Nay:
When I was pregnant with my older daughter, it became clear to us quite early on that we didn’t need a baby room. What for? We got an extra bed that was attached to my side of the bed and there was a bassinet (with wheels) that was primarily intended for the living room.
And when our daughter was there, that’s exactly what happened. She mostly slept in our bed because she needed a lot of physical contact and that also made nighttime breastfeeding easier. But the baby bed was a good place to rest ;). Otherwise, she would lie on a playmat during the day or later sit in a baby bouncer. But most of the time one of us had her in our arms anyway. She was a total baby carrier and didn’t like the stroller until she could sit in it. Babies are always and everywhere with us anyway. We changed diapers at night in the bedroom (short distances), which is why the changing table was there and during the day we almost always changed diapers wherever she was lying. But sometimes also on the changing table.
The fact that we didn’t immediately give up our work and guest room also had some very practical advantages. We had a guest room for visits in the first few months, so my mother, who was very supportive of us in the first few weeks, was able to stay with us a few times. And sometimes we also used it so that one of us could sleep in peace. In addition, both of them could work there and still be at home.
We didn’t start thinking about having our own children’s room until our daughter was around 9 months old. Then we made the third room into a really nice toddler room. She hasn’t slept there yet (hello family bed), but it has been used extensively to play.
With our second daughter we didn’t even ask ourselves the question. We wouldn’t have had enough rooms back then anyway. But we bought a larger family bed!
Yay:
Our baby room was set up in my head long before our little son came into the world. Previously it was a rather neglected walk-through room where laundry was dried and a desk was used so that the room could be called a study.
At one point I sat in the rocking chair, heavily pregnant, and cried as I looked at the children’s books that had been laid out. I knelt on the floor and, with a big stomach, tried to sand and paint great-grandma’s old bed.
Little by little it became more and more comfortable, of course only when it was literally filled with life. I couldn’t really imagine that we would stay here often. Some laughed at the rocking chair that was purchased “especially for breastfeeding.” Behind a knowing smile was the certainty of the friends with children that breastfeeding actually happens everywhere, except probably in a rocking chair.
But actually: We didn’t just change diaper after diaper here, we cuddled and breastfed in the rocking chair, we got our little baby ready for bed under his swan mobile every evening. It was a retreat for us as a young family, even if there were relatives sitting in the living room waiting for the baby. And of course, there were a few tears of despair when the excessive demands or the hormones were too much.
The mobile above the baby bed was initially for quiet moments when I could safely put the baby down, but after just six months our son was sleeping alone in his own bed. We sang, rocked and soothed in the rocking chair, we tickled and played on the carpet or looked at the colorful pictures on the walls. We still love his room today, even though more and more toys are being introduced and rattles, teethers and wash bowls have given way to diggers and Duplo. Every evening we snuggle up in the rocking chair or rocker and read our bedtime stories in the cozy light. And even today, one or two tears roll down!
Photo: Toa Heftiba
