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I agree with others that you and dh and baby should move into the loft. Use black out blinds, drapery, white noise, to make it work for baby.

@cranberryapple: not even suburbs? I'd rent your current place and then maybe rent a smaller place in the burbs that has enough rooms for your family.

You could use the master for naps at least. But I'd go with bedtime in the loft with you and your husband. My kids have learned to deal with some noise and light, they're adaptable to some things as babies (well sometimes). Now when the dogs bark when someone rings the doorbell, that's another story. But I'd have the bathroom as a last resort option, I like babies near parents as newborns especially.

@cranberryapple: I really have no solutions for you beyond totally nixing the bathroom idea. But I will say... I love that you listed "bacon" as your interest on your HB profile.

@cranberryapple: I would think it wouldn't be any different than how most kids nap at daycare and then sleep at home... Just as long as it's the routine...

The first thing I thought of was That Wife. Let's just say putting my baby in the bathroom, especially when I had another option, is not something I would do.

I would try to make the loft work first.

I did this with a spare bathroom at my parents when LO was too little to know. We tried being in the same room and that room just wasn't working, so we put the full size crib in the extra bathroom and used a different bathroom. Let the ugly comments roll but it was for a couple weeks and clean. No part of her crib ever touched the toilet. I've heard of people doing this in hotels too. Not for a permanent thing but honestly I wouldn't go so far as to say you're crazy or make a bitchy comment.

Are there no other "room" that might fit the pack n play? A closet? A alcove you can build a wall and add a door or curtain?

It just seem un hygienic to put a newborn in a bathroom at a time when cleanliness is so important. If the loft idea doesn't work out and this is the only solution I would not use that bathroom. . Ever. While the baby is sleeping in there.

P. S. Crazy idea. Is DH handy at all? What about building a wall to close off the loft area?

If you do end up using the bathroom just make sure to run your shower and flush your toilet (not being used) somewhat regularly. In our house we don't always use the downstairs shower and if the trap dries out it lets sewer gas in, so the shower needs to be run regularly to keep water in the trap.

You probably haven't had this problem yet or you would have noticed but our sewer vent sometimes gets clogged with leaves or snow and sewer odor comes in quickly then but it's easy to clean the leaves out, I just wouldn't want someone sleeping in the bathroom when that were to happen, I don't know if there's something to install to prevent that but something to keep an eye on and make sure you know where the vent is.

@cranberryapple: I personally wouldn't put the baby in the bathroom. I would have your older child in your master bedroom and then you, your DH and new baby in the loft. Little newborns are awake thoughout the night anyways and trust me, they will adapt!

When our LO was born, we had a 1 bdrm/1 bathroom apt. We turned our dining area into a nursery nook for her. When we put her to bed, we would just dim the lights, turn on her white noise machine, and she would be fine. We would continue to watch tv, eat, whatever for the rest of the night. It wasn't a big deal. We got into the routine, she got into the routine. Everyone was happy and survived.

Just get a dimmer for your lights!!! It will really help.

While I agree with those who say the loft should be fine with curtains and white noise, I personally wouldn't think anything of putting the baby in a clean, non-used bathroom. It just doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.

In NYC it's pretty common to have "temporary" walls put up. They come and install a pressurized wall that is from floor to ceiling and has a door. You rent them for a period of time and then they come back and remove it. Before I could afford my own place my friend and I rented a 1 bedroom and partitioned the living room. Unless I told you, you probably would never have known it was a temporary wall. I think it's $1-2,000 if I remember correctly, and when they remove the wall you get a big chunk back because they reuse the walls. but it's been a while, I could be wrong. I'd think in another big city with lots of apartment living they'd have that option too?
Personally I'd rather lose a corner of my living room, master bedroom, or loft space than to use the bathroom. Not just because of hygiene but also because it's hard enough for my husband and I to share one bathroom on a vacation let alone every day

Also maybe an NYC thing because we have so much street noise, but I thought that you were supposed to not be quiet when baby is napping so that they learn to sleep through it? I think my friends do that...I just assumed that's what you're supposed to do? Guess I'll learn in 5-6 months!

@SweetiePie: I always thought the same thing - about not trying to be quiet - but it ended up so that my child needs silence! I think every kid is different, but especially the first child would be more apt to needing quiet sleeping conditions. Kids in larger families with older siblings tend to adapt better to noise (coming from a family of 6, my baby sister slept through everything).

@SweetiePie: our LO sleeps through our noisy dogs.. They just get used to it, I think

I read somewhere that it was good for babies to be exposed to household noise when sleeping because then they were more portable and didn't need silence or white noise machines to sleep. And they don't like quiet when they're babies because they're used to loud body noises. So the theroy was that you just do whatever you want to do as loudly as you want always and it's background noise like a white noise machine. Anyway, I took this as gospel truth, and I live in a super loud apartment with lots of neighbour noise and street noise, and the tv is usually on because I am a lonely heart and the doors to bedrooms are always open because I am a lonely heart and LO is almost 8 months and has always slept through it, unless it's something super loud and unusual like the phone ringing next to her or my dog having a prolonged barking meltdown.

Anyway, I don't know if it's a fluke, but noise really doesn't bother her sleeping. As she got to be less of a newborn she became more sound sensitive, but it still does not have to be quiet for her to sleep well. All this is to say that I would put new baby in the loft, worry about the light, but carry on the same with the noise, and see if that works. If not, then you can always move new baby to the bathroom!

My litmus test for places I'm okay letting LO sleep is whether I'd like to sleep there myself. I have two additional concerns about bathroom/closet-type nurseries: air flow (even with a window, small rooms do not circulate air or maintain temperatures like bigger ones) and safety (would a firefighter for sure check this spot if something terrible happened?). If the loft can be made to work, I'd do that. I'd be willing to bet that if you coslept/co-roomed for a while, your LOs would be ready to roomshare by 6mos to a year.

It's been mentioned a few times already but do you have a closet you could put baby in? I slept in a closet the first few months of my life and I turned out fine

Ok, I seriously don't understand the big deal about a baby sleeping in the bathroom. It's not like you're making them sleep in the bathtub or something. It's not ideal but it's not awful. I feel like it would be more practical for you to have the baby next to you for awhile though. I think the idea of you, DH and baby moving to the loft and older son staying in bedroom might work? And then later on moving baby to the bedroom also. I hope it all works out for you guys. Living in small spaces can be rough, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

I think that surely there must be another solution. I can't really give a suggestion without actually visiting your place, but I just can't imagine putting a baby in the bathroom is the only solution.

I don't think it's necessarily the worst thing ever if your baby sleeps in the bathroom, I just think there must be a way to reorganize the space you have so that the baby doesn't have to sleep in the bathroom.

I wouldn't want to sleep in a bathroom, so I wouldn't want my baby to sleep in one either.

@oliviaoblivia: ditto.

I'd say be in the loft with nb baby and son in master. or even couch with nb baby with son in master. before ever considering a bathroom.

Or, I'd move!