the other side of the house? What if there is a fire and we can’t get to him in time?” seed.
I’m not sure how realistic this thought is, but it was enough to scare me. Hence the changing of my mind about where to put the nursery. Again.
I’m just at a lost about it. And the part that sucks the most is that I wanted to pick out some paint today and call the painters to get the room done this weekend. Clearly that can’t be done until I make a firm decision on the room.
If only we had another bedroom downstairs, it would be so much easier.
If you remember, my office is the only other room downstairs that could work as a nursery, but it’s definitely not ideal. First of all, I have pink walls and a girly chandelier in there. I have my desk and a bunch of other stuff. There is no closet. It is clearly an office, not a bedroom. It’s a much smaller room.
The only thing that room has going for it is that it is a lot closer to our bedroom since we sleep downstairs too.
If we used my office I could technically use another room that is empty upstairs as my office, but Tarzan feels that it would be a pain in the ass to put my desk up there. It’s really heavy and kidney shaped, so he isn’t sure how it would even work going up the stairs.
Of course I don’t really understand his reasoning because his office is upstairs, which means a desk was brought up there, but he tells me that the desk was able to go in pieces. We have a pool table in the game room, but he insists that my desk is much more heavy. Oy.
He’s thinking that we would just move my desk to the extra garage and basically I wouldn’t have another office. Or we would have to get me a cheap desk that could stand the flight of stairs (I don’t love this idea).
Now I don’t want to seem selfish, but I don’t want to lose my office. It’s my area and I don’t want to give it up, especially when there are 2 empty rooms upstairs that we could use. (Please note that I will give it up if it is best for my baby, but who doesn’t want their own space too?!)
I guess it has to also be said that I haven’t technically “worked” in my office in many, many months. I’ve been at the island in the kitchen or on the couch in the living room. But I do have a good reason on why I haven’t been in my office…
A spider and a pretty large one at that.
There was a tarantula-sized, scary-looking spider in my office one day and that was the end of me working in there. Even Tarzan was nervous about it. It was THAT big. I have a fake tree in the corner of the room, which is right behind where my desk chair is, so naturally I don’t go in there. I’ve told Tarzan for all of these months that as soon as he removes the tree (it’s really heavy), I will go back in there.
To this day the tree is still there, so I do not go in there. But I do love my office when I don’t have to worry about spiders that may or may not be hiding in said tree.
Back to the nursery now…
But the question that arises about upstairs is… Will I freak out about a fire, burglary, to see if baby T is breathing, etc? I am not sure. And if we used my office, what would we do about storage? There is no closet in there. The dresser that we picked out isn’t extremely large to hold a bunch of stuff either.
The room upstairs would be better, minus the worrying that I know I would do. There is a closet. A much bigger room. A cool ceiling. It would make a perfect nursery if is was in a better location.
It’s really on the other side of the house and upstairs. Will I really want to trek up and down stairs over and over with a baby and with lack of sleep? Don’t know. I imagine it would get old real fast.
So should I just suck it up and put his nursery downstairs in my office without a closet, or should I just except that I’ll get a lot of exercise going up and down the stairs?
You might also want to read:
= a post from Mommy Jane 
= a post from Daddy Tarzan
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I should also mention that Baby T will not actually be sleeping in his own room for a little while. We are planning for him to sleep in the pack n play in our room until we are comfortable moving him. I guess it could be up to 6 months, based on what I hear.
I was just going to mention that – you probably won’t have your baby in his own room until he is a little older. Our master bedroom is on the top floor of our house and the bedrooms are on the second floor. Our baby girl is 4 months and she still sleeps in our room – I’ll move her to her own room in a couple of months. Anyways, to have his room a little further away will probably be nice during the day when he needs to take nice long naps…but yes, mommy bear instinct will freak you out about him sleeping so far away at night….for maybe a week, and then you will realize that he is sleeping so well, he is safe and the nursery has officially become his room and that will make YOU sleep like a baby as well.
I’m seeing several options for this one:
1. Put the baby’s nursery upstairs & get an AngelCare monitor for his room. It’ll let you hear his cries as well as monitor his motions – if he doesn’t breathe/move at all for more than 15 seconds it lets off an ear-piercing beep to alert you. I used one for our first baby in her nursery 10 feet from our room & then again on our newest one in her bassinette 4 feet from my bed! I love the idea of the video monitors ~ but knowing that her motion and breaths were being monitored made me feel SO much better.
2. Put the baby’s nursery upstairs & put a twin size bed/day bed in for an adult to sleep in there also ~ if you’re nursing this will be a life saver, also when the baby is teeny tiny you aren’t going to be able to spend more than 2 (possibly 3 hours) away from him while he sleeps (or more like 10 minutes if he’s like my kid). And at 3am, tripping your way down the stairs could be the last thing you feel like trying to do.
3. Put the nursery upstairs & keep the baby in a bassinette in your room for the first few months. Once he’s old enough to reliably sleep 4 or 5 hour stretches you can put him in his room farther away from you, until then he can stay near you for feedings & comfort ~ and you can stay in your own bed with Tarzan.
