Cosleeping parents... did you still build a nursery for your LO?

[Jelinifer]

DH and I are trying to figure out where to go with this. We plan on having our LO in our room with us for at least his/her first year (in a crib at the foot of our bed... our room is long and narrow with only room for a full sized bed and no option for side-car unfortunately.) We have a second bedroom in our apartment that right now is being used to store DH's weight bench and is used as our cats "bedroom"- it has their litterbox, most of their really big toys/play structures in it and their window perch. Moving kitty items is doable with some planning and DH could always take the exercise stuff back to his parents house (they live across town and he kept/used it in their basement while we lived in an even smaller apartment last year.) My questions is.... is it even worth it to build a nursery if our peanut is just going to sleep with us, or should we just hold off until s/he is a toddler and ready for his/her own space?

[fruitfulmomma]

We've never had a nursery. We don't really have much for our little one, so we just keep her things in some baskets near our bed - one for clothes, one for diapers, and a smaller one for toys. Her board books are in a small basket on the children's bookshelf.

[Chamomile Girl]

We have a very small house but I thought it was totally worth it to make the second bedroom into the nursery. Even though the crib is not getting much use, we play in there everyday, and I have a place to put all his crap.

[StrawberryFields]

We still did a nursery and it was worth it for us. I liked having a place to store the diapers, clothes, blankets, and eventually toys. And with my first son born in November the toys came rolling in a mere 4 weeks later for Christmas Gotta love doting grandparents, aunties and uncles! Every sleeping 4 week old baby needs a nearly life-sized Drop and Roar Dinosaur, right?!

[bettyjones]

The process of painting, decorating a nursery really helped us prepare for the birth. I think it is worth it. Sometimes we play in there but mostly it is a place to store baby clothes etc. DD sleeps in our bed.

[isabchi]

No...

[tanyam926]

We have never had a nursery, or even a crib for that matter, for any of our children.

It wasn't really important to me though, and I have never regretted it. I think it depends on the person and if putting together a nursery is something important to you.

We had a dresser in our bdrm w/all baby stuff, dipes were kept in basket that we took from rm to rm, so no matter what you decide, it's workable.

Congrats on your lo!

[Mary Contrary]

We never did. We were short on room and money, and it just didn't make sense for us. Congratulations on your LO!

[Therese's Mommy]

No. We are awaiting the arrival of our third child and there is still just 1 bedroom (aside from a guest room) in our house. We never even had a crib. All the savings we have realized from not making a nursery, not having a crib, cloth diapering, extended bfing, etc. have allowed us to have more than 1 child.

[SeekingJoy]

We did, but in your situation it doesn't sound like it would be helpful. We have a 3BR house, with each LO having their own room. I liked having floor space for them to play that wasn't always the living room. I liked having storage space for them. I liked being able to read, clean up, chill in my room while they napped in theirs.

[Barefoot~Baker]

For our 1st we did, but I didn't know that I would be cosleeping until she was born and then it was naturally better for us. With my 2nd, we didn't bother, nor with my 3rd. If you need more space for clothes, towels, blankets, etc, then you might want to do something to another room as a sort of nursery.

[Friday13th]

We had a one bedroom apartment when DS was born so no nursery and now we that we have a house, he has a room set although he's never slept in it. It's nice to have the space to store all his clothes and diapers as well as to have a baby-proofed place for him to play while I shower (bathroom and bedrooms on the second floor).

DS is almost 2 and I figure at some point (be it years down the road) he'll want a room of his own and I'd rather not have to worry about running around finding a place for all the other stuff in the second bedroom and creating a kid friendly space when he does choose to sleep alone.

[masja]

my daughter has a beautiful nursery down the hall....she hasn't slept in it yet, lol. She co-sleeps, but I'm sure one day she'll use it. It was the same with our son, but we did use it a bit more, but he co slept too, so it was a while.
I would wait until you think you'll need one.

[EarthsSpiral]

I think you would be fine to leave things as they are.

[NullSet]

For our first we had the whole separate nursery with a crib and everything. She never once slept in there until she was about 2 and wanted to have her own napping bed. I wouldn't think you need one. BUT it is nice to have a separate room with the changing table, baby clothes, dipes and all that random stuff.

[KristaDJ]

Why not wait until babe is a toddler and can pick out colors and a theme for their room? Seems like a waste to decorate and set up a room for someone who won't use it and is too young to care. None of mine have ever had a nursery, they have a playroom now but they all still sleep in my room.

[nelson]

We used to have ds's crib set up in his room and finally dismantled it and made it into a playroom. I would recommend just cleaning it up a bit and having another space where you feel comfortable spending time with your LO. Our house is really small, so now that ds is older, we try to use every inch that is available to us. You don't have to do it all right now either, we finally did more to his room around a year when he really started to move.

[One_Girl]

I had all of the nursery stuff but had dd sleep in a crib in my room the first few weeks and then moved to actually co-sleeping and I never used the nursery after that. It was a waste of money and I would suggest saving the money to help you afford to spend a little more time at home with your baby if you aren't planning on being a SAHM. If you are going to be a SAHM then use the money to save for a rainy day or spend it on a mother's helper and have someone come in to do the dishes and clean up for you for a few weeks or longer after your baby is born.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

Why not wait until babe is a toddler and can pick out colors and a theme for their room? Seems like a waste to decorate and set up a room for someone who won't use it and is too young to care. None of mine have ever had a nursery, they have a playroom now but they all still sleep in my room.

This is what we do. I wait until the child wants their own space to play and then we create a room. Up until then I don't see a need and we have better use of our rooms this way.

[2cutiekitties]

In your situation, I would leave as is. Plus, you never know how things are going to go. It is very hard to predict what kind of post partum life you will have.