apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My apartment is big by comparison 1400 sf BUT its still small as we don't have any storage space and only two small closets. We will have 2 babies by the end of the summer. Here is my advice. Don't buy many baby items - many are unnecessary! You don't need the following:
A changing table - use a skip hop "pronto" on the floor
A full size crib - a smaller one should work for at least a year or you can use a "pack and play." or the stokke looks small.
A diaper pail - throw your diapers in the trash.
Toys - my son prefers everyday objects to toys.
Clothes - my son has only several outfits in his rotation.
Stroller - get one that is multi purpose. Phil and Teds -good for the city, can be used with two kids, can also be used for light jogging. A McClaren would be great if you need a stroller that folds.
Hope that helps!

Do as many families in other countries do:

They put the kids & all their toys, etc. in the one bedroom, and Mom & Dad sleep on a fold-out in the Living Room.

I've been giving G diapers to all my SF friends who have had babies. They're totally flushable, so they won't end up in your garbage.

A lot of the methods of "attachment parenting" work nicely for a family in a small space. Co-sleeping instead of having a huge wooden crib - there are small folding co-sleeper cribs that attach to the bed, like Arm's Reach. Carrying the baby in a sling is another example.

-no changing table, just a pad. Or, if you can stand how ugly they are, pack and plays have a changing table integrated.
-Moses basket instead of crib. Or, co-sleeping.
-Breastfeed so there are no bottles/paraphanalia to clean/store.
-Find diaper storage (somewhere) and give in to the fact that you won't be able to save money by buying in bulk.
-Feed in bed/in a comfy chair you already have.

Honestly, for the first three months you'll be thinking to yourself, "this is no problem at all!" and you'll be telling all your friends, "super small is the way to go! I'm too tired to clean anything bigger and everything is within easy reach." Then, slowly, the sleep deprivation is going to really set in and one of you is going to want a quiet place while the other tends to the baby in the middle of the night. S/he is going to start crawling and will be into everything within reach. The easy three month old who was fascinated by her fingers and pretty self contained is going to become an antsy nine month old who is bored and needs toys, eats (read: throws everywhere) solid food and wants to explore. Also, once they begin crawling, its nice for the pets to be able to get away. (at least my dog and cat!) If you're out of the house all the time: no problem. NoPa is a really nice neighborhood and with the rental market as it is, I understand not wanting to move...

Also, we got the Stokke crib and it takes up much less room than others. We also got the Stokke high chair because it pulls up to our dining room table and so, again, it takes up much less space.

Co-sleep and don't buy all that big, plastic junk they say babies need. You do NOT need a playpen, swing, exersaucer, and mounds of toys.

Good advice everyone!

Totally do-able. We have a slightly larger space (almost 650 square ft.) and our daughter just turned 4.

550 is fine for the first few years. (Been there.) There's no reason why an infant or toddler needs a separate bedroom.

But you might want to invest in ear plugs. Seriously. The foam kind are comfortable and keep you from going crazy during crying jags/colic. And until the baby sleeps through the night, you should take turns with the ear plugs, so you can get some decent sleep.

Put the baby in the basement.

We lived in 600 sf until our son was 16 mo. Fortunately, we had a large walk-in closet off of our br for him. I'm not an attatchment parenting person, and frankly, was glad to have him far enough away that we didn't hear every nighttime noise and we all slept better. It was a great experience, but I'm glad our house was enlarged to 900sf (we have two, now).
I highly recommend a porta-crib if you don't like or need pack-n-plays. Ours came from Babie's-r-us, it folds up flat for storing and wheels around. We painted it red and it is very cheerful!
Also, when our son was mobile and needed a safe place to play, I made an area in the corner of our living room--a baby gate between the couch and a bookcase created his own little corner. We called it the "no no zone" because nothing in it was off-limits and he could play safely.
Enjoy--the first year or so together in a small space is so great for building strong family ties.

There was one comment about the baby sleeping through the night: That should be one of the first things you do! Train the kid to sleep through anything. Don't pick them up at every whim after 3 weeks. Make them fit your schedule.

Seriously, I can sleep through nearly anything.

I think the key is to limit your possessions to what you need and use everyday and to not own too many clothes you rarely wear or give your child too many toys that can clutter the place. My husband and I live in a tiny Tokyo apartment and (about 250 sq. ft.) and it's made much easier by just not storing too much junk.

One thing though which you may want to do is choose new furniture very carefully with storage in mind. Also, don't add furniture for more storage as you'll crowd yourself out. Try and figure out what you can get rid of rather than store. I've been taking furniture out of our space for the last 4 years by doing this and it's very much opened up the space.

