Hi ladies-
My DH and I are cautiously expecting our first little one in December. This was definitely a surprise but we're both so excited. However, we're kind of at a crossroads. So i'm hoping you can help.
We live in a 3 bedroom home--all of the bedrooms are in use for one purpose or another. We seem to have two choices--we can either eliminate the guest room and create a nursery or we can just add the new additions to our master bedroom and make it a "family bedroom". I would really love a nursery but we live over 1,100 miles away from our friends and family. Now we know that we will have even MORE visitors than ever. They have all graciously offered to sleep on an air mattress which would be fine if they were visiting for a few days but I know they'll be staying longer.
So...what would you do?? TIA!
Re: Nursery Dilemma
I don't care for the idea of a "permanent" family bedroom. I just can't see that being good for a marriage personally. As the kid gets older i'd feel odd having "relations" kwim?
I think I'd change one of the guest bedrooms into the nursery. I'd also consider the possibility of investing in a sleepr sofa for future guests. That just seems like it would be much less expensive all around.
That was one of my concerns, too. I also felt that I would somehow be "slighting" the baby by not giving him a room of his own. (silly, I know)
My husband, being the thrifty, practical guy that he is with no baby experience thinks it's completely reasonable to skip the crib and just get a bassinet and have the baby sleep in there!
Absolutely NO to the 'family bedroom'.
You have to think long term... and honestly, I'd put the baby before guests. Guests will only be there for so long, the baby needs a room and it can't be YOUR room. JMO?
The 3rd bedroom is a hobby/office room with A LOT of BIG furniture in it. Unfortunately we live in an area where basements don't exist so we'd either have to get rid of all of those items which would be difficult or leave it as-is. (which is certainly the easiest/most feasible option)
It sounds as if you all are screaming NO! I'll definitely take your comments into consideration. Thank you so much for the responses!
if it were me i would definitely eliminate the guest room. ?the baby will love having a place all for his/herself!
go with your gut, and it will be the right decision ?
i would opt no for the family bedroom for reasons that have already been posted. you can be creative if you give your baby their own room and still accomodate guests. we are in a similar situation in that when it's time for baby one guest room will go by the wayside and both of our families are out of state. they will have to settle for pull out sofas! maybe try and consolidate/scale down your hobby/office room and put a daybed or pull out sofa in there for another place to sleep.
you could also do an oversized chair that flips out into a twin bed in the nursery to provide additional sleeping for a guest. in the beginning you may want the baby in your room in a bassinet and this way your visiting family still has a place to sleep in those first few months when they're dying to visit and see the baby!
Since I will be BF, we are going to try out a bassinet for the first few weeks or so. But after that, the baby will have its own room. So, I can see where your husband is coming from, but I just know I would not be a fan of a family bedroom. Depending on what is all on your hobby/office, maybe you could make some switches in the two rooms. For example, if you have bookshelves and chairs, move those into the nursery and make a little reading corner. Could be a nice place for you to relax in quiet while baby is sleeping. You could take the guest bed out of the nursery and move into the office along with your computer/hobby tables. Again, I don't know what all you have in each room, but just thinking about what we have. GL!
This is what i was thinking and dont forget... a bassinet is only temporary...
We are in a similar situation.
The guests lost out. We chose nursery and are planning to buy a sleeper sofa for our office. It will most likely end up being a sleeper loveseat. Honestly, if they want to stay and don't like our accomodations - they can get a hotel. It's important to me for our baby to have his own room.
We had a similar situation and nixed the guest room for now. I plan on adding a futon to the hobby room when I have a chance.
I would LOVE to figure out a way to use our double bed in the hobby room and have a hobby table built over it that could be removed when we have guests. That would make things so much easier.