# 1 bedroom apt w/ 2 adults, toddler, & newborn?



## sophmama (Sep 11, 2004)

We live in a 1 bedroom apartment. Right now it's dh, dd (soon to be 3yo) and me. I'm preggo due in Feb. I'm absolutely aching to get out of this place but putting it on the market right now will be hard to do and moving means we'd be short about $500 a month for 1 year until dh's raise when he finishes his masters (which I do have some creative solutions for that, but it's a little stressful).

Has anyone here lived with a newborn, another adult, and a toddler-preschooler in a super tiny space? We're ALL light sleepers and wake up for every noise. I'm really worried no one is going to get any sleep and I'm even more worried about trying to sell this place later with 4 people living in a 1 bedroom - it's packed as it is.

Words of wisdom?


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## oldcrunchymom (Jun 26, 2002)

Hmm, 1 bedroom could be a challenge. What other rooms do you have in your apartment?

We live in a 2 bedroom house but it's very small, under 600 sq ft. The bedrooms are tiny (one just under 8x8 and the other 8x10) and those are the kids' rooms. I sleep out here (living room/kitchen open space) on a futon. Maybe you could do something like that? Convert the one bedroom into the kids' room and you and your dh sleep in the living room? That way you could keep all of the kids' stuff in one room, at least.


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## Cloth4Colin (Dec 12, 2004)

I completely understand how you feel, mama! We are in pretty much the same boat. I have a DS that will be 2.5 when our second baby arrives in February. We are already stumbling over one another as it is, but cannot afford to go anywhere else. We are probably going to have to be here for 5 more years which kills me. I long to have something else, but we really are stuck until I get through school and get a better job.

We basically try to keep everything to a minimum and end up getting creative a lot of the time. I wish I had more advice, but I just wanted to say that I understand!


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## chel (Jul 24, 2004)

Wow, sounds tight. How's the kitchen and living room looking. I would seriously think of having a futon/sofa bed in the living room so the baby won't keep everyone up (my dd was a night-time







)
don't worry about selling. rent a storage unit for a month and move most of your stuff out.
What cuased my small living space woes was using the wrong furniture. I just used whatever was given to me. Some of the stuff was just too large.


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

Does your dd co-sleep? Do you own your place? Could you refinance or do home equity to renovate?

We're in what was a 540 square foot studio, which then has a 100 or so square foot loft bedroom (5' ceiling). Dh also used to work from home full time! We're putting in a bedroom downstairs so we can give dd the upstairs, and we're making the upstairs more soundproof (it's got a railing, but no sound barrier now). I think we can manage at least one more child up there eventually. If we have 3, we'll have to move before the youngest is done co-sleeping. Or that's my thought now, but who knows in a couple of years!

Could you do something similar? Otherwise I'd try to use the living room space as the adult and newborn space with a murphy bed or something similar. I *think* sofabeds are not recommended for cosleeping, but you could research murphy beds, different kinds of sofa beds, daybeds, futons. Either you and dh and the newborn in the living room so you don't wake dd or you and the newborn downstairs and dh and dd upstairs if she cosleeps so you don't all wake one another. White noise playing in the kid bedroom helps us a lot. And lots of time and activities out of the house!


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## UlrikeDG (Sep 4, 2002)

There's a show on HGTV called Small Space, Big Style. Try going through the archives and looking for some of the great ideas (some are things that, if you could afford to do them, you could afford a bigger house, but some are inexpensive and BRILLIANT).

Also, check your local library or bookstore for books on living big in small spaces. Obviously, a 500 sq ft apartment is never going to feel like a 2500 sq ft house, but there are some creative things you can do to make that 500 sq ft really count.

I think I'd at least consider creating a store-able sleeping area (e.g., fold out couch) in the livingroom in your situation. I tend to be pretty flexible with our co-sleeping, and over the years, we've done a variety of things, from having everyone in one HUGE bed to having the kids sleep together, to having DH sleep with one or more of the kids while I sleep with the rest. We've started kids out in one bed and had them move to another during the night. We've slept in different locations from night to night. It all just depends on what is working right now for everyone to get the best night's sleep possible.


