Tips for Raising Baby in One-Bedroom Apartment

Anonymous
I have a 4-month-old, and DH and I are stuck living in a one-bedroom apartment for the time being in order to save up for a house. I was hoping some folks would have tips for how to make this work for another couple of years. The crib situation is working out, but the sheer volume of baby "stuff" is tight and I feel incredibly guilty for not buying LO "big" things like the brabo, etc. For example, the baby is about to start solids and we do not have a kitchen table to put a high-chair, a high-chair, or any other seat other than a bouncer to feed the baby in...

Advice/tips?
Anonymous
Sorry, I've been there and we ended up moving out when DS was 6 months old. I thought we could do it until he was a 1 year old, but since DS was a bad sleeper, it meant that all three of us was sleeping terribly in a 1 bdrm.

Not to say you can't do it, I know a lot of people do!

For the high-chair feeding issue though, can you buy a booster that ties onto a chair? Something like this:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4282469

You can take it off (and put it where??? I know, I know) if you need the chair for an adult.
Anonymous
We live in a studio, so the idea of a one-bedroom sounds heavenly to me. We never got a changing table. The only four baby things we got were a small crib, rocking chair, stroller and baby bathtub (our studio just has a shower stall). The baby eats on our laps while we're sitting on the bed or in the rocking chair. Or on the floor in the kitchen. It works out just fine. She's 3.
Anonymous
Agree about changing table. Agree about booster seat (or bumbo) in a sturdy regular seat. Don't use diaper champ, just knot plastic shopping bags over dirty diapers and throw down chute.

Avoid overly specialized pieces of equipment. When people gave me single-use-items (like bottle sterilizer), I just returned it to store and bought diapers or things I really needed. I bought some stuff on craigslist and then felt very comfortable giving to goodwill or reselling on Craigslist if it wasn't useful for us or as soon as it stopped being useful.

Consider storing your stroller in your car. Now my guy has a strider bike and we keep it in the car trunk too.

Buy a white noise machine. Mount on wall.

Buy storage units for under sofa and under bed. Put off season stuff in there.

Get rid of all the "grown up" things that you no longer will be using (in my case, ice bucket, cocktail shakers and martini glasses) so you have space for sippi cups, etc.
Anonymous
We lived in a one bedroom until our son was 20 months. Not ideal, but it was doable, especially knowing that it was just a short-term situation.

We used a low profile highchair (stokke) but I think you could get by just fine though with a booster (with a clip on tray) on one of your kitchen chairs, or even something that attaches directly to your table. For the first few months of table food, we fed him in a bumbo.

I think it helps to keep in mind that little kids don't actually need as much stuff as people tend to accumulate.
We also never had a changing table, and our baby slept in a pack and play until we moved. We had a bouncy seat, a fisher price take and go swing, and a play mat when he was little, but otherwise not much baby gear. We kept clothes and a minimal amount of toys in a couple of fabric bins in our living room. The worst was figuring out what to do with our big stroller -- it mostly lived in the trunk of my car.

One problem we encountered is that while our child didn't need much stuff at any given time, there are a lot of baby things (clothes, infant gear, etc) that end up needing to be stored somewhere once they are outgrown. If you can figure out some sort of arrangement for storing them off-site, it'll help a lot with the clutter. Rotating in and out different toys can help with that too.

Anonymous
Live small. Just get/keep the necessities.

For us that would mean no changing table, no baby tub, very few large baby toys, etc. For toys you can have one playmat and the bouncer seat with a bin of baby toys (to store away on a bookshelf). If you really wanted to you could get an exersaucer used (we did like ours) and then get rid of it. Babies typically only use them for a few months and shouldn't use them for too long at a time.

Once baby is older keep toys basic. Some stacking blocks/cups, a couple of puzzles, some books, balls, etc.

You will want a highchair (or a booster chair that sits on a chair, like the Fisher Price Space Saver) eventually. I also like the Ikea high chair ($20 bucks plus a little extra for the tray) but that isn't the best for younger babies.

