Switching Kids Rooms

dogperson11

I need some input and I'm hoping you guys can help me "think outside the box." We have a 3 bedroom house - DD has 1 room, DH and I have the master, and the spare room is setup as a guest room. The plan is for the guest room to become DD's room and her current room to become the new baby's room. My predicament comes with timing the switch. Since 100% of our family lives out of town we will have house guests after new baby comes, so we'll need the guest room.

My current plan is to keep DD in her current room and put baby in with us so we can have the guest room for visitors. Then in the new year we'll move DD to her new room and put baby in her old room (basically we'll just have to slap the front of the crib on and move her clothing out and his in).

Where I'm stuck is when I think of diapering and nursing. DD slept in our room with us for about 5 months, but MOTN I always took her to her room to nurse her (in the glider) and change diapers and outfits. I didn't find it comfortable to nurse her on our couch (it's a super comfy couch, but has deep seats and I just couldn't get comfortable without a zillion pillows). Same with our bed, plus I didn't want to disturb DH (although this time he'll be working nights).

Basically, I'm being super wishy-washy on when to move DD to her new room (bye bye, guest room) because I can't figure out the logistics of what to do with a newborn without a room to go to. Maybe it won't be as big of an issue since DH will be working nights? Our living room isn't very large so I don't think moving the glider out there would be ideal, but we could in a pinch. I've also considered moving DD before baby comes and then having her sleep on the floor in her "new room" when my mom comes.

Any thoughts or suggestions from those of you who have BTDT?

bluejeanbabi05

I'm obviously not in your exact situation BUT we also have a three bedroom, one is DH's office and the other will be set up as a nursery well before baby is here, so we also won't have a guest room. I'm planning on buying a nice air mattress for my mom and any other guests who decide to stay over. Beyond that, I haven't worried about it too much it will all work out, and anyone from out of town who's uncomfortable with that arrangement can get a hotel. I know my mom wont mind at all. 

Eta: maybe relabel this something to do with guest rooms? More people might click in and I'm interested in whether people have a guest room too, and if not, what are they doing for guests.

purplestarz

No advice, just commiserating with you as I'm in the same predicament. My current plan is to move DD in January after our influx of guests die down, but I'm worried that moving rooms and having a new baby in the house might be too much to handle for her so I'm also curious if others have done this transition. I could make the guest room into baby's room and keep DD where she is...but guest room is much larger so it makes sense for DD to move in there instead of baby. I'm hoping if she helps pick out colors, bedding, etc she'll be excited about the move and won't look at is as she's getting kicked out of her room.

With DD I would breastfeed in bed as well as do diaper changes in there. I couldn't care less about disturbing DH since I was the one having to get up and take care of her anyway lol he pretty much slept through it all so it didn't matter. It was nice never having to leave the bed. Under her bassinet was a little shelf where I kept extra diapers, wipes, onesies, and swaddles so I had everything right there. Do you have a place in your room to store supplies? And I'm assuming the glider won't fit in your room? Honestly i would try to find some kind of pillow or support to make feeding in bed more comfortable for you.

PizzaMonster3

Is it normal for a lot of guest to stay over in those first few weeks/months? FTM here and I was briefly debating putting some sort of day bed or sofa sleeper in the nursery to keep the guest bedroom. 

carries2018

Can you put a glider in the guest room? I mean you won't have guests all the time. I always preferred to stay in bed so that's what worked for us. Maybe you can look into support pillows? 

carries2018

I've been playing musical rooms for the past 4 years haha. I prefer to make the switch asap to get everyone adjusted. I'm just spitballing here but have you considered moving DD to the guest room now, then painting her room whatever you want for the nursery if you have something in mind or just leave it for now and just put the guest bed in there instead of all the crib ish. That way you have a guest room still but the basics (paint) is ready for when you are ready to transition?

purplestarz

PizzaMonster3 said:

Is it normal for a lot of guest to stay over in those first few weeks/months? FTM here and I was briefly debating putting some sort of day bed or sofa sleeper in the nursery to keep the guest bedroom. 

