Did you share a room with baby?

likeanoldtimemovie

DH and I have a four bedroom home, but my FIL is still living with us and occupying one of the rooms for a few months. Our older kids each have their own room, so baby will be shacking up with us for the first few months. I was pretty upset about this originally (our older kids are my stepchildren, so I was dyyyyying to create a nursery immediately), but now I'm starting to get a bit excited about creating a sweet little area of our room just for baby girl.

She'll be in her crib (we're not co-sleeping) and our room is giant enough that she can literally have a whole side of the room for herself. So what furniture would you deem totally necessary while she's in there? I want a changing table in her nursery, and would prefer it in our room as well, but DH thinks we could do without it for a few months just to simplify.

I've thought of adding a curtain rod to one of our closets (there's two) for her clothes and lots of storage baskets, but I'm not sure if that'll be enough either. I can always add clothes to one of the big kids' rooms and we have plenty of storage in the hall closets for things like diapers, etc.

I just don't want one corner of our room to look like the stock room at Babies R Us, you know?

So if you shared a temporary room with baby (or just have some ideas), what did you find was totally necessary? Rocker? Changing table? Her own dresser?

AKB090609

DD was with us for 5-6 months then we started the transition. We had a pnp and a changing pad on our dresser, I also gave her one of our drawers. It worked out just fine.

likeanoldtimemovie

I didn't even think about using our dresser for a changing table. We also have at least two whole drawers that are empty, so I think that might work out better anyway!

Disneygeek77

We had a pnp and we also got one of those cheap plastic storage drawers for the baby's clothes that we put in our closet.

SallyAnneS

Will you have a rocking chair in another room close to your bedroom? I spent hours rocking Ds it seemed like. So if you have the space i would have that in your bedroom maybe.

The rest sounds good, changing pad on dresser a couple of drawers for supplies and clothes.

likeanoldtimemovie

@SallyAnneS‌ We have a rocking chair out in the living room. We might be able to make some extra room for it in our room, but if not, it's not too far from our room!

Chapter79

We did have her in our room, for about 3 months. But it was a different situation because she still had her own room with everything in it (a nursery).. we just had the bassinet in ours. But did everything else in her room.  I really enjoyed having a dresser that I just plopped a changing pad onto and change her.  I had a c/s, so it was helpful that I didn't have to get on the floor or bend over a bed to change her just wherever.   The only other thing I found super valuable was the glider. We spent lots of rocking time there.

NicoleWI

We just had baby in a PNP in our room. The rest of the stuff was in the nursery.

We are STILL sharing a room with my 17 month old due to a house renovation project. We have some Rubbermaid drawers for her clothes and a changing station set up on the floor. This was never supposed to take as long as it has.

minerswife17

We actually just moved DD to her own room 1 month ago today. I'm still kinda sad about it. We never bed shared. She had her crib and changing table/dresser combo. It worked perfectly for us.

notreallyirish

I think all you really need is storage for clothes and supplies like diapers, wipes, and nursing/feeding items. If you have room in your existing furniture, I'd go with that or a few baskets or bins.

I never changed either of my boys on our changing table and just use it to store DS2's currently fitting clothes (in bins) and fold laundry. I try to use our rocker, but neither if my boys have been big fans.

I also have a rock and play in my room that I mostly used when I was taking a shower. DS2 sleeps in bed with me still at 9 months.

ToastieSimons

We used a Rock N Play in our room for like the first 5 months.  DS2 never got a nursery.  We moved when he was 3 months old and then he had to share his room with his brother.  I cannot wait to buy a house and give them big boy rooms.

I would think a crib, changer and rocker would be necessary.  If you do decide to move her out into her own room those things are all easy to move.

Baby clothes are small.  I would get a dresser and use the top as a changing table.  DS1's nursery closet was filled with stuff, not baby clothes.  It's where we stored the baby tub, all the big hand me downs, blankets, the PNP, and we used it as a storage closet too because it was huge.

nosoup4u

We were in a teeny apt when DS1 was born, so he slept in our room. We kept his clothes on a bookshelf, and just used a changing pad on top of our dresser. I kept clothes that didn't fit in storage boxes in a closet. We never bought a changing table for either kid, just used a dresser until they were too big, and then changed them on the floor. They both slept in our room or w us in bed until they were 18-24 mos. I liked having them close by! Have some sort of white noise machine, so you can go to bed without waking her up.

vlagrl29

DD was in our room for the first 6 months.  We had a cute little bassinet we got at Target that matched our bedroom decor (blue/brown).  Our master bedroom is on the main floor, but the remaining 3 bedrooms are on the 2nd floor so that's why we had her in our room for that long.

Besides the bassinet we also had a small shelving/storage unit for all of her clothes.

likeanoldtimemovie

You guys are awesome. I'm so glad to know others had baby in their room to begin with! It sounds so foreign to me, especially when my mom goes on and on about how we were in our own rooms from the beginning.

bumpuser8448316

DS slept in our room until he was a year old. In our old house our room was huge so at one end we had his crib, dresser, Arm chair and ottoman (repurposed from living room) and bookcase.

We've moved since then and though DD is in our room all we have for her is a crib. We have a changing pad on top of the dresser and then the top drawer has all of the diapering supplies. I have a hanging shoe organizer that holds all of her clothes in our closet. She sleeps in our bed though so I didn't put the rocker in our room because I don't get out of bed to nurse her.

MomIn2013

We didn't share, but I would find a crib, rocking chair and change table the most necessary. If you get a change table/dresser in one, you probably won't need closet space as her clothes can go in the drawers. That's what we have and I really like it, it has cubbies for the diapers etc., then two drawers below.

redfallon

We had DD in our room in the pack n play to sleep for the first 3 or 4 months. Everything else was in her room. When she started sleeping ok on the flat part of the pack n play bassinet, I moved her to her room to start sleeping in her crib. I also moved in there with her and slept on the guest bed because she was still waking up a few times during the night. That lasted a couple of months.

She's now been in her room on her own for the last couple of months. We have a video monitor and she rarely wakes during the night.

pitterpatter129

I'm still sharing a room with baby. He has his own room in the house, but we are bedsharers.   I would definitely have a space for baby clothes and toys, so maybe a dresser or plastic drawers in the closet. I think anything else is unnecessary though.  

mandymack

likeanoldtimemovie said:

I didn't even think about using our dresser for a changing table. We also have at least two whole drawers that are empty, so I think that might work out better anyway!

We did this and it worked out great!!

We lived in a tiny 2bed/1 (all four of us!) so, Nolan was in our room until we moved when he was 11months. He had a crib next to our bed and I tossed a changing pad and basket with diapers, ointment, wipes, burp cloths, etc. on top of our existing dresser. I cleared out a top drawer for his clothes and swaddling blankets. I moved my PB rocker upstairs to our room and left the boppy hanging over the side of it. I also kept breast pads, Lanolin, chapstick, pacifiers, and a phone charger in that basket of diapers next to the rocking chair for those early weeks when I was nursing around the clock.