'AITA for refusing to move out so my pregnant sister can use my room as a nursery?' UPDATED

"AITA for refusing to move out when my sister announced she was pregnant?"

I (22f) rent a bungalow with my sister, who I'll call Stacy (23f) and her boyfriend, who I'll call Dan (25m). Our bungalow has a large bedroom with a walk in closet and a smaller bedroom with a regular closet. Stacy and Dan use the larger bedroom while I have the smaller sized bedroom. In terms of rent, we all pay a third of rent.

A week ago, my sister, Stacy, announced she was 5 weeks pregnant. However, just after announcing that she was pregnant she and Dan asked if I would be willing to move out and find a new place since they wanted to make a nursery in my room.

I refused since I don't really have the money to be able to afford another place, especially not by myself. I work at a part-time place that doesn't pay much over minimum wage, but at this moment I'm just trying to balance school and work, while trying to actually survive.

When I refused they started saying that they'd pay me $200 if I left to another place before the baby was born. At this point I was really upset so I told her that they should just make their closet a nursery since they were so desperate to have a nursery. They could just use the closet by our house's front door to put their clothes instead and make their walk-in closet a space for the nursery.

Their reasoning for using my room for a nursery is that baby's take a lot of space and putting their baby in my room would keep their room form being cluttered.

They stared begging me to just leave and that I could just give a notice to our landlord and find a new place before the baby was born. They even said they could pay for the 1st months rent at my new place if I left. The thing is I really don't want to move and I don't think I'll have anywhere to go that's close to my university since everything is out of my budget.

They've been giving me the silent treatment now and they've been buying baby stuff like toys and trying to put them in my room when I'm at work. AITA for not moving out so that my sister and bf can use my room as a nursery?

What do you think? AITA? This is what commenters had to say:

iScabs said:

NTA. Sorry to say this, but you should start looking for a new apartment. While you're not the asshole, I don't see this situation you have currently getting better. It'll probably get worse. And eventually, things are going to come to a head and someone has to budge. You can play chicken till the baby comes, but that baby is gonna come eventually

madman54218374125 said:

NTA. Here's the deal: #1: Babies, especially newborns really don't take much space. Probably the first at least 6 weeks will be next to Mom anyway.

#2: You might want to move tho, just bc living with a newborn isn't ideal nor is living with people who are giving you the silent treatment and I bet anything you will turn into a free babysitter pretty quick.

bomber251 said:

NTA if you’re on the lease as one of the tenants. But do you really want to keep on living in a space that you’re clearly unwanted. It’ll not be pleasant. At 5 weeks pregnant, there’s still a lot of time for discussion. Hopefully once the early excitement of the pregnancy wears off, you can have an adult conversation with your sister and her boyfriend and come to some agreement.

OP responded:

If I made more money, I probably would have taken them on their offer since living with a baby is probably not ideal as they cry a lot and require a lot attention. However, as it is now, I don't make a lot and most of the properties around the area I go to school at have high rent prices. I hope that we can talk about this like adults but they simply won't even talk to me anymore.

scarajones said:

I’m going with NAH. But you might actually want to consider moving out. Babies are a lot of work for everyone in a home. There is no way you will be able to stay in the house and not be involved to some degree, even if that’s just having your life disrupted. It will probably be easier for you all round if you do move out.

OP responded:

Yeah at this point a baby is not ideal since I'm still in school but I don't have enough to find a new place at the moment either. I probably won't be able to find a higher paying job in the close future so I'm stuck with the job I have right now.

And FriendlyTurnip5541 said:

YTA. I mean I get where you are coming from, but they gave you a lot of notice and are willing to help support you financially. Don't underestimate what a big change the baby will be. If I where them I would want a place to myself to.

She later shared this update:

A lot of you said I should look for a new place even though I might not want to move or look for a new roommate, so I took some of the advice you gave me and I think I may have found a new place! It's a bit smaller than my current place and a bit farther than I'd like but it should be fine.

I've contacted the landlord and he said that one of the 2 roommates was moving out in 2 months and that if I could move in within 2 months, I would be considered. I'm probably going to have to work something out with my current landlord as she requires 3 months notice but it should be fine considering that my sister and Dan will be covering full rent when I leave.

For those of you saying I'm heartless for putting a baby in a closet, I know that idea may not be ideal especially not in the long term. At some point I will have to move, but to me, I don't think that a newborn should be put in another room by themselves till they're older (maybe 6 months).

The closet door can be removed so its sorta connected to their room (if the landlord agrees) which can be used as additional room if they want. However, at this point I think I'll just look towards the idea of a new place.

Also thank you for all your judgement and advice.

Edit: I've been getting a lot of hurtful comments and messages saying that I just want to 'shove a baby in a closet' and I'm a cruel and evil person. First of all, I've searched it up and making a mini-nursery in a large closet isn't uncommon. My sister's closet is quite large and would be able to fit a crib, a cabinet and some other baby stuff inside while still having more room.

Obviously this is not a long term solution but its a good idea for maybe the first few months of the baby's life. I just want to clear that up because a lot of you are saying that this is a cruel solution when this is a solution a lot of parents use.

Please before saying that I'm a wicked person, please have a look at images of walk-in closet nurseries. Regardless of this, I'm still looking towards moving out and finding a new roommate as said in my previous update.

Thoughts?! Please weigh in in the comments!