I think it just depends on your family. We have 4 sets of grandparents and I'm not joking when I say a month doesn't go by without a visitor. I know it will be constant for us with a new baby + the holidays. You could always get an air mattress just in case (saw a nice one at Costco yesterday on sale!)

ETA: you can always ask your family in advance what they're thinking just so you can have a plan. We already have family makin reservations at Hotel Purplestarz through the end of the year.

buttercream_frosting

I'm in the same predicament of how to configure the sleep arrangements. I would see how you go working with DH's night shifts. I would also avoid moving DD too close to when baby is about to or has just arrived because she'll be going through her own transition of not being the only child. So either move her soon or wait a few months after LO2 arrives.

stefanirn06

PizzaMonster3 said

Is it normal for a lot of guest to stay over in those first few weeks/months? FTM here and I was briefly debating putting some sort of day bed or sofa sleeper in the nursery to keep the guest bedroom. 

We didn't have anyone stay at our house when DD was born... no one asked and the farthest family member that visited was only 2 hrs away. I would not have been OK with visitors staying at our house and I think people knew that. I personally would never think to stay at someone's house with a newborn, I would find other arrangements (other family, hotel, friends etc)  That's just me though. 

shan24

We also have a 3 bedroom and will probably have lots of guests. My current plan is to keep baby with us for as long as possible, then having the kids share a room (regardless of if this is a boy or girl). If they're opposite sex siblings, I'm hoping to have them share until they're school age. If this is another boy, they're sharing until they're teens. 

I do not want to lose my guest room!

riverrainez

Similar predicament, 3 bedroom and the spare room is currently my office. We've never had a guest room. When DH's parents visit we let them sleep in our room and we slept on an air mattress in my office. 

Anyway, the plan is to convert my office into DS's big boy room and get him a double or a queen bed. We're going to do that and move him this summer (so he doesn't feel like he's getting kicked out of his room when the new baby gets here), but then when visitors come we're going to have them sleep in his bedroom and have him sleep somewhere else...on a cot in the nursery maybe? The baby will be in our room for the first few months. DS is a pretty flexible sleeper because we travel a lot so I'm not worried about moving him around when guests come. 

I always nursed in bed MOTN but did like having a diaper station and rocking chair in the nursery for daytime and naps. 

jasmuin

We did the same as @riverrainez my oldest has a queen bed in her room and she will just sleep in her sister's room when we have guests so they can have her bed. 
I would either move rooms now or wait until a few months after baby is born so there isn't as much transitioning going on all at once. 

natleilynn

We have a 3 bedroom house and I'm encouraging no guests after the delivery (my mom lived 7 hours away after DD and she stayed for 10 days, which was fine. But I don't think there's anyone else I would want in the house with me after delivery). I know that's not entirely feasible, but DD will stay in her room and the guest room will turn into baby's room. Baby will however, stay in our room for at least the first 6 weeks probably. With DD it helped me catch up on sleep for awhile but then another 6 weeks for her to get used to sleeping in her room, in her crib, before I had to go back to work. I didn't want to be 11 weeks in, having to go back to work and dealing with a baby that couldn't handle sleeping in their room by themselves.

We have a bonus room that, worst case, we can tell people to bring a blow up mattress. But I already told DH's parents that we aren't purchasing a new bed (the guest room bed is now in DD's room as her bed so we could put the crib in the baby's room). 

kkerner87

I'm sort of in a similar situation. I have a 3 bedroom cape cod. The 3rd bedroom is on the 3rd floor. So not ready to move DD all the way to a 3rd floor by herself (she is only 21 months right now). So I plan on putting a crib in our room for DS and use DD nursery for changing table and all that jazz. When he can finally sleep through the night, I,will move him into DD's room and they can share a room. I plan on making "his side" a little more boyish (the room is mint green and can be dressed up for a boy or girl).