Baby Anna now has some furniture for her room as of this evening. We found a great deal on a white convertible crib, changing table, and nightstand through the Woodlands Online (a nicer alternative to Craig's List in my opinion) and went to pick them up this afternoon. They look brand new, but for a fraction of the price. Can't beat that! I haven't been in a rush to find furniture though because of our sleeping arrangement "plan" for the first few months the baby is home. Of course the word plan is in quotations because all parents know the best laid plans are highly subject to change with kids.....
Let me preface by saying the one rule I will ALWAYS stick to no matter how many children we have is that I refuse to have a baby sleep in the same room with me. I know a lot of moms do this and the arrangement works out just fine for them, but I have not been blessed with the ability to sleep soundly at any point in my life, and there is absolutely no way I could catch even a wink of sleep with a new baby within 5 feet of me.
With Jack, I resolved to pull myself out of the bed and walk down to his room (which wasn't very far in our first house) for late night nursing or diaper changing sessions. On a handful of occasions I was so exhausted that Bob got up, brought him to bed so I could nurse him, and then put him back in the crib in his own room, but never has he slept in the same room with us. Plus there was no transition time as he got older from sleeping in mom and dad's room to his own room, which was nice.
Ok, so that works fine and dandy when you're in a one-tory house and the baby's room is just a few steps away. We're now in a two-story house though, and suddenly climbing up and down stairs multiple times a night to nurse baby Anna has become a dreadful thought when I remember how tired I was those first few months. I considered moving up into our guest room and sleeping there for a few months until she gets on a more regular feeding schedule, but I think we've come up with another idea: the master bedroom closet!
I admit the idea of putting my child in a closet to sleep for the first few months sounds a little odd at first, but I wish you could see the size of this space. The homebuilder obviously got the people-want-large-master-closets idea loud and clear (thanks HGTV) because I think ours borders on overkill. Seriously, I would be embarrassed if I ever had enough clothes to fill this thing out! I've seen "bedrooms" in cramped New York City apartments that are about the same size...
Bob and I plan to move all our clothes and shoes to one end and put a glider and bassinet on the other end. That way when the baby needs something, I can walk through our bathroom just a few steps to get to her, but still have the luxury of closing a door in between us so I don't hear all the little noises she's going to make. Plus, then I won't have to use a monitor (I'm not a fan of them during the night...a subject for another post). The room is ventilated and has a nice large window, so it's not some confined, musty old closet by any means.
After a few months, we'll move her up to the crib upstairs after she can go a little longer between feeding sessions. Now, to decide on a paint color for her room...
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7 comments:
What a great idea for the closet. Now since it actually has a purpose for a while you can't feel guilty for having such a large space
nice! We actually considered this as well with Ryan - but ended up moving upstairs to the guest room for a while. You have to post pictures once she's here of her in the closet! :)
So, are you going to paint the closet too ;) ? You aren't joking about how big the closet is! There's no way we'd be able to fit a glider and bassinet in our closet. Colby slept in our room for a couple of months, but not in our bed. I completely understand why people put their kids in the bed, and probably wouldn't have been opposed to it myself if that was the only way either of us could get some sleep. I was luckily able to get a couple of hours of sleep in the recliner during some of the bad times when he would only sleep being held. Now he sleeps in his bed well at night, we just have to work on the naps.
Good luck on the closet!
My mother-in-law uses the baby in the closet trick and at first I thought it was silly but it works really well. Next thing we know builders will be putting baby spaces, designed specifically for this, in to master closets! If I put a glider and bassinet in my closet I would have to take all of the clothes and shoes out and put the glider inside the bassinet!
Now that's an idea Amy...your husband does work for a home builder, perhaps a new trend you could suggest for future floorplans? ;)
And yes, I will definitely post some pictures!
Ryan slept in our master bedroom closet for the first 9 months of his life. It is a great idea!! Worked very well for us.
Erin
I put Wren in our bedroom for 6 weeks, would have the closet, but no vents so nope not an option there. Yes the squeaks bothered me, but so does the baby monitor.
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