We stopped using a booster at the table around 2.5.

General rule when you live in small spaces - live small and purge and reorganize often.
Anonymous
I live in a 2 bedroom with two kids, and it's a small 2BR -- only 850sq ft. We never did cribs. We got a pack n play that can fold up when not in use and coslept. We didn't do a changing table, a rocker, a baby bathtub, a high chair, bouncers, exersaucers or anything else like that. Basically, we changed diapers on the couch, the bed or the floor with a mat underneath the baby. We washed our babies in the tub with a towel or mat under the baby. We used a booster that ties on to a chair for feeding. The one thing we did get when our babies were really young was a bumbo, because it gave me a place to set the baby (pre-crawling) while I used the bathroom or took a bath without taking up too much room.

As for strollers, we keep our stroller in the trunk of our car. For the first 7 months of my oldest daughter's life, we didn't even have a stroller. We just carried her everywhere in a baby carrier. Then we got a Maclaren umbrella stroller that we still use for our youngest. It's lasted us 3 years and is still in good shape. It was about $125 and it was money well spent -- very light, easily transportable and will fit under the bed or very easily in the trunk of a small car.
Anonymous
We were in a similar situation with first DD, and the main thing we did was to give her our bedroom and to move our bed into the living room, behind a nice divider. The flow worked quite well, as we could live and entertain in the kitchen and living room while DD slept, surrounded by all her stuff.
Anonymous
We currently live in a one bedroom with our 12 month old. I don't feel tight at all, she has all she needs to play with. It was slightly irritating when she wasn't sleeping through the night but now that she is, it's all good.

We have a dining room, we just removed a chair and pulled her high chair to the table. We have the pack n play/changing table combo set. Stroller is stored in the coat closet. She has a hanging bouncy and a regular bouncy that we place near the couch. She also has a baby tub,

Our space is 931sq ft. Toys are strewn all over the living room floor but I guess it would be the same if we have more space.
Anonymous
I live in a studio with baby and I give away everything after baby has outgrown it. It feels good and it helps keep clutter down a lot.
Anonymous
To be honest, you've been through the worst part of the "big bulky baby stuff" age. If you haven't already, you'll soon be getting rid of the big things like swings, changing tables, bouncy chairs and baby bath tubs. It gets only better from here on out... pretty soon you'll be accumulating more toys and books, but those take up a LOT less room than baby gear for a newborn.

Don't feed your baby in a bouncer (eventually it will be a choking hazard to have them lay back like that). Feed him in a bumbo instead. I'd personally get something like a Stokke Tripp Trapp (there are much cheaper knock offs) that looks nice and pushes up to the table and can be used for many years. Traditional high chairs are ginormous and only last until about a year old.

I do agree with PP, your big problem is going to be storing the baby stuff if you want to save it for a second kid. Otherwise, as soon as the kid is crawling, get rid of all the big newborn stuff and your life will be much simpler!!

Anonymous
OP here. Thanks for the suggestions!
Anonymous
Keep the stroller in the trunk of your car.
Agree with white noise machine - very helpful.
Booster chair on the table or on a kitchen chair you already own is key.
Store outgrown clothes or clothes you're waiting to grow into under the crib.
Bathe in the tub or the kitchen sink, depending on size and relative cleanliness.

Enjoy the closeness, the fact that you always know where your kid is and what they are doing, the fact that you don't need a fancy $$$ monitor . GL
Anonymous
Get the IKEA PAX system all along one entire wall in your bedroom or living room (wherever it fits) and use it to store everything (rather than keeping things out which will drive you insane).
Anonymous
Where do you and DH eat? My SIL and her DH live in a small one-bedroom and they just got the Phil & Ted's Lobster portable high chair to hook onto their breakfast bar.

http://www.amazon.com/phil-teds-Lobster-Highchair-Red/dp/B0019AC8GE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344998492&sr=8-2&keywords=phil+%26+teds+lobster
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