2 Story Homes with Master Downstairs

I have the same problem. When my son was first born we kept him in the pack and play in our room. Then at 2 months he went upstairs to his own room with a monitor. He started sleeping through the night about a week after that so I never had to sleep upstairs. It was only a week of going up there to tend to him. We will be transitioning to a toddler bed this year and plan on adding a babyproof lock to his door on the outside. Our stairs are already securely gated, but this will be extra protection to keep him in his room. We are also in the process of bolting ALL furniture to the walls so there is no chance he can pull his dresser on him or anything like that. Just keep the monitor on so you can hear if they get into trouble and make sure the room is childproofed and let him be.

I have a 2 story home with my 2 yr old upstairs and we're downstairs. We put him in a toddler bed last weekend. We can hear him get out of bed either through the monitor or through the pitter patter sound of his little feet. We keep his door open once we go to bed, so we don't have a problem hearing anything we need to hear. In fact, I'm considering throwing out my alarm clock since he's getting me up about 15-30 minutes earlier now that he's in a toddler bed! :)

When he was born, he spent two weeks in a bassinet in our room and then was graduated to his own room. Even though we have a twin bed in his room (for my stepdaughter), I never slept there. You really don't need to. I heard him wake up through the monitor and either fed him upstairs in the rocker or downstairs on the couch. I never fell down the stairs and I never had a problem going back to sleep once I put him back down. Your body will wake you up enough and the breastfeeding hormones will help you go back to sleep.

I wouldn't sleep in the guest room only because your husband needs attention too and since he's not going to be getting 'action' for the first couple months after the baby is born, he should at least have you beside him for snuggles or whatever.

Edited to add:

I read your reply and I know what you mean about the monitor. I only use the one in the living room. I don't want to hear the small stirrings, just the bigger noises. :)

Hi T.,

We have a two-story home and our mater is downstairs with all other bedrooms upstairs. For the first four months, our daughter slept in a big travel crib in our bedroom. When we put her upstairs in her own romo and own bed, it was nothing. We had the monitors on but used them for maybe another month. We didn't need them anymore. She is 18 months old now and we are getting ready in the next few months to transition her to the toddler bed as well. We have gates at the bottom of our stairs, the top of our stairs, and we will install at a gate at her bedroom door so she can't wander around. I hear that for the first couple of nights, it hasn't been unusual for parents to find their little one actually asleep on the floor. When you have your next child, have you and your husband considered getting a crib for your master for the first few months?

-Char

We have ours set up like that as well. We just added it last year when I was pregnant with our second. My son adjusted just fine to being up there, of course he was 6..so no issues. As for the new baby, we kept her in a bassinet in our room for the first few months, for the feedings and for my sons sanity. We moved her up when she was about 3 months old, of course she was sleeping thru the night by 11 weeks, but we do have the baby monitor of course..so we can hear her when she wakes. We've installed a baby gate as well - for our game room upstairs as well as for when she decides she no longer needs to be in her crib...which is quite a ways off, seeing as though she's only 7 1/2 months now. Good luck!