Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 20, 2007 11:20 am Hi
As people on the forumn are porbably aware I have been looking at building a bridgeport from PD (single storey) but I am staring to have a few doubts about the bedroom locations. The master is at the front of the house and the other three bedrooms are donw the back. This seems to be the way most builders now build their single storey homes of about 30+ squares. IE: parents bedroom at front and kids at back. I will be having a child next year and was wondering if this will be an issue. IE: security and safety having the children so far away or will things like baby monitors be able to get me through that first few years of neededing to be as close as possible.\\ Any thoughts would be great Re: Bedroom locations for young children 2Aug 20, 2007 11:53 am A very good question.
I have had both rooms close and now far far away (it feels). There are good points for both. When they were close and I could hear crying in the middle of the night it was not far to go. But also when I woke up and made any noise they were awake also. So now we are up the other end and I can still hear them cry - especially on floorboards it echos. But I really like the fact I can get up and watch my morning news, have a shower etc and the kids are still in bed asleep. Plus down the track I will appreciate them furthur away also. my 2c. Hope it helps. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 3Aug 20, 2007 12:05 pm In our previous house we were at the front and the boys were down the back. We could still hear everything and didn't need a monitor.
It was a pain when entertaining though as the family room and entertaining areas were also down the back so if we were a rowdy bunch then it sometimes disturbed their sleep. In the house we are building the boys bedrooms are at the front and ours is at the back. I much prefer the idea of kids having their own area. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 4Aug 20, 2007 12:23 pm There's no way of knowing whether you'll get a good sleeper or not (and most are not), I would definitely go for bedrooms close together, there's nothing worse than having to go up and down a hallway 10 times during the night because your baby/toddler can't stay asleep for long. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 5Aug 20, 2007 12:26 pm When children are babies, I think it makes sense to have them very close to hear them crying and attend to them. Perhaps even in the main bedroom or an alcove off the main bedroom
When kids are older (2 to 10) it proably makes sense to have them close to attend to them and make sure they're not wondering around the house. Once kids are older, I think, it better if they are further away so that you each have your own areas. All we need now is reconfigurable houses and everything will be fine. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Bedroom locations for young children 6Aug 20, 2007 12:31 pm Casa2
I agree but want to live in this house until kids are old enough to leave. IE: 20 years. So I need to decide on the best way to go for the long haul. The house I am building has three bedrooms and a kids play area down the back hallway from the kitchen. My bedroom is speperate at the front. It is the right floor plan in terms of rooms just not sure about my bedroom location. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 7Aug 20, 2007 12:38 pm stevec Casa2 I agree but want to live in this house until kids are old enough to leave. IE: 20 years. So I need to decide on the best way to go for the long haul. The house I am building has three bedrooms and a kids play area down the back hallway from the kitchen. My bedroom is speperate at the front. It is the right floor plan in terms of rooms just not sure about my bedroom location. If I had to choose, I would have all bedrooms together at one end of a house. If you go for separation between master bedroom and the rest, I would mitigate with sound monitors. Ideally I would add motion sensors as well. Both these are only required while children are very young. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Bedroom locations for young children 8Aug 20, 2007 12:59 pm Hi there,
These bedrooms will be fine for the long term. However when your children are young or babies, you will find that you may be up to them a bit during the night for feeding/ unwell/ wet bed etc. I have friends with a similr house design. When the kids are sick they either bunk down in a room close by or have the child sleep in their room on the floor. I am personally not keen on the co sleeping idea. Rest assured you will be able to hear your child even without the monitor. It is amazing how you can hear and determine your own childs cry. I think the long term benefits will out weigh the disadvantages. As someone stated, it is better that when you want to get up without waking the kids, you can. I am a firm bliever in making sure my kids realise what is appropriate behaviour such as staying in their bed until it is time to get up and wandering the house is not an option. Good luck J. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 9Aug 20, 2007 2:16 pm We have 3 young children (all under 4) and we are about to move into a Henley Voyager. It has a separate kids play area plus bedrooms. We made the decision that this was best for the LONG run. In the mean time we are hoping that when one or all are sick we will be able to crash either in their room or in the kids retreat.
If I were you I would just buy a cradle/bassinet for the first few months and put that in your WIR if you have one. Use the cot during the day and the cradle during the night or get one with wheels and move it around the house -Its really only the first 3 months (if you are lucky) that you have to do lots of night feeds and changes. Personally now that my baby days are over I can't wait to not have hubby wake all kids when having breaky or a shower. But we will use monitors also just to keep a track on them. We are just planning on having the receiver in the kitchen so we can hear it if TV's are on. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 10Aug 20, 2007 3:01 pm We were really unsure when doing our plans regarding main bedroom position. We currently have a 7 & 4 yr old but are about to have another baby.
We decided to have our bedroom away from the kids for the long term benefits. Initially we may even utilise one of the kids bedrooms for the first 6 mths or so & then move to other end of the house. We are planning on being in our house a long time so this is what we thought would be best for us. Jo Re: Bedroom locations for young children 11Aug 20, 2007 4:43 pm Keep your bedroom away from the kids. Put the baby in the study if it's near the master BR, or in the WIR as someone else said.
