Is there a problem putting a nursery in a windowless room?

sideswipe

Hi all,
My OH is due in April and we are in the midst of getting things ready at home. The house is quite small and we have no hope of moving with a negative equity monkey on our back. We were thinking of converting out box room which is a home office at the mo into a nursery but are not sure if this is a bad idea. There is no window (only a velux) so we are a little concerned about things like air quality and fire safety (although the room is directly beside our bedroom and not isolated at the other side of the house). Just wondering if anybody has any experience or opinions on this? I should also say it is our hope to be able to move in 1-2 years so it would not be a very long term solution.

Quazzie

From a Fire Safety pov I'd say no. An accessible window is essential. You might justify it in your head at the minute as it seems like a logical thing to do, but how could you justify it if your house went on fire and the Fire Fighters had no reasonable access to a room where you child lay asleep.

I'm sorry if that is a bit grim and I really don't want to be putting any irrational fears into your head, but its now the decisions is being made so you always have to hope for the best but plan for the worst.

On a side note, how did the building you are living in pass building control with a room with no means of Fire escape? Technically such a 'room' cannot be classed as a room and would be a large closet in terms of the building control and should also be in terms of Rent.

sideswipe

On a side note, how did the building you are living in pass building control with a room with no means of Fire escape? Technically such a 'room' cannot be classed as a room and would be a large closet in terms of the building control and should also be in terms of Rent.

Thanks for the reply, a room with no window is still classed as a room but cannot be classed as a bedroom, when we purchased the house the room was classed as a study. I suppose it would be similar to a converted attic with velux windows, they are often used as bedrooms but when the house is sold it is discribed as something like 'additional living space in the form of a converted attic'
In relation to fire danger this of course is my biggest concern but I do feel because the room is adjoing ours any risk is greatly reduced. At the same time it is a very, very hard one to call for the reasons you mentioned. Thanks again for the imput

angeldaisy

Whilst we had a nursery organised for when my ds was born, tbh he slept in our room for the first 6months or so (in a cot), many people do this for a year or so anyway. Could this be an option for you? it would eliminate the extra costs, and tbh most of the stuff that goes into a nursery is for appearances usually and not practical for the baby. all they need is somewhere to sleep at night.

sideswipe

angeldaisy wrote: »

Whilst we had a nursery organised for when my ds was born, tbh he slept in our room for the first 6months or so (in a cot), many people do this for a year or so anyway. Could this be an option for you? it would eliminate the extra costs, and tbh most of the stuff that goes into a nursery is for appearances usually and not practical for the baby. all they need is somewhere to sleep at night.

Would certainly be an option for a while with a moses basket but the room dimentions are small so it would be very difficult to fit a cot in.

silja

Would you consider a bedside cot, or co-sleeping?
When our twins were born, we lived in a one bedroom flat, and the bedroom was small. We bought an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, which is essentially a three sided cot which slots onto the bed and takes little space. We were able to have both twins in there for 8 months, so it shoudl do you for a year or so (though once baby can stand up, it may become unsafe).

sideswipe

silja wrote: »

Would you consider a bedside cot, or co-sleeping?
When our twins were born, we lived in a one bedroom flat, and the bedroom was small. We bought an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, which is essentially a three sided cot which slots onto the bed and takes little space. We were able to have both twins in there for 8 months, so it shoudl do you for a year or so (though once baby can stand up, it may become unsafe).

We may have to think along those lines,I had always hoped to have more independant sleeping space after the first few months so what I'm really doing now is weighing up all options, Thanks.