In wondering what the point in a nursery is?

[Snowberry86]

Baby will sleep with us for first 6 months- so what is the point in getting nursery all decorated and sorted before they arrive?

I have found lots of boys decor and lots of girls that I like. But nothing gender neutral. So I'm swaying between finding out the sex so we can get organised, or not decorating the nursery/child bedroom until they are born and I can choose something I really love.

AIBU? Do I really need a nursery that is all ready for baby's arrival?

[megletthesecond]

It's wise to get it finished before the baby arrives because you won't have time once it's born.

[KittyandTeal]

Or, if DC is anything like dd1 they won't be in the nursery until 2yo!!

Not reason to get it ready apart from it being a bit of a hassle juggling a baby and decorating a room. Could you paint it a neutral colour and then get the 'bits' once baby arrives?

[nosireebob]

Absolutely not - apart from occasional bum changes we didn't really use it for several months. The only reason might be not having to worry about doing it when you're busy and sleep deprived with a little one, but you could always get a neutral paint and leave the decor till later .

[MrsSpecter]

A nursery is really just an optional extra. Its really just something to get excited about and occupy your time/thoughts for those who have enough space and money to do it, and usually just for PFBs. Millions of babies around the world never see a nursery. They dont care. They dont suffer. There is little point to them in terms of usefullness other than the excitement factor for new parents.

[GoