Planning a Nursery

I do have questions...they are kind of interspersed throughout my rant...I'll bold them to maybe help.

Okay, so I am probably not like a lot of people, because my "nesting" period is very low-key. WIth my first (he's now 20 months), I didn't do much at all to prepare the nursery until after the baby showers, and by then I was 36 weeks and more. In fact, I did most of the preparation during my 2 weeks maternity leave at home before he came. Do most of you already have your nursery all put together, even before baby showers?

Same thing again...I'm now at 32 weeks and I have done practically nothing to prepare for the twins. I keep telling myself it's alright, that all they really need is a place to sleep, clothes, and diapers in the beginning, but I still feel like I should be doing something. I am still working outside the home, so most days I just want to get the basic house chores done, spend time with my two DSs (toddler and stepson), and then veg after they go to bed, until I go to bed an hour later.

Part of the complication is rooms. We really want a bigger house and we have found a few we like, but of course, this is the worst time in recent history to try to sell a house. It's been on the market since August and we just keep praying someone will buy ours soon, even in the next few months. So, that's where my dilemma starts: We have a 3 bedroom house. Currently, each boy has their own room. I am not really comfortable having a 9-yr-old boy and 2-yr-old boy sharing the same room. Am I wrong? Should I put them in a room together? I know in big families, rooms are shared all the time, but that just seems like a big age difference. Plus, alot of my DSS's toys are not appropriate for my DS, and it doesn't seem fair to put him in a room with all that temptation. At the same time, I really don't think it's fair to either DS to have the twins in there because I am afraid that will be a HUGE disruption to his sleep schedule.

So...we are pretty much set on letting the babies sleep in our room for at least the first few months. That's kind of what happened with my DS anyway - I think he was ~2 months before he started sleeping in his room. The twins just might be a bit older. Any experience with keeping the babies in your room for the first 4 - 5 months? I know the family bed is popular... Does it work out very well?

Other issue: My husband is a HARD sleeper. His alarm goes off at least 5 times every morning, and he usually still doesn't wake up. It doesn't matter what time he goes to sleep - he just sleeps hard every night. I have to wake him up and tell him to shut it off every time. It's even gotten to the point when I was not home where my DSS came in our room from his room and asked his dad to shut off the alarm because it had been going off and my husband never heard it, but it woke my DSS up. How is this going to work with the twins in the room? Can they be conditioned to ignore the alarm? Do I need to try to find some wireless earbuds that can somehow hook up to the alarm system on his cell phone? I hate the idea of him or me + the twins having to sleep in the living room, but I'm so afraid they won't sleep well with his loud alarms. I know I don't.

I just feel like I should have all of this figured out and set in stone by now, but I have a feeling it's all going to be more trial-and-error; we'll just have to see what works and try something else until we find the right set up. I guess all of this is what is keeping me from being really motivated to set anything up. I don't want to put the bassinet up in our room until absolutely necessary, since it will just crowd us & make our room look smaller to the few potential buyers who visit. In the beginning with my DS, the bassinet stayed in the living room mostly, anyway, since that's where TiVo is and I wanted something to watch at all hours while nursing him, or holding him in sleep. Am I going to regret being so -physically- ill-prepared for the twins? I say "physically" because I am preparing every other way - reading books, absorbing everything I can on this site, trying to get emotionally and psychologically geared up, spending as much time with my older children as possible.

 

Hi! This is my first pregnancy, but I have to say that the nesting thing has not hit me like I thought it would. Mostly I want to cook a lot. I have a ton of cleaning to do to get the nursery ready. My brothers shared a room after I came along. They would have been 10, 9, and 5. I think this is different for you because 9 and 2 is quite an age difference. Could the 2yo share with the twins once they're sleeping better? Maybe he could just sleep in the 9yo's room at night, but have his toys in a room with the twins?

Best of luck with your DH and his alarms. Sadly, I'm the one who's hard to wake up in our house. Or at least, I'm the one who hits the snooze a lot. That will all change when the girls get here. I really hope you figure out something you're comfortable with.

