Toddler in one bed apartment

wersal gummage

Just looking for opinions on this one.

If you "had to" move, as a couple, into a one bedroom apartment with a 2 year old, do you think this is possible or reasonable over the short term? Child currently has own bedroom.

I see the possibilities as :
> sharing the bedroom (tight squeeze);

> putting child in the bedroom and putting a bed or sofa bed in living room;

> keeping bedroom and putting child (in cot) into an area of living room, perhaps cordoned off to some extent.. (probably not realistic as could not make a sound then after child's bedtime)

None of these are ideal at all. It is only hypothetical at this point and would certainly only be for a short while.

Grateful for any comments, in particular from anyone who might have tried this.

Thanks

Pinch Flat

I'd say you need to factor in the gear as well -pram, hi chair, car seats etc. Is there somewhere to store these?

wersal gummage

^
Yeah would need to scale things back from current setup for sure but should be manageable, even if a bit of a tighter squeeze than you'd like (apartment is around 700sq ft)

Edit : current place is closer to 2k sq ft so would be a big adjustment but can put a lot of the items into storage for a few months and just take the essentials

theteal

How short is short term?

I'm not sure you could get a landlord to permit this, I'd guess there are insurance issues with having a permanent 3rd occupant in a 1 bed.

We've a 1 yr old and we live in a small 2 bed house. Things here are tight with all the added extras. I wouldn't fancy your plan.

wersal gummage

theteal wrote: »

How short is short term?

I'm not sure you could get a landlord to permit this, I'd guess there are insurance issues with having a permanent 3rd occupant in a 1 bed.

We've a 1 yr old and we live in a small 2 bed house. Things here are tight with all the added extras. I wouldn't fancy your plan.

I would guess 6 months maybe, or as long as it would take to find a suitable house and have a sale go through, so realistically I guess it could be up to a year.

No issues with landlord as I own the place

Toots

I've a 6 year old in a 1 bed and we make it work. We've lived there since his birth. IKEA is a help for sure. It depends on how the apartment is laid out, we're lucky because our bedroom is a big square, so there's enough room for a double bed and a junior high sleeper.

Other than that there's not a massive difference between that and a 2 bed. Our living room/kitchen is quite big, and a lot of 2 beds have a very small second bedroom so the toys etc would be stored in the living room anyway.

The only thing that really annoys me about it is my mother in law's constant suggestions that we get a sofa bed and sleep in the living room. Fcuk that, myself and the hubby break our balls every month to pay the mortgage, so if it ever comes to anyone sleeping in the sitting room it won't be us.

wersal gummage

^
Thanks, so it is definitely possible!
I'm also reluctant to sleep in the living room but, for a short term arrangement, I think it might be better than sharing the bedroom... However it would obviously take away a pretty big chunk of living area (assuming not using a sofa bed, and I don't think I could make and put away a bed twice a day). On the plus side, only having a cot in a large bedroom would offer a good bit of extra storage space I guess.

With sharing a room, do you have the ikea type spare wardrobes in the hallway?

Sleeper12

If renting you might find it difficult to find a landlord willing to allow three people living in a one bed apartment

Toots

wersal gummage wrote: »

^
Thanks, so it is definitely possible!
I'm also reluctant to sleep in the living room but, for a short term arrangement, I think it might be better than sharing the bedroom... However it would obviously take away a pretty big chunk of living area (assuming not using a sofa bed, and I don't think I could make and put away a bed twice a day). On the plus side, only having a cot in a large bedroom would offer a good bit of extra storage space I guess.

With sharing a room, do you have the ikea type spare wardrobes in the hallway?

We have a cupboard in the hallway, it's kinda like the cupboard "under the stairs" in a house, so not a huge amount fits in there but we mainly use it for storing stuff like cleaning products, the hoover, hanging up the coats, big bag of dog food (oh there's a giant dog also) tools, etc.

I would definitely avoid a sofa bed, aside from the hassle of setting it up and putting it away, they're not designed for long term use and you'd probably end up with your back being totally fecked. I've slept on them for a fortnight on holidays and been in a complete jock.

edit: Our wardrobes are in the bedroom - there were built in ones which were crap, so we ripped them out and put in the IKEA ones with sliding doors that you can configure the arrangement of the shelves/drawers etc inside. There's plenty of room for all our clothes in there, and we've enough space that a section in one of them is being used by my husband to store a load of spare computer parts

Millem

Jeekers toots fair play to you I don’t think I could manage it. Little people have so much stuff!! I need you to come organise my house!!

Op if you own the 1 bed and you will be buying a house in a couple of months I would suck it up and muddle on with it.

It’s not the sleeping arrangements that I would worry about it’s all the stuff!! My son would love to sleep with us every night

Dravokivich

I share a room with my 4 year old son. It's incredibly difficult and can be rather stressful. I'd suggest looking into what you can do to make sure you and your child have separate bedrooms.

wersal gummage

Dravokivich wrote: »

I share a room with my 4 year old son. It's incredibly difficult and can be rather stressful. I'd suggest looking into what you can do to make sure you and your child have separate bedrooms.

Well it's either do this for a few months at almost no (financial) cost while sorting out mortgage/house purchase etc, or rent a house or larger apartment at 2k plus a month..... Of course I'd prefer to have more space, but not sure I want to drop 10/15/25 grand on rent for the sake of 6 or 12 months of inconvenience....

TheIronyMaiden

wersal gummage wrote: »

Well it's either do this for a few months at almost no (financial) cost while sorting out mortgage/house purchase etc, or rent a house or larger apartment at 2k plus a month..... Of course I'd prefer to have more space, but not sure I want to drop 10/15/25 grand on rent for the sake of 6 or 12 months of inconvenience....

It'd be a no brainer for me OP. You'll find a way to manage, especially if it's only short term. You might need to shuffle things around a bit once you're in there but you'll find a way that works. Go for it, save your money

SusieBlue

TheIronyMaiden wrote: »

It'd be a no brainer for me OP. You'll find a way to manage, especially if it's only short term. You might need to shuffle things around a bit once you're in there but you'll find a way that works. Go for it, save your money

I would agree with this.
One thing that did jump to mind though is that if you share a room, your child may become accustomed to sharing a room with mom and dad, and might even end up in your bed often, out of nearness and habit.
Toddlers are funny little creatures and I know getting them to sleep alone to begin with can be hard, so I wouldn't be advocating any situation where he/she becomes reliant on the parents as part of a sleeping routine.
Then when you want him/her to sleep alone again in six months to a year you may have a battle on your hands cos he'll be used to sleeping near mom and dad.

For those reasons I think yourself and your partner sleeping in the living room is for the best and having him/her sleep alone in the bedroom.

That said I think the whole thing is very doable in the short term and you'll be able to make it work, regardless of where your child ends up sleeping.

Neyite

If it's short term, you'll make it work. We moved to a bigger place during the year and even though we have a few bedrooms to choose from, invariably we all end up squished into the one bed because of a nocturnal wanderer!

Kids that age love snuggling up with mum and dad. It will be an adjustment for sure but it could also be an adventure?