You need to keep your own space, even if you aren’t using it regularly now ~ you’ll want the ability to go in a room & shut the door soon! And eventually you’ll want a closet for all those little clothes.
I’d use the larger room that has a closet. Babies have tons of stuff, over the long term the upstairs room is better. If you use the smaller room eventually you’ll end up having to move his room. During the first months when you are EXTRA protective he will be in the room with you. Over time as the “newness” of being a mom wears off the worry and protectiveness fades… you’ll always be protective and concerned (as you should be) but it is heightened when they are first born. As far as safety, make sure ample fire detectors are in place and working, and invest in a fire ladder so that if you do have to rush to get him you can safely escape through the window. Also, with him being upstairs he is further away from the front door, should a break in occur him being upstairs serves as a line of defense. You are likely to hear something long before anyone could get to your child. Also invest in a GOOD baby monitor, being able to hear him sleeping and cooing will always ease your mind.
First of all, moving the furniture is another thing you can pay someone to do. Your painters might even do it for extra $. My 10 month old daughter has a normal sized closet I had upgraded (so its like mine) & it is barely full cause everything is so little. Please note I’m a clothes horse & she is not, by any means, deprived of any cute clothes. An armoire would do the trick. I can’t even imagine going up the stairs every time she cried in the night. Sometimes I’m so tired I’ve even run into a door once or twice. Stairs sound like a liability. Make it easy on yourselves, if your planning on breast feeding the first year its gonna be YOU who goes up those stairs all night! Plus Baby can always move up to a ‘big boy’ room when he’s older. And if you have any other children, you can use the nursery again.
i think the baby should stay in the up stairs room. im a big worrier too, so i see where your coming from, but I would prefer putting him upstairs with the closet and bigger room.
If I were you, I would put baby in the room upstairs. You can buy a fire escape ladder and if something were to happen and you needed to get out of the house quickly, Run upstairs, grab the baby and get out the window. You will worry no matter where he is at. That’s a fact! Just be as prepared as you can for all situations!
Since you’re planning on keeping the baby in your room for the first few months, there shouldn’t be too much of a problem with having the nursery upstairs. Just be warned, if you are prone to klutziness, sleep deprivation and the hormonal shifts of late pregnancy and postpartum will increase it tenfold. (Take it from someone who is very lucky she didn’t break her neck falling headlong down a stairwell that ended in a doorway….five or six times.)
It took both my girls about six months to begin sleeping more than three or four hours in a row. There’s still a bit of sleep deprivation with that, but it’s MUCH better than what it is with a newborn. Plus, knowing SIDS risk drops at six months helps quell the anxiety they’ve suddenly stopped breathing, even with all precautions taken. At least it helped calm the urges to go and check two or three times a night for me.
And the previous posters are right. Babies have a TON of stuff, so while using a room without a closet wouldn’t be impossible, it would be a pain in the neck.
I’d probably use the room upstairs and put the pack n play in your downstairs office for the time being. He won’t notice/care that it’s a pink room and it’s only a temporary solution anyways. Once he’s down to only waking once or twice a night you can move him upstairs.
As for him sleeping in your room- remember that you might change your mind. Some people can’t sleep with their kids in their room because they listen for every little breath and if you’ve ever heard a newborn breathe you’ll know it’s not so regular! Or you could be like me and be petrified to move in your own room because you might wake the baby. I found it worked much better for our baby to sleep in the room next to ours as soon as possible. I slept sooooo much better!
What about changing where your bedroom is? Do you have two rooms upstairs, one that could be the nursery and one that could be your room, and then downstairs could be the offices etc.? I have no idea if that’s an option since I don’t know your house but I just thought I’d throw the idea out there. That way, you get the bigger room with the closet AND closeness to your room.
I’m with Emily. You need to keep the baby close to you at night for inevitable getting up four times in the night-ness and also for checking in on (I still check in on Little Miss he bedrooms from tand she is nearly 4. But eventually you will need to give Little Tarzan a quiet place to sleep in so they can sleep while you get on with your evening. Upstairs is probably best for this unless your place is so big that you can’t hear what is going on in the main room.
My little ones have always started out in a bassinet in our bedroom, their bedroom started out as jusst a place to hold stuff. Kid two sleeps part time in her room now and often finishes the night in my bed. Kid one will sleep in her bed or the couch most often. Some nights we end up with a bedful. Thank goodness it’s king sized.
I never thought I’d want kids in bed with me, but it does make me feel better to know that they are right where I can monitor them.
Is it an option to move your bedroom upstairs and have the nursery upstairs? That’s what we are doing in our house because we only have one bedroom downstairs. I don’t think you’ll like being so far away until the baby is at least 2 years old.
We did the pack and play thing for 5 1/2 months in our room too. By the time she was older, we were ready for her to be in her own room. But our daughter still wakes up, so you have to factor in the trek up the stairs at 2 am.