Did anyone NOT do a nursery?

This may be a little premature for me, ok a LOT premature! We still haven't seen heart beats...only gestational sacs at 6 weeks so I still don't know if this pregnancy will even be viable.That said The wonderful ladies here on the expecting board have given me some great encouraging stories so for today--I am pregnant until proven otherwise ;-)

I didn't do a nursery with my dd. We co slept and I didn't even buy a crib for her! My next three kids were adopted and all came to me a bit older(one 8month old and the other two were 3)they were already used to sleeping in their own beds and we continued that for them.
We have an extra bedroom that is currently set up as a home office. This will eventually become the new baby(ies) room. But I was thinking of just starting out with one crib in my room with a dresser/changing table. Has anyone gone this route? I didn't sleep train my daughter at all...but she was just ONE of her. I feel like having two babies might change everything.

anyone want to share thoughts or experiences? Honestly as much as I LOVED cosleeping with my daughter and would NOT have had it any other way then...she wouldnt even nap unless I was laying down with her and she wanted to nurse allll night long and I got very little sleep..and like I said she was just ONE. These babies will be #5 and 6 for me. anyone?

~Renee

 

personally I can't imagine not having cribs and a safe place to have two babies! I breastfed but never coslept... they were sttn 8 hrs by 8 wks.... I swaddled, and that's what really allowed them to sleep longer at night... with all that said, I also cannot imagine having babies in my bed. I did work really hard at sleep training (not CIO) and they are on a great schedule. none of that would have been possible w/o having cribs for them to sleep in.

 

We had just built a house & moved in about 3 months before I found out I was pregnant with Luke & Lila. Because we thought we were done having kids, we had planned the new house around our existing family and, although there was plenty of room, we had not finished a room for them. So, I had the Original Arms Reach co-sleeper and the twins slept in there right next to me until they were probably 3 months old & then I moved them to a crib, still in our room. They slept together in there until they were 2 and, by then, we had finished a room for them, but it was straight to big kid beds at that point so, no, we never had a nursery.

 

We were lacking space when the twins were born, and they were in one, and eventually 2 cribs, in our(very small!) room until we moved into a bigger house when they were 8 months old. So yes, one crib, in your room will work!

Congrats on your pregnancy!

 

We have NEVER had a nursery for any of our babes. They have all started in our room - with each one I've co slept more and more - they all start the night out in their cribs (the twins are sharing one crib right now). When they are moved into their own room we don't decorate it specific until they are older and can show 'personality'.

Right now we have the three oldest kids sharing one room, the babes in one crib in our room, and the 3rd room set up as a spare so DH can go sleep there once the babes take over our bed. That way he can get a good nights sleep as he doesn't co-sleep well at all.

 

We do have a "nursery" but planned that they wouldn't sleep in it until 3 months or so of age. We have the room set up, but use if for their clothes and let our parents stay in there while they visit. That being said, I can't wait to kick them out of our room. I prefer to fall asleep with the TV on... but don't want the boys getting in this habit. They have a sound machine on- I would prefer not to have it on in my room. Not only that- they nap in our room all day & it's difficult to put away laundry/clean the bathroom in there... just do stuff. We have a crib in our room, but they've never slept in it (really good for changing and a mobile to occupy them with, though). They sleep in bouncy seats and the FP Aquarium swing next to the bed (although my little son has weaseled his way into our bed on occasion... that kid really likes to be toasty!)

Congrats on your twins- I will be thinking of you.

 

We don't really have a nursery either. We do sort of have a baby room (formerly our guest room) where we keep their clothes, toys, and related baby things, but they sleep in our room in the Arm's Reach Co-sleeper. We left the guest bed in their room so that when people come visit they have a place to sleep, and in the early months it offered myself or my husband a place to nap while we were doing shifts with the babies.

Before the twins were born I was unsure at what age we would want to move them out of our room and in to cribs, so we did not buy any. We wanted to just play it ear. They are three months old now, and I can't imagine not having them in our room. I love knowing they are right there beside me while at the same time being able to cuddle with my husband and have my own sleeping space. This also helps me get more sleep because I don't have to get up and leave the room to feed them or help them go back to sleep. Sometimes when they are having trouble drifting back to sleep I can just lay my hand on them and they go right back to sleep. Yet at the same time they are getting used to sleeping in a crib on their own. And, on really difficult nights (which thankfully are few and far between now!) we could always just easily bring them into the bed and they move them back into the co-sleeper later on. So for us the co-sleeper is the best of both worlds.

 

We love the co-sleeper, too. My LOs slept in it until they were 5 months old, when we moved them to their cribs in the nursery. We still use the co-sleeper as a PNP. The transition to their cribs went well.

 

I also have the Arm's Reach Original Co-Sleeper and absolutely adore it. We have a "nursery" with a crib in it but so far only the cat sleeps in it!! We haven't decorated the nursery yet and just use it for storing extra clothes and the stroller. I imagine we'll eventually move the girls in there but I'm just not sure when. I really like having them so close to me so I can keep an eye on them and not have to get out of bed when they need soothing back to sleep. I will also often take them into bed with me if they need extra attention and they almost always fall asleep quickly on my chest and then I just slip them back quietly into the co-sleeper. It was definitely one of the best baby-related purchases I've made.

