I raised my newborn baby in a bendy BUS we bought off Gumtree & converted, we lived off-grid with two kids

A COUPLE have revealed how they raised their newborn baby in a bendy bus they bought on Gumtree.

Mum Emma Hill and partner Nick bought the 1985 bus for $6,000 (£3,200) and transformed it into their dream home – which they lived in off-grid with two kids.

The couple, from Tasmania, Australia, bought the bus when Emma was pregnant with their second child.

Nick did all the DIY himself, except for the electrical work, and they moved in with their oldest, Hudson, was just 16 months old.

"It was in great condition. Old, but everything still in place, seats and all," Emma told Kidspot.

"Hudson loved it. He had his little cot set up in his own little room, a huge backyard to roam in, chickens to play with, and a bike. I loved the simplicity. It was like a clean slate, moving into a new season of life.

"I laboured at home in the bus with our second baby, Zac, before heading to the birthing centre. A day later, we brought him home. The bus was his first home…

"There were lots of things to think about to make it work with a toddler and newborn, just 20 months apart.

"Zac slept in a hammock-type-thing and Hudson in a cot, then eventually we turned Nick’s closet into a cot and Zac slept there or in our bed."

But after six months, Nick returned to work. Left in the bus alone with her two kids over the winter, Emma says "postnatal depression kicked in".

When the family were offered to house sit for some friends, they "took up that opportunity in a heartbeat."

The next summer, they returned to the bus with their kids but ultimately decided to settle in a house.

The now have a third son, called Micah, and rent the bus, which Emma still describes as her "dream home", out on Airbnb.

She adds: "Every now and then the boys talk about moving back in, or living there when they’re older."

You can follow them on Instagram here and rent the bus on Airbnb here.

We previously reported on another couple who turned a dilapidated school bus into their dream home to save £4.8k a year on rent.

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