Space needed for baby?

hiketheworld · February 2014

We're considering TTC and one of our concerns is space. We have a one bedroom apartment, it is fairly large (for Manhattan) and we do have a spacious living room area. The living room has a door out to a balcony- quite high up. We wouldn't plan on staying here longer than fall 2015, so even if we were to get pregnant right away the baby wouldn't be older than one year while living in this apartment which is why I'm not particularly worried about a baby's safety with the balcony- more just the space issue. However, because of the balcony I wouldn't feel comfortable turning the living room into a nursery area- just in case. Is a one-bedroom apartment too small? What do you think?

Aimothy · February 2014

People in one bedroom apartments have babies.

It wouldn't be my choice.

blueeyedblossom · February 2014

The baby could alway sleep in a laundry basket. A one bedroom apartment is plenty big enough!

cinderin · February 2014

I would want a bedroom for the baby.

I don't think you need a ton of stuff (crib, changing table and swing are must haves IMO).

But the baby has a different sleeping schedule than you do/will. And sometimes you will want to be able to put the baby down for bed or a nap and still do the things you need to do around the house without waking the baby up. Jmo.

BruinsBabe33 · February 2014

I would give the baby your room and sleep on the living room.

Personally, I would move.

LooneyLife · February 2014

I personally would want a room for baby. However, people have babies in one bedroom apartments all the time (especially in cities). I don't think it's a huge issue for the one year you plan to be there.

R.Wilsonny · February 2014

Honestly, you COULD have a baby in a one bedroom apartment but I wouldn't recommend it. The baby will need space, but think about the adults needing space too. Especially in Manhattan. Even if your place is big by Manhattan standards, I'm sure it's still going to be tight with your things and the baby's things. I would highly recommend finding a larger place if you can, because it would be less stressful doing it now than when you are either pg or have the baby already.

FWIW, my H and I used to live in a studio in Queens and I remember one of our friends tried convincing us that we could totally have a baby and stay in that apartment. He said 'the baby won't really need their own room for the first year.' I laughed and said 'yea, but the 2 adults need their own room!'

Anyway, GL with whatever you decide to do.....

hiketheworld · February 2014

I really appreciate all of your comments. Our bedroom is large enough to add a crib and a changing table, but it would feel tight with everything in there. I think it is do-able, but certainly not ideal. We could move into the living room and let the baby have the bedroom. The more I think about it, the less practical it seems, but we don't want to put off TTC for too long given the history of m/c in my family and our ages. I suppose its rare when you feel like every aspect of your life is ideal for a baby to arrive!

R.Wilsonny · February 2014

Well, ultimately, you have to do what's right for you. You guys could certainly start TTC and then casually look for a larger place while you have that going on....if you were to get pg and have the baby but still be in this apartment, it's not the worst thing in the world and could work temporarily....I think the space thing is more for your own sanity

I'm one of those people that likes to think ahead and really plan in advance, so my H & I bought a house figuring it would be easier to do it before children come along and not have the stress of me being pg, trying to move, etc etc....

RockABye · February 2014

hiketheworld said:

I suppose its rare when you feel like every aspect of your life is ideal for a baby to arrive!

Winner winner, chicken dinner! If you wait until you're 100% ready, you never will be. While a 1 bedroom wouldn't be ideal for most people, it CAN be done and IS done all the time. You just have to gauge your space and go from there. The two of us personally could never live in a 1 bedroom, even without a baby, but there's nothing wrong with it and it happens all the time. Just do what you think is right and you'll figure it out as it comes along. At least you can afford to put a roof over your heads and food on the table so that's the important stuff.

GL!

hiketheworld · February 2014

R.Wilsonny - I'm definitely the same- a planner. I feel like I'm in weird place there are too many competing concerns. We have agreed to move to the midwest, closer to my family, and hopefully into jobs that are less demanding on our time. So, deciding when to move is an issue for us and we are stuck in our lease until this fall but they will let us go month to month after that.

There is a hiring season for our jobs - typically in January/February you see the most postings for open positions, then if you get one, can typically negotiate start dates anytime from being hired to mid-spring. So, we could try to find new jobs at the beginning of 2015 or 2016. I think it will be much more difficult for us both to find work outside of that time frame. We could move, then TTC, but it will mean putting it off for at least another year or two, which I worry about because of the m/c issue in my family and I have no idea how long it might take us to get pregnant.

I also worry about how pregnancy will effect my career. My industry is pretty male-dominated and I do think that having a child early into a new position would not be regarded positively. In my current position, I don't really care what they think of me getting pregnant since I have zero intention of staying long term. Many women where I work do not have children or quit shortly after they do.

R.Wilsonny · February 2014

Yea, that's tough too when you factor in the whole job thing, but it's true - if you wait for every aspect of life to be aligned perfectly, it could be a long time. Honestly, if you are worried about potential issues with TTC, I would not put it off, especially if age is a factor, but also talk to your doctor and see if there's any kind of preliminary things they can check for or advice they can give to prepare you.

Flamingo86 · February 2014

We TTC'd while living in a one-bedroom apt. We figured that the baby would sleep with us for a while anyway.

greenbeanqueen · February 2014

Dh and I live in a 1br apt. It is really tough, but we had already signed our lease before we found out we were having a baby. We are making it work until out lease is up in 4 months but are looking for a bigger place. The only reason we didn't try to get out of our lease was because it was only going to be for 5-6 months of the baby's life. It is doable but not ideal. There isn't a lot of personal space for anyone and we are constantly tripping over stuff. We also don't bedshare or cosleep so she sleeps in our living room. We've trained her to not mind noise, so we can still use our living room. It's honestly something you have to decide if you can handle. Dh and i are making it work, but it wouldn't work for everyone.

Space needed for baby?

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