For those of you with a 2 Story House...any regrets?

Am currently house shopping & have noticed a bunch of my friends (especially those with young children) regret moving into a 2 story house.  We currently know 3 different couples who regret purchasing them, but it sounds like they regret it because the master bedroom is downstairs & the kids bedrooms are upstairs.  Also, one of my friends says that even if she has the child-gate set up, she is constantly afraid of her little one falling down the stairs.  (I currently don't have children, but hope to in the future).

So for those of you that have 2 stories....are you happy with it, or do you regret it? Input about the perks & downfalls is appreciated. :)

My parents refused to buy a house with the bedrooms on two different floors. It led to a longer search, but eventually they found what they were looking for.

There was always a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs (to keep the child from crawling up), and if the babies were upstairs they were supervised. I would be scared of my child falling downstairs, too! You've gotta keep your eyes open, no matter what.

Original Post by aesb:

Am currently house shopping & have noticed a bunch of my friends (especially those with young children) regret moving into a 2 story house.  We currently know 3 different couples who regret purchasing them, but it sounds like they regret it because the master bedroom is downstairs & the kids bedrooms are upstairs.  Also, one of my friends says that even if she has the child-gate set up, she is constantly afraid of her little one falling down the stairs.  (I currently don't have children, but hope to in the future).

So for those of you that have 2 stories....are you happy with it, or do you regret it? Input about the perks & downfalls is appreciated. :)

 

I currently own a two-story house....the bedrooms are all on the same level...the only concern I have/had was I know at some point later in life I will be challenged physically to negotiate the stair climbing....but I was looking at solving that issue with down sizing later in life and migrating to a warmer location :)

When my son was little we had a huge 2-story with all hardwood floors up & down. So the steps were hard wood too. There were 10 steps to a landing, a huge landing and then 6 more steps to the top. All the bedrooms were on the 2nd floor. We used a baby gate at the top and bottom depending where we were. I never really worried about it. I mean I took precautions and was careful and bought good baby gates, but to constantly worry about stuff like that will drive you crazy. There is no point in worrying about things that might happen.

If our bedroom had been on the 1st floor and his room upstairs when he was really little, I probably would have gotten a baby monitor for night time.

Don't let your overly anxious friends influence your decision. There is such a short time period during which you'll have to think about this. There will be a much longer period of time where you'll be thankful your room is further away from the children.

We have a 2-story house as well with the master bedroom downstairs and 2 bedroom upstairs. Hubby and I don't have any kids yet but thought about it when we purchased the house.

We've moved in downstairs for now but also agreed that when a baby comes, we would probaly move upstairs to obviously be closer. We didn't worry about it to much also because we're not planning to have kids for another 2-3 years.

Don't let people influence you into buying a home with all the bedrooms on one floor. There are tons of resources and way to have a baby upstairs and you downstairs.

we have a 2-story which we bought just before the birth of our oldest, now 5. my only regrets have nothing to do with the stairs. we put gates at the top and the bottom for use depending on where we were.

i have a friend who's oldest was born just before my second (they are both about 2-1/2 now) and she has a 1-story. while my kids both started navigating the stairs soon after they learned to crawl, hers just started stairs about 6 months ago. before that she was WAYYYY paranoid about him even looking at stairs. of course when he saw his friends going up/down he wanted to follow. he also wanted to do it just like they did and just a quickly, but having no experience hindered him greatly and put him in some hazardous positions.

so even if you end up with a stair-less house i suggest exposing any kids you have to stairs, just so they know what to do with them.

Just thought I'd weigh in on this.

I would guess that a 2-storey house with the master on the 1st floor and the kids' rooms on the 2nd floor could be difficult for parents (especially with a baby) -- I don't think I'd go for a set up like that, personally.  However, I think worries about the stairs are pretty readily addressed, and baby gates are much better than they were even 10 years ago.

I grew up in a 2-story house, as did everyone I knew as a kid (I lived in a very old town where almost all the houses were pre-WW I 2- or 3-storeys), and I don't know of a single incident that resulted in more than minor, short-term injury (for that matter, I've fallen down the stairs more often as a supposedly-qualified adult than I ever did as a kid).  The only time I ever got hurt on stairs as a kid was actually outdoors -- I slipped on the ice on a set of stone steps when I was about three and 'busted' my lip, but I didn't even need stitches.

I'm with satyrswoman -- I think learning to negotiate stairs earlier presents an advantage: the kids will eventually run into them, and if they already know how to handle them, there's less likelihood of accident and injury.

Also, stairs provide at least some opportunity for exercise, whether you feel like it or not :D  (Admittedly, this is a pain when you have the flu, or whatever.)

Like rahana316, I'm inclined to say, don't let your friends influence you too much.  You know what you like -- so go with your gut.

I just moved out of a two story house last year.  My dad built it and consciously put two bedrooms upstairs, two bedrooms downstairs, that way anyone who moved into the house in the future would have a choice of where they stick their family and where they stick their extra rooms.

Growing up the kids slept upstairs.  We were old enough to not fall down the stairs so it wasn't a huge issue.  When we were older and moved out, but my nephews moved in, they stayed downstairs in the lower bedrooms with my mom.  She wanted them upstairs but slept with a huge fan blowing in her ear all the time and was afraid she wouldn't hear them cry.

Now that they're one and three, they sleep upstairs while she sleeps downstairs.  Baby gates at both top and bottom, no problems what-so-ever.  And the stairs are all hardwood.

I also have a two story house.  All the bedrooms are upstairs.  My only concern, like someone else mentioned, is as I age and perhaps have mobility issues the stairs may become an issue. 