 

I'm with you on the space issues! I have a 7 and 3 yr old and with 2 on the way and a 3 bedroom house, figuring out where everyone is going to sleep has been a bit tricky. We got my DS's bunkbeds so they are sharing a room. I don't think I could have a 9 and 2 year old share a room though. We're having the twins stay in our room. I set up the crib in there and everything. I figure they can stay in here at least a couple months if not longer. My DS stayed in our room until he was like 5 mos. We set up the third room as a temporary guest room, so when people come to help out they have a place to sleep. Also, it works as a room for my hubby (or me) to get a good nights sleep (depending on who's working). We had this set up when I had my youngest DS too.

Wow, that would drive me nuts with the alarm clock! I'm sorry i have no advice for that other than I would probably make him sleep on the couch. I would not worry about not having a nursery set up. I don't think the babies will care too much as long as they have some place to sleep! The way I figure it, everything will fall into place once they arrive. Good Luck!

 

I shared a room with my sister who is 8yrs younger than I am, from the time she was in a crib until I went to college. As far as age appropriate toys go, I was plenty old enough to know what my parents would let her play with and what she was too young for. I kept my things on shelves out of her reach. It worked out well because I was there if she had a bad dream, or if she needed help with something during the night.

My parents originally bought a 1 bedroom house. When I came along, they convered the closed-in porch into a second bedroom. Once my brother and sister were on the scene, the dinning room became my brother's room. The same thing happened to my DH - he slept in a converted dining room. Sometimes you have to think outside the "normal" and see what you have to work with. Granted, the second my brother moved out, my dad was in there converting it back to a dining room. lol

We have our nursery pretty much done, except for installing a ceiling fan. I'm the sort that stresses out if I'm not prepared ahead of time, so it was more for me than for the babies. We plan on getting a co-sleeper and having them stay in our room for the first 3-4 months. I'm not really comfortable having them sleep in our bed, but that's just me.

As far as the alarm goes, is it possible for you to be in charge of it? That way it goes off once and then you wake your DH up? That's how we handle it, and a lot of times I'll wake up before it even goes off. We have an alarm clock with 2 alarms, one for me and one for him.

 

Do most of you already have your nursery all put together, even before baby showers?
Nope, haven't even started, need to move the big kids out first and then repaint before we can even start!

Am I wrong? Should I put them in a room together?
My ds and dd have been sharing a room already so it's not quite the same transition as yours, but he is 7 and she is 2.5 so there is an age difference. My ds knows what toys his sister is, and isn't allowed to have, so as a pp said, his toys are already kept up high and all the toys that are low are "age appropriate" for his sister. They also have bunk beds. We plan to paint their room a nice light-ish shade of blue as a neutral color, and use wall clings to help personalize the space a bit.

Any experience with keeping the babies in your room for the first 4 - 5 months? I know the family bed is popular... Does it work out very well?
My ds was in our room until about 10 months. My dd until about 8 months. I plan to keep the twins until at least 6 months or so. The kids bedrooms are across the house and I don't feel comfortable putting them all the way over there when they are so young. We semi-coslept with the older two but will NOT be doing it with the twins because dh can't sleep with a baby, he gets too warm and overheats the baby, and I can't see how I can sleep with 2 beside me! It's squishy, but we moved furniture around and set up one crib in our room. They will both sleep in there until they start pestering each other, and we bought a crib divider to extend their time together!

DH's alarm
They will sorta grow used to it, but dh is going to have to start getting up with the first ring/buzz also! Is it set to music or buzzer? My dh will sleep thru music but the buzzer will wake him up much easier. If you have to, when it wakes you up, immediately roll over and wake his butt up! After a few mornings of it scaring both babies awake he may learn how to wake easier too! Otherwise it sounds like there isn't much else you can try.

Am I going to regret being so -physically- ill-prepared for the twins?
A place to sleep, some clothes, some blankets and some food is all babies really need. Everything else is for your comfort/convenience. I personally hope to get most everything accomplished (obviously not the nursery tho), before the babies arrive so I don't have to spend precious time afterwards getting stuff done, but really it's not *necessary* as such.