One good example of furniture which helps with storage is the type of sofa we have. Our sofa is a fold-down (it turns into a single bed for visitors) but the bottom is a large storage space. It's pictured here but the horrid color scheme has been changed (no more pink and blue):

http://myso-calledjapaneselife.blogspot.com/2006/08/sitting-sleeping-and-storing-pretty.html

Having this allows storage of things like bed linens and winter blankets when not in use and it doesn't even look like a storage area.

We have 2, and not much more space. You can see our place in the smallest coolest contest right now!

But with one child, I would really advocate making the bedroom a family sleep space with crib and bed or cosleeping, your choice. And keeping the toys in the living room. It's not like an infant can play on his/her own, so putting baby toys and crib all in one room seems a little silly to me, whereas it makes sense for an older kid. You'll be more comfortable playing with the baby in the living room, so that's where toys make more sense. You don't need much "stuff" along the lines of swing, exersaucer, etc., but someplace to put them down to play is nice. I have the bjorn babysitter, a bouncy seat. Looks nice, folds totally flat for storage, and it works as a little chair up to age 2 or so.

I don't believe in cry it out, but even if you do decide to do it, realize that until they're about 6 months old, infants have no concept of object permanence. That means that when they can't see you, they don't remember that you exist. Leave them alone in a room to cry, they have no idea that you're around. It can also be hard on neighbors if you live in an apartment.

On the other hand, I know babies who did cry it out who are now totally happy, sleeping in their own room preschoolers, and former cosleepers like my daughter who are now totally happy, sleeping in their own room preschoolers. Look at child development stages and then do what works for your family.

You don't specify your pets. In a small apartment, animal hair, dirt box, and infant safety are very hard to maintain. You may want to think about this. You can live in the apartment fine. If the child is colicky, no one will sleep in your building, much less you.

We are in a 4 room floor-through that is about 500 square feet. Anchored by kitchen & living room and 2 small bedrooms in the center. No doors. Our family includes me, my husband, an 8 month old & a 3 1/2 year old. Oh, and our large dog. When baby #2 was on his way, we created space by going vertical. Our then 2 1/2 year old began climbing to his "high top bed", loft, which is next to the living room. We took out a closet & built the loft and cabinets in its place. Bookcase up there too. The loft is built so that only the ladder comes to the floor, freeing up most of the floor space for play. Baby 2 sleeps in a full crib under the loft. Low shelves line the opposite wall of their room for toys & books, but most of the toys are shelved on the bottom portion of an ikea cubed shelving unit in the lr. Keeps everything off of the floor for maximum space to play. Murphy bed will go in our room soon.
Also, we have paired down our belongings and rented a small storage unit since closet space is half of what it once was. New closet, still in progress, is being built in a slight recess in the living room. We leave the stroller downstairs and bikes in our hallway. We are still working on having a place for all items to be shelved or housed in cabinets.

Crying baby was never an issue for us. If he cried, he was hungry, fed and put back to bed content...even if it was 3 times a night! My concern now is that the baby will wake #1 son in the morning with his babbling and laughter.

There are days when the walls are closing in and then I rearrange my furniture...again. Good luck.

"We leave the stroller downstairs and bikes in our hallway. "

Glad that works for you. I don't think extending into the hallway is always an option though - if my downstairs neighbours did that, I would be pretty annoyed. Then again, each building/situation is a bit different.

once you polish off all those bottles of wine you won't even know you're living in a small space.

"There was one comment about the baby sleeping through the night: That should be one of the first things you do! Train the kid to sleep through anything. Don't pick them up at every whim after 3 weeks. Make them fit your schedule."

Worst advice ever.

Simply irresponsible advice.

no it's not bad advice - i had a baby at age 18 when i was in school and worked. you have to make a kid fit your life to understand how the world works - otherwise kids are totally spoiled brats by the time they grow up. my son is so kind and sensitive to others around him, especially compared to most 11 year olds! if the baby is fed and warm and clean, there is nothing else that needs to be done except go to sleep if it's night time.

Parents and children are unique, and different PARENTING solutions work for different folks. Daniel was looking for DESIGN advice, rather than breast/bottle and co-sleeping. Otherwise he would have posted to a parenting blog. Yes there is some overlap (Daniel, you don't need much at all to start with, a few outfits and blankies). But you can sort everything else out as you get to know the baby and figure out what makes you most comfortable in your new role as parents.

Space wise, the thing that can be really hard is getting rid of kids stuff once they are done with it ... tiny clothes, favorite toys... 7 boxes of crayon scribbles... hard to part with. Don't be too sentimental or you will be swamped with stuff down the road. Or if you want to save things for a second kid, be selective and just keep special stuff.

"make them fit your schedule" is not bad advice, it's scary advice. In order to do this you have to listen to the constant crying of a helpless, defenseless, baby. Who can do that and still retain his humanity? My children are old now (33 and 30) but I did have a child who got up three times a night until he was 18 months old. For advice: go slow on "getting ready for the baby." Newborns are incredible mobile. So, get a moses basket, clear the top of a bureau for a changing table, and then re-evaluate when he grows out of the basket.

check out Maxwell's comment's in the April issue of Cookie -- it's posted on the ohdeedoh site. Great advice.

Limit the well-meaning stuffed animals -- get rid of them if you must, but try to fend them off in the first place.

you really don't need a lot of stuff for a baby -- far less than all the magazines and our consumerist society leads you to believe.

As Maxwell mentioned in his article, the Gulliver crib is small and inexpensive and well-suited to a small apartment. We have one in our tiny bedroom. The Stokke crib is small too, but more expensive. Or a co-sleeping bed attachment, to be followed by what Montessori recommends -- a mattress on the floor.

We don't have great knees or backs (sports injuries) and so could not change diapers on the floor or bed, therefore I would set up a changing area on dresser.

Don't need a highchair (use a babybjorn seat until they can use the phil&ted clip-on seat or a booster), although something that provides movement is nice -- a good stroller or swing.

This isn't a parenting blog, but the comment about training a baby at 3 weeks is ridiculous -- babies that young only cry to alert a parent of a need. And three week olds need to eat about every four hours or so -- their tummies are tiny. They grow out of it at different rates -- our daughter (defying the natural laws) slept from 11 pm to 7 am after only 4 weeks; our son, more typical, took much longer to sleep through the night. Different kids, different needs.

In graduate school, all the student families lived in apartments that were 600 square feet. Front room, kitchen, two small bedrooms, bath. No usable outdoors space except for bike storage. Some of the families had one, two, three, even four kids in that space. It is possible. When you hit about five occupants, it starts feeling crowded, but not anything close to Third World.

You just have to be wise about small scale furniture and continual decluttering.

Start thinking about moving. You'll go completely insane otherwise.

"We leave the stroller downstairs and bikes in our hallway. "

I was with you up until that point.

Hallways are common areas for all tenants - not a storage space for you or anyone else.

Your neighbors will appreciate the courtesy of you putting your bikes and strollers in storage.

I think you need to figure out what's best for your child (not what's best for you or what you want) and then go from there.

If you're going to be a parent you need to put your child's needs before your needs. If you don't put your child's needs first who will?

I wish you the best of luck.

well, these people did it in less than 300 square feet:

http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/home/decorating/slide/20070220/decor_20070220_350_212.jhtml

They built in a ton of storage space around the walls. But they spend a lot of time outside the apartment with the baby since they live in such a great neighborhood.

arza & bepsf,
I have lived in my small building for 12 years along with several of the other tenants. My neighbors help me with packages and the children up 3 flights of stairs. They do not begrudge the stroller in the foyer recess. It is temporary, with no more children in our future. Our second floor houses the trash, open in the hall, which we all pass each day. Let's just say this is a "casual" building. We are on the top floor and the bikes live near our back door which only one tenant passes. She doesn't mind, as I have asked, but we continue to try to create a space for them in our home. They go into storage during the cooler months.
I do agree that the hall is communal and appreciate the reminder. The constant battle for additional breathing space in this city can be maddening, leaving blank mind, closed heart and infringement on others. I am lucky to have an understanding community that is either impartial, carefree or generous.

Thanks for all of the helpful design-related responses. (We can do without unsolicited parenting advice, thank you very much!)

As many suggested, we're in the process of de-cluttering our space and crossing the unneeded baby supplies off our list. We're confident that we'll have a great time with our new baby in our tiny apartment!

Best,
Daniel

This is kind of a cheat but SwissMiss posted a list I can totally get behind.

http://swissmiss.typepad.com/weblog/2007/05/swissmiss_favor.html

I've used every product except for the swiss blanket vest thing which I think is kinda wierd. The last product the Jojo is a hanging baby bassinet, we used a Amby baby hammock which is very similar and LOVED it. You can hang it over the foot of your bed and when the baby fusses you can make it rock or bounce with a tap of your foot. Pure Genius! We still cosleep with 5yr old and a 3 yr old and wouldn't give up one night of it for the world. As soon as they want their own space they can have it but until then I plan on enjoying every snuggle I can get ;-) Also we have clip on portable high chair we use as the regular high chair.