The only thing I would suggest is to make sure there is a bathroom on each floor.  My house is over 100 years old...back then they didn't seem to see a need for more than one bathroom, which is upstairs.  Because of this, my mil cannot visit us because she can't get up the stairs to the bathroom.

My family lived in a 2 story with all of the bedrooms and the 1 bathroom on the 2nd floor. It's just my 60 year old parents there now and they really want to buy a different house because navigating the stairs is a such a pain and they may get to the point where they can't do it. With the crummy economy though, they're stuck waiting.

My fiances family also lived in a 2 story with all the bedrooms on the 2nd level but they have an additional bathroom on the 1st floor. His mother became wheelchair bound about a year ago and had to have one of those motorized chairs installed to take her upstairs to her room.

Just consider those situations and of course, having a newborn upstairs. It might be hard at first but when they grow up, it could be more peaceful. Then again, do you plan on living in this house for a long while? It's good to get other opinions, but in the end, the decision is yours. Personally, I love the look of the larger 2 story home, but I don't think I would ever live in one again in case of a physical disability.

Our first home, in Boise, ID and where our Daughter was born, was a tri-level.  Master on top floor, kitchen/dining on the main floor and two rooms in the lower (half basement) floor.  So each level was only 1/2 a floor away from the main, but it was one full level to get from our room to the kids room.  After about 3 months in a cradle in our room, we put my daughter in a crib in her room downstairs.  Baby monitors make it possible. 

In Ohio and now Grand Island, our houses have all had bedrooms on the top level.  The benefit is that I can go to bed upstairs when my mother-in-law is visiting sitting up late talking my wifes ear off.

I kind of like the master isolated from everything else, especially with mother-in-law visits.  My wife prefers all rooms on one floor.  This may be for ease of taking care of the kids if they're sick.  It's definitely worse for the "primary care-giver".  There are benefits and drawbacks to both layouts.  I wouldn't move yourself to accomodate the kids though, they need to learn to sleep without mom & dad.  Get a couple of baby monitors (one for travel, one for home) and you'll be fine.  The only time one of us would sleep in the room next to my daughter in the old house was if she was really sick.

As for the child gate, use it consistently when the kids are real little.  I was always nervous like your friend, but you don't need to use it very long if you teach them to navigate the stairs early.  My youngest is 3.5 and has been just fine on the stairs, no gate since he was at least 2 (move to our current house).

Get what you want, but take your time to look around and think about what you'll need in a few years (# of kids, if you need a guest room for visiting relatives, office space, etc).  Also, think about making the trek from master to one of the kids room at 1 AM when you have to clean up puke and sit and hold them to calm them down. 

I live in a 3-story house and there are two bedrooms each for the 2nd & 3rd levels. It sucks for me because my bedroom is in the highest level and the heater is broken so during the winter, I never liked going to my bed to sleep because it was so cold!

*ahem* Bathroom complainers, there's a house in Toledo, Ohio for sale that has four bedrooms, two stories, and three bathrooms, one on each floor and yes that includes the basement (which, by the way, also has a completely functional kitchen perfect for home butchers and animal hunters with family afraid of dead critters flopping around in the good kitchen on the first floor).

Also has two attics!  Little kids love to explore it.

I didn't read all of your replys since there were so many, but I love my 2 story home. It's great excercise and even hubby has noticed that my butt is much firmer. The main thing that would matter to me is rather or not the washer & dryer are on the same floor as the bedrooms. Ours is all up stairs and I don't think I would have it any other way.

As for safetly there are tons of things you can do about that. I think it just depends on how energetic you are. Climbing stairs gets old really fast.

I am actually the opposite... I have a 2 bedroom bungalow and I hate it. 

While we don't have kids yet, when we have house guests it is awkward and if you or they go to bed early you (or your guest) have to tip toe around your house (I have an old house with squeaky hardwood) so as not to disturb. 

If you have kids then you would be constantly trying to "keep quiet" so as to not wake them up or get them to go to sleep. 

There is no barrier between your living space and your sleeping space... in retrospect I wouldn't buy my house again almost entirely for this issue.

I have two bedrooms downstairs and two upstairs. The master bedroom is upstairs and that is my only regret. When I'm sick, I hate climbing the stairs. Other than that it is not a problem. Security gates are nice, but don't buy the one with the cross sections that make an X. My son put his feet in them and climbed over. Buy a gate with just vertical bars.  My kids love sliding down the stairs on anything they can find, crib mattress, cardboard, clothes baskets....That is a big draw back, too. I caught them sliding down when I came home and couldn't believe it! 

Original Post by sweetpea62:

The only thing I would suggest is to make sure there is a bathroom on each floor.  My house is over 100 years old...back then they didn't seem to see a need for more than one bathroom, which is upstairs.  Because of this, my mil cannot visit us because she can't get up the stairs to the bathroom.

 Now there's a great reason for only having one bathroom at the top of some very steep stairs!

I have a Tri-Level house with all the bedrooms upstairs.  There is a small flight of stair, about six steps, between the kitchen and family room.  The rooms are open and separated by a railing.  I've raised two children here and the steps were never a concern even though the toddlers were up and down the stairs all the time.  We never used child gates, the children learned to crawl, walk, and do stairs all at the same time.

My first home as an adult was a 2 story cape cod with full basement.  Only regret was one bathroom on the main floor.  We had two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs.  Both of my children were born while we lived in he house and we never had problems.

We now live in a 2 story (3 if you count the attic space) with 2 and 1/2 bathrooms.  2 full bathrooms and the same floor with all 4 bedrooms makes life a breeze.  Half bath is downstairs off of the kitchen.  My son was 2 when we moved into this house and the only issue with have/had with the stairs was our clumsy puppy.

Get the house that you want.  Don't let others influence your choice, you may fall in love with a 2 story or a 1 story, it is  your choice.