We are planning to have the master away from the other bedrooms and I can't wait to be able to make normal noises in there! Re: Bedroom locations for young children 12Aug 20, 2007 5:09 pm My kids are 10 and 7. Until we moved recently we were in a house similar to the Bridgeport with the master bedroom at the front and the kids' bedrooms at the back. Although we had a baby monitor, I never really needed it - you become very attuned to the slightest noise! If you want them close by as a baby when they are waking frequently you can always have the bassinet in your bedroom until they go into a cot. I preferred to go and feed in a rocking chair in their bedroom - there is no need for everyone to be awake! We have always (and still do) left a light on so the kids can come and find us in the night if they need to. Both my kids have spent periods where they came through and got into bed with us at night. Every family is different - you'll find what works for you but since they are only small for such a short time (even if it doesn't feel like it as you walk the floor at 3am!) I think it's better to plan for the future. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 13Aug 20, 2007 5:18 pm I have 2 kiddies - an 11 year old & a 7 month old. We have the PD Wentworth...with the master bedroom downstairs & the kid's rooms upstairs. We also have insulation between the floors, so can't hear upstairs.
You'll probably find it easiest to have bubs in the same room with you initially - especially if you're breastfeeding. With all the night feeds, it's just easier to not have to walk far to get to them. I found with my youngest, though, that he disturbed very easily & we both got better sleep when I moved him into his own room. Both children were put into their own room when they got too big for the bassinet. I love not having him near our room & prefer it to when I had my daughter & she was in the room next to ours. We both just sleep much better & there's less noise overall. We use a monitor & it's more than adequate keep an ear out for him...plus I can vary the volume (always handy). However, I can't hear him without it, so always have it on. Walking round in the middle of the night gets a bit tedious but it's only for a short while. And the rest of the years we spend in this house will be blissfully quiet because I can't hear the kid's noise from upstairs...always handy when they get older & start playing music, etc. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 14Aug 20, 2007 7:03 pm Just put a study/bedroom with a door next to the master bedroom and use one of the other bedrooms as a study in the interim. Then when the child is older move him/her into the room being used as a study and convert the bedroom next to the master into a study. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 15Aug 20, 2007 7:41 pm hey stevec
Had the same issues when designing our house because we also are wanting to stay for the long term. We have chosen to have the kids bedrooms and retreat away from the master. We do have a study close to the master and if we need when kids are small will use that as a nursery. In the end seperation is best for long term sanity of a house hold. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 16Aug 20, 2007 9:39 pm I've had far away and I've had close - I prefer far away. Try sleeping in with two kids playing in a room nearby . My kids are only two and five and they are going to appreciate the distance more than me eventually. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 17Aug 21, 2007 12:01 pm penjay My kids are 10 and 7. Until we moved recently we were in a house similar to the Bridgeport with the master bedroom at the front and the kids' bedrooms at the back. Although we had a baby monitor, I never really needed it - you become very attuned to the slightest noise! If you want them close by as a baby when they are waking frequently you can always have the bassinet in your bedroom until they go into a cot. I preferred to go and feed in a rocking chair in their bedroom - there is no need for everyone to be awake! We have always (and still do) left a light on so the kids can come and find us in the night if they need to. Both my kids have spent periods where they came through and got into bed with us at night. Every family is different - you'll find what works for you but since they are only small for such a short time (even if it doesn't feel like it as you walk the floor at 3am!) I think it's better to plan for the future. This pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. We leave the light on too and we had them in a cot in our bedroom at first. Later they moved out and they can come to our room if afraid but we try not to encourage it - they know that can come if they really are scared though. We found that with the kids in our room, any noise and we would get up but if we left them they would often resettle. This was easier to do when they are in a different room. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 18Aug 21, 2007 1:41 pm brittany I've had far away and I've had close - I prefer far away. Try sleeping in with two kids playing in a room nearby . My kids are only two and five and they are going to appreciate the distance more than me eventually. We have only had them close, due to extremely small (rental) houses. My kids are 12, 9 and 6. I can't wait for their rooms to be away from ours. Not because of sleeping in, but because hubby works afternoon shift. He gets home around 2-3 am, and sleeps until 11am. So kids playing and shouting in their rooms is not ideal- especially during holidays and/or time out. Miss 6 sure has a set of lungs on her, and the 2 boys only have 2 volumes....loud and louder!! Mr 12 is already choosing his room on the house plans.....the one furtherest from us, so I guess he appreciates the distance already. Re: Bedroom locations for young children 19Aug 21, 2007 4:19 pm I think that there are pro's and cons to each...but if you are planning on staying there for awhile think about the long terms rather than just the baby stage!
I have a 2 year old and we plan to have another one soon - in the house we are in now we are close to the bedrooms. Fantastic when you need to get up at night...although my son sleeps thru most nights so that isn't a huge factor now. But big negative is that you have to go right past his room to get to the main bedroom & ensuite or front door so at night we tip toe around! Next house bedrooms will be down the back further away from the main bedroom in their own separate wing as I think that will suit us better.... Re: Bedroom locations for young children 20Aug 21, 2007 6:09 pm Ideally we prefer separate areas for kids and adults. Our new house has the adult areas (main bedroom, ensuite and retreat) downstairs at the front of the house, the family and kitchen areas at the rear, and kids domain is upstairs.
Our daughter has her own 5.5 x 3.8 mtre bedroom, ensuite, retreat and large balcony (balcony doors will be locked until she is age appropriate - I can just imagine her hanging from the balcony railing yelling for help ). Right now she is still sleeping with us most nights so the separate areas are a bit of a dream rather than reality. Word of advice: never let your baby sleep in your bed ... it is very hard to get them out We stayed at a fabulous holiday house on Kangaroo Island. The kids had their own entertainment room off the kitchen/family room which was absolutely perfect. Kept all the toys in one containable area close to adult supervision. Cheers Beetle Personally, considering your layout (study/work desks in bedrooms), I don't think you have any other option but to leave NW windows and make them as big as possible e.g.… 7 10453 Hi, I'm planning to build a new house and wanted to get some feedback on the different window designs for a master bedroom. Our bedroom is north facing and the bed will… 0 4552 1 15704 |