Babies! In Closets!
Just a cute baby in a crib in the closet.
So, the thing is, last week I put Huck to sleep in the closet. Like, in the closet where the shoes live and things. Swaddled up (still swaddling!) in his car seat (still car seating . . . uhhhhhh). He slept for nine hours straight, so . . . so let’s talk about this like civilized people, shall we?
We have, in our glorious 12-month plan, the task of finding a new apartment. Not now, but soon. It’s there but it’s not there there, like, it’s something we want to do? Soon? But not soon as in as soon as possible. The timing is not quite yet right. And the internal struggle of my existence lately is, since we may stay put, do we sink money into this place by getting apartment-specific storage solutions? Or, do we acknowledge that we are moving soon and not put any more money into this set up?
Already this is a thought conversation that makes my brain leak, only now we are adding the complication of a very light sleeper. He needs his own bedroom. Ideally, it’d be a walk-in closet, and not our only closet, which isn’t a walk-in closet so much as a step-in-and-shuffle-to-the-side style closet. But, by some miraculous twist of expensive engineering, his mini crib is indeed mini, and the other day I discovered it fits in there perfectly. Like a dream! (Get it?) And suddenly our bedroom feels huge! And there are doors to his sleeping area! We can shut them!
Suddenly an imminent move seems silly. Hasty! I mean, why go now? Suddenly we have privacy? WE ARE SO STAYING PUT.
Also suddenly, sleep training seems entirely plausible to me. Oh, but doors can make any dream a reality.
(Huck’s pediatrician told me to use “extinction” method sleep training at our check up and I decided possibly to “extinction method” her . . . another time, another time.)
So! I’d like to make that closet a little more homey for him, you know, move his clothes in there somehow, bring in an air purifier, and uh, take out all our shoes . . .
So tell me your life philosophy. Babies in closets: cruel? or genius? And how would you decorate a closet-sized nursery on a closet-sized budget? And what is the best (cheapest) wardrobe solution you know of? I am having organizational fantasies and I need to see this brought to fruition!
Thanks, friends.
Babble’s 10 Best Storage Ideas: Toy boxes, storage bins, and more!
When our baby was very new and she was sleeping in our room in her pack n’ play, she would be so noisy at night, grunting and straining etc…that we moved her into the master bathroom and shut the door. At first I thought it was gross and cruel, but the silence we had and the better nights’ sleeps were well worth it, and, of course, she was fine…and is now in her own room!
P.s., that picture of your Huck baby peeping over his crib is priceless, what a face!
I would go with Vinyl wall decals. You can find almost anything, and most of them are reuseable if you really love them. Plus the added bunos of not having to repaint if(when) you move out.
“Nobody puts baby in a corner!”
I’ve never heard closets were bad. They’re just mini rooms.
umm. I meant bonus. ><
First rule of parenting: Mom and Dad’s relationship comes first. If it’s parent-centered, rather than child-centered, your marriage will go the distance. You guys NEED time away from him. And he NEEDS good solid sleep (as do you!). So, I see problem solving in the greatest form, rather than cruelty! As for the decorating…good luck with that! =)
totally not cruel. my brother lived in a closet when he was 8 (per his insisting on his own “room”) and i think the baby could care less especially since all they do there is sleep right?
as for wardrobe ideas: my sister-in-law has this: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/no-closet-try-a-clothing-rack-097871. It’s functional and eclectic-ish. If you don’t like having your clothes all exposed like that you could get a folding screen thing-a-ma-jig and hide it behind it maybe?
Pretty sure our grandparents’ generation used dresser drawers instead of bassinettes, so a closet is quite the upgrade.
You’re not cruel. And here’s some ideas for you: http://offbeatmama.com/2009/10/walk-in-closet-nursery
http://offbeatmama.com/2010/05/nursery-walk-in-closet
http://offbeatmama.com/2010/07/closet-kids-room
Holy Jeebus, Nat! That adorable chunky munky in the closet looks right at home. I love the idea of being able to shut the doors not only so mom and dad can have some private time, but I have to think that it will create an ideal atmosphere conducive for your huckleberry friend to sleep soundly–dark, quiet. Don’t we all sleep better that way?
