Surviving without a nursery

Our house is small. We're building a bigger one but there's absolutely no way it will arrive pre-baby. More like 6 months post-baby.

Our toddler is a non-sleeping uber-grouch who is very loud when she goes to bed (sometime between 9 and 11pm) and when she wakes up (sometime between 8 and 9am) she throws things (essential things she Will Not Get Into Bed without) out of her cot across the room ... BANG CRASH CLUNK ... and then starts hollering for us. I've literally only seen her asleep in her bed once or twice in her life as she's such a light sleeper - she wakes up if we so much as breathe outside her door. So her room isn't the best place to put a baby.

Other child is 9, and her room is jam packed with lego, drawing stuff and general Big Girl Things. She sleeps like the dead 11.5 hours a night every night but spends a lot of time in her room drawing or on her computer. So her room isn't the best place to put a baby.

So we're putting the new baby in our bedroom in a bassinette, the change table in the hallway (it won't fit in our bedroom), and all the baby stuff in the compartments under the bassinette. If this baby is as horrific a sleeper as the last one, we'll sleep in the lounge.

Has anyone else survived 6 months with no nursery? How did you cope? Any tips?

We did it for 12 months while waiting for extensions!! you soon arrange a system that works. Good luck and congrats xx

No nursery with either bub. Had no choice first time around, but then I am all for bubs being in the bedroom . 2nd time I did not even bother with trying to put bub into a cot or bassinet, just went straight to co-sleeping.

Very doable with what you have suggested. I found baby change in a living area worked best for us and same with the clothing. Even now as DD2 is still in with us, we have a chest of drawers for her in the hallway, prior to that it was in our lounge and was used as a way of defining the toy area. Having their clothing out of the bedroom makes it much easier when doing the folding and putting away as it can be done after bubs is asleep ;)

:yeahthat:
We had bassinet then hammock in our room with DD1 and had her clothes and nappy paraphernalia under the change table which was in the living room. We didn't worry about a room for her until she was about 8 months and needed to sleep in a cot.

For DD2 (currently only newborn) she will have to share a room with DD1 (now 2.5yrs) eventually but we are doing the same thing again.

I find it much easier to have all the clothes and change things on hand rather than having to go to another room, especially when trying to keep an eye on DD1.

Do what works for you, as ajm mum said, you will work out a system ;)

Best of luck with your little one's sleeping and here is hoping she is nothing like your toddler and takes after your 9 year old!

We survived for nearly 18 months with no nursery! As it is, DD2 is turning one next week and is still in a port-a-cot next to our bed and she has no change table or anything like that :) We make it work, I wouldn't know how to do things any different!

we still don't have a nursery!!! We put the cradle in the walk-in-wardrobe (it just fit) and that allowed us to close the door on him to give him some quiet. Change mat on top of a chest of drawers in the kitchen (renovating!) worked well for us.

I'm hoping the amount of wriggles is an indication of how good the baby is - they seem to keep the same sleep/wake cycles inside as outside for quite a few months after they are born.

Last one I blame coffee on - I went off coffee 100% with my first but not my second and she was a serious wriggler, until midnight each night or later. It took us a year to get her to bed before midnight. This one doesn't seem anywhere near as bad. There's no way I could have co-slept with grumpybum. I still can't snooze when she is around, she climbs up on top of my tummy (which makes the baby kick me), announces "NO go to sleep mummy!" and hauls my eyelids open.

My partner is a shocking sleeper - grumpybum takes after him in every way, I think all she got from me is her blood type. I'm hoping this one takes after ME. I'm a good sleeper! :)

Soooo much rides on how well this one sleeps ...

nah, you'll be right :D

We had a nursery for DD, but she slept with me, and her change table was in the lounge room. All her clothes were kept in the drawer under the coffee table.

We didn't have a nursery for our DS either! Was a bit squishy at times but I do love having my babies close to me so that makes up for it!

All the best with your new house!

We're living with no nursery at the moment, waiting on extension to be finished, although had planned to have bub in with us for at least 6 months.
We have the change table in the lounge room and cleared the hall cupboard/coat cupboard and put the cheap wire stacking baskets in there for all of bub's things. The lounge room is pretty chockas with baby things, toys, bouncers, rockers etc but it's working for now. Bub didn't like the bassinet so from 2 weeks we ditched it and fully co sleep, no room for a porta cot in our room.

Just to add to my previous post,(back from feeding hungry DS) DP has been sleeping in the lounge room for the past few weeks DS is a light sleeper, and DP a noisy sleeper. DS is still doing 2 hourly feeds so after he's fed and settled I wasn't coping well with DP then waking him again while coughing, snoring or talking in his sleep. I sleep in bed with DS it's easier to feed him in bed with out getting up, when he starts to spread his feeds to longer than 2 hours I might consider a cot next to our bed...when the extension is finished and we have room.

You'll be ok, you'll find the best way to make it work, sounds like you've already got a good plan, with plan B as well:D

We were lucky enough to have enough room and set up a gorgeous nursery but...what a waste of money! DS slept in a bassinet in our room til he outgrew it and then was supposed to move into the cot, which was set up in the nursery...DH had to pull it down and put it back up in our room, DS is still happily sleeping in our room. For months, the change table (with most of his stuff on the shelves underneath) was in the family room, so really the nursery is just a storage room for nappies and wipes (toys r us just had some great specials on :D)

GL x

Update - this is working quite well because DS is such a good sleeper. He has his day naps in a bouncer in whatever room we are in, I was co-sleeping but he's going longer between sleeps now so I put him back in the bassinet in our room after each feed. Other half has been sleeping in the lounge but has been sneaking back in with me now the baby isn't awake so often. The change table is cluttering up our hallway but it works.

The only downside so far has been the cat. The bassinet has a basketty thing underneath it for storage, I've been using it for baby clothes, and the blasted cat has decided to sleep under there.

RE - put some alfoil on top of the basketty thing, cats don't like walking across, let alone sleeping! on alfoil.

Sounds like it's working really well!!! yay for sound-sleeping baby!

That's a good idea - we just put some hard toys and things in there to annoy the cat, she moved to the top of a wardrobe but we have to keep an eye on her. She comes down to investigate at 4am when I change the baby in the middle of the night (he's Mr Poops-a-lot).

I wish my toddler slept as well as this baby!

We have no nursery. Up until 6 weeks ago, we had no cot. We have no change table. We have no bassinet. Missy moo sleeps with us in our bed, her cot is next to our bed (she is rarely in there though).

I wouldn't have it any other way and plan on keeping things the way they are until she is around 18 months - 2 years!

She doesn't know any different - and quite frankly, she is too young to care!!

Sue x