 

our office is where the crib is, we share the space...once the babies get too big for the crib, they'll go upstairs, abbey to jayden's room, jack to izzy's room...the older 2 kids are moving as well..james will get the current storage room as his room, and katy beth will come down to the office because she isn't here full time, and it will give her more privacy for when she is here as she is the oldest...

 

we had a full size co-sleeper too but they went to their own room in a crib at about 2-3 months. I am not a big "nursery" person but I would never not have cribs for my kids. They slept in them until almost 3 years old. THey also did not do well sleeping together after about the second month.

 

You can definitely get by with just one crib in your room...for a while. I can't imagine doing that long term though. We put a mini-crib in our bedroom and kept the boys in there until they started STTN. We turned our dresser top into a changing station (and there is still a changing pad there, since that room is more convenient to the living room where the boys spend most of their time during the day). When Brandon started STTN though around 4.5 months we moved him to his full sized crib in the nursery, but kept Colin in the mini-crib in our room because we didn't want his waking up to eat at night disturbing his brother. A few weeks after that Colin started STTN too and we then moved him to his own crib in the nursery. And hallelujah we now have our bedroom back!! It was very frustrating not being able to put up clothes in our room or take a bath in the master bathroom because of a sleeping baby. Now we have that bedroom back and its GREAT. Plus it is nice having one space (the nursery) where I can easily entertain both babies at once and know they are safe in their crib.

 

We knew we were moving in the fall, so I never set up a nursery in the old house. The boys slept in a full sized arms reach cosleeper in my room for the first 5 months. I would have kept them their longer, but my boys are big guys and they maxed out the weight at that point. We first put them in one crib, but when they're awake they unintentionally maul each other, so they are now in separate cribs.

I coslept with my older two kids, but I don't really with the twins. Now that they are bigger and only one wakes most nights, I do often drift off while nursing him in the middle of the night, but I found cosleeping with them just didn't work. To be honest, for the first two months, they wanted to sleep touching each other more than they wanted to sleep touching me. I even detached the cosleeper from the bed.

 

Our twins started out sleeping in our room in bassinets until 3 months and then shared a crib in their nursery until about 6 months when we had to get another crib. I couldn't not have a crib, while I have nothing against people who co-sleep, it scares me so I know I wouldn't get any rest. With this baby although the house we are renting has an extra bedroom, it is way too cold in there so we put the crib and changing table in our room. He will sleep in there with us until our house is done being built hopefully by sometime this spring.

 

We have one crib in our bedroom. They slept in it together until they were about 4 months and a half. Then we started putting one boy in our bed and the other in the crib. DH believe it's too early to let them sleep alone in a separate room. However I like the idea of them having their own bedroom, a space that is designed for their age.

 

I did have a nursery for my twins, but I ended up putting a mattress between their cribs and sleeping in there most of the time. For Amelia, I have no nursery. No crib has been set up. She sleeps with me at night, and in a cosleeper for her naps. I have no particularly special bed setup. I love snuggling with her. As she gets more mobile and bigger, i'll probably just have her nap in a PNP. I had those drop down cribs that were recalled for the twins ... and I really don't want to buy a new crib at this point. I don't think a nursery is necessary, especially as you like to sleep with your babies.

 

I did not have a crib for the twins and I will not have one for this baby. I just don't have the money to buy temporary furniture.
The majority of the babies in the world never have their own special bed and they grow up just fine.

Of course you can spend money of cribs and tons of other baby gear, but don't confuse convience and wants with needs.

 

They stayed in our room at first (they're adopted and we had no warning so we didn't have time to do a nursery before that) ; first together in a portable crib, then together in a full size crib. At 4.5 months they started sleeping better at night and moving more and kicking each other so we moved them to their own cribs in the nursery (no room in our bedroom for two). It was stressful at first but it was nice to have our room again. Now I couldn't imagine having them with us. So you could start in your room then see from there. I wouldn't buy a changing table if you go that route though - save yourself some money, buy waterproof pads and change them on the bed.

 

All of my kids started out in our room. My older two partial co slept with me for the first 10 and 8 months of life, then they moved full time into the crib in our room. By their 1st birthday they were in their own room in the crib. We painted the bedroom in bold blue and green colors for my oldest ds, but it wasn't a "nursery", it was his bedroom. And my dd moved in with him when she got old enough. When we moved them into their new room (aka our old spare room), we painted that room 2 walls blue for ds, and 2 walls purple for dd. We also replaced the carpet with hardwood laminate flooring.

The twins are currently still sharing a crib in our room. I use my dresser as a changing station (as I did with my older kids). We are working on their bedroom (I don't consider it a nursery since this will be their room while we are still living here), we are ripping out the old carpet, putting down hardwood laminate flooring and painting the walls a soothing neutral green for them. We have bought a second crib and will set it up when we get the room done. Hopefully this week!

So no, a nursery is not a necessity!

 

We have 2 cribs in our bedroom. It is cramped but it works and I love having them close to me at night. It actually makes the night time awakenings so much easier. My oldest son, I did crib in my bedroom. My daughter I did nursery. I like crib in my room much better. We thought about cosleeping but we never felt comfortable or safe with the idea.