We are expecting and everyone’s first concern is “where will you put it?”. They can’t imagine how a baby could possible survive w/o a fancy proper nursery. Love your idea!
My baby’s room is my closet right now. Fortunately, I have a walk in and there is lots of room in there, but I see nothing wrong with it. Our house is set up where the master bedroom is upstairs by itself. I wasn’t comfortable keeping my little one downstairs alone, so I sacrificed my closet and we keep his things in there. The crib, for now, is still in our actual room, but when he starts standing up and giving my husband and I no privacy, into the closet he goes.
As for your decorating ideas… I would take down the doors and put up a curtain, just for ventilation purposes. I also saw some great baby changing table organizers that you could probably fix to the walls to store things in. Baskets under the crib are great ways to store clothes and blankets. I used peel off wall decals and taped glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. I also put a valance on the inside of the closet doors. Want to see pics? I’d be glad to share.
Good luck!
i’m a fan of babies in closets! at home our boys (4 and 18 m0nths) have their own rooms, so when we go on vacation its a bit disruptive sleep wise to us all to sleep in the same room. they’ve both slept in closets and closetish laundry rooms. basically anywhere i can squeeze a pack n play or pup tent (for the big one) that has a door. yay for actually sleeping on vacation! (or anytime!)
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Take a look at an awesome closet turned nursery:
http://jordanferney.blogspot.com/2011/02/moses-and-romans-closet-part-iii.html
If I didn’t have an extra room I would do it! Luckily for us, we had just bought a 3 b/r hour before I got pregnant. But even though we had, I still almost made my big walk in closet my son’s room, lol. I decorated a nursery, but I was so nervous about him sleeping all the way across the house. So I almost turned the closet into a nursery, lol. But right now he sleeps with us in our bed. It is what works for us and we love it because we get such sleep. But if he wasn’t and we didn’t have an extra room, I would totally do it. Probably helps make them feel more secure anyway not being in that big ole open space alone. I would totally try the wall decal thing. We decorated my son’s nursery with wall decals because we are military and want to be able to sell the house when we move without repainting the walls. You can find wall decals at target, wal mart, hobby lobby, and tons of cute ones on etsy (what we did).
Babies in closets. I’ve done that. It’s genius. Obviously.
When my son started going to the sitter his assigned sleeping spot was the laundry room…he wasn’t the greatest napper either. I guess the dryer is great “white noise” – it worked!
Have been off line for a while, part of the broken day… Like the new blog look. Huck looks perfectly content in his new room. How terrific. How is he feeling now? Hey! You rock at being flexible! Go for it!
I had a my two children (1 boy and 1 girl) in a 2 bedroom townhouse. They had to share a room. The 5yr old (my daughter) was constantly begging for her own room. I made a very safe toddler size loft bed with safety rails that fit perfectly along the wall of their walk in closet and added a small chair and bookshelf underneath. She had a private place to sleep or read when her brother became annoying
You can’t argue with happy faces!
Our daughter lived in our Master Closet for months when visiting relatives took over her “real” room. It has walls and a door – it’s just a small room.
We actually moved from a three bedroom to a two bedroom b/c it was nicer, and in giving up the extra room had our first born sleeping in our closet (my brother lived in the other). I moved his things in to make it homey feeling like you suggested and it was quite snuggly in there. Our closet was big enough to fit his full sized crib and changing table.
My only advice is make sure you get good ventilation in there, firstly so he can breath well with the doors closed, and secondly b/c if he has a poopy diaper and you don’t discover it until the end of nap/bed time, it is going to smell really bad in there for a while.
Have fun coming up with a fun way to make it work!
On every vacation we put our pack n play in the closet of where we are staying and that is where our baby sleeps. Gives you more room and more privacy. If it works on vacay, don’t know why it can’t work at home.
I thought it was a good idea when I moved in with my parents, and i had a walkn closet which was the perfect size for my toddlers to sleep in. They played in my room during the day, which left me no space.
Air flow. SIDS.