Anonymous wrote:No to both. And I would never sleep on a different floor than DC. Total dealbreaker.

This. Because:
1) fire. My kids do not wake up for anything. Having them up and me down in a fire would terrify me.
2) home invasion. I guess this is likely a truly urban issue. Where are you moving to? I wouldn't put kid room downstairs for this reason.

We are looking for a place where two rooms are in close proximity to each other. A cape with two beds up would be just fine.

Four kids, all of whom slept on the second floor. We converted the two-car garage into the master bedroom. We used a baby monitor as needed. It's worked out beautifully.

We've never had the kids on the same floor as us. In our old house, the master was on the main level and kids were up. In our current house the kids are below us and we are up. I haven't even really needed a monitor because I'm not a heavy sleeper and they have been right below or above me- so if they need me I wake and go to them. Now they are older- my youngest is 4- and long past the night waking age. I like not having to worry about waking them up. It really hasn't been an issue at all.
The baby years are so short and if you plan to stay in a house for a long time, try to think more long-term.

I have four kids and have never had the kids sleeping on the same floor. Dh renovated the attic - we have a huge master bedroom with a walk-in closet, and a master bathroom. Two of the kids share what the house intended to be the master bedroom. Two of the kids have regular bedrooms on that same floor. All kids are one floor below us.

Youngest kid is nine, oldest is 23. Never been a problem. As babies we kept them in our bedroom until they could sleep through the night. I thought that there might be an issue with kids sneaking out or sneaking friends in, but it never happened.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine if you have a baby monitor- it takes 10 seconds to run up the stairs. I kept my newbies in our room for about the first 4 or 5 months then moved them to their rooms. I've always had my bedroom on the same floor as the kids, but I don't think it would deter me from a house if the master was on the first floor.

Agree with this. Why is it an issue anymore now that we have the technology of baby monitors?

How long are you going to use the baby monitors?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No to both. And I would never sleep on a different floor than DC. Total dealbreaker.

To each his own. We sleep in our master which is upstairs in our Cape. Our 4 year old sleeps in a bedroom downstairs. Not an issue in the least.

4 is very developmentally different than a 2 year old.

I love ranches. If you're thinking really long term, ranches are much better for older people because of the lack of stairs.
We love our split level.

Anonymous wrote:No to both. And I would never sleep on a different floor than DC. Total dealbreaker.

To each his own. We sleep in our master which is upstairs in our Cape. Our 4 year old sleeps in a bedroom downstairs. Not an issue in the least.