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## kellid (Feb 21, 2006)

we did this. it wasn't too bad, well since we didn't have a choice. we had to queen beds pushed together in our room. i'm a light sleeper and so is ds1, but dh is not, nor is the baby (since he slept right next to me). the only person who had a problem with this was dh, just groaned because the kids in bed with us. but i got sleep. more than i'm getting now that we are in a new house and ds1 has his own new bed that he hates to sleep in. it's not the bed just sleeping alone. the room was for sleeping. not much more fit in there with the beds. a dresser, and the other dresser was in the living room. sex happened any other place after the kids went to bed. it was fun to be creative though.

we went out every day. every day, because those four wall closed in tight with a toddler and a nb. even though we have a backyard now, we still have to go out alot, due to....he's just gotta get out and see different sceneries. i guess i do too.


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## sophmama (Sep 11, 2004)

My dd no longer co-sleeps. I turned the walk-in closet into a 'room' for her. It fits a toddler bed and a few stuffed animals but at toddler size - it works for her. I painted several paintings for her and hung christmas lights up by the ceiling so it's really cute. She'll stay in there. Once I feel like moving back into our bedroom after the birth, I'll set up the crib side-car to our bed with the rail removed (and I had a way with my dd that made the mattress very snug with our bed so no risk of baby being entrapped). The only downside to that arrangement is that dd is only a few feet away and is pretty easy to wake so baby noise will be an issue. Night time stirring will disturb her. I can get up and take the baby out into the living room but it's likely to wake her.

The one thing I haven't figured out is when I'm in the newborn stage. We have a sectional couch that is very comfortable to sleep on. That's my post-partum plan but I won't have the baby directly on the couch with me - not safe IMO. I'd like to figure out some sort of so-sleeper type thing but don't want to pay for one since I won't use it forever.

I do have most of my belongings in storage already. If it isn't used/ played with daily - it's in storage. I'm worried about where to put baby stuff (clothes, diapers, etc.) and not make the place seem too full. I moved furniture around in our room and I may have a plan but it will be snug.

I do think getting out will be helpful. I am due in Feb. which is not the best time of year to make daily outings - as in - we have to get in the car and go somewhere. I can dress my dd for the cold but a newborn in below freezing - not my cup o' tea at least as far as going for walks. If I have another baby like the first who wants to nurse every 30-60 minutes, I'm not going to be up for going out a lot right at first. My dh will take my older dd out a lot.

I'll figure it out - I've lived in a small space for over 2 years now. I know how to do it. I'm constantly streamlining and getting rid of things/ putting stuff in storage (my storage is very organized so I can get things out easily). I'm just overwhelmed at the idea of 2 kids here and the thin walls (we use white noise in the bedroom but you can still hear a baby's cry over it). If this baby is really rough to adjust to, I may ask dh to take dd and spend some nights at his mom's house sometimes.


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## amis2girls (Mar 2, 2005)

I second the white noise thought.







We have five people in a 2BD.







:


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## captain crunchy (Mar 29, 2005)

One inexpensive space saving thing you can do if you haven't already -- is shelving. You can get unfinished shelves for super cheap and either keep them natural wood or stain/paint them yourself -- you could put some up in your daughter's *room* to hold some of her toys in bins or clothing. You can put some in the bathroom to hold towels/toiletries to free up space -- some in the living area for books/dvds/videos whatever -- you get the idea. That way you can free up floor space and get rid of free standing bookshelves etc so the place will feel much bigger.

We are actually thinking of moving from a 2 bedroom to a one bedroom (it is just me, dh, and a toddler though) because all we use the bedrooms for is sleeping and to store our stuff --which we are purging and simplifying and babe still sleeps with us.

Good luck, I think you can manage it with some creativity


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## tangozulu (Jun 8, 2004)

Why not just a Moses basket in the LR while you are staying in there with the newborn? You can often find these cheap second hand, or ask around to see if you can borrow one. HTH.

We were once in a 1 BR w/ dd who was 6 at the time and a newborn. It was not bad, though. dd6 staying on the pull-out in the LR and the newborn stayed in our room in a bassinette/our bed. We only lived there until the baby was about 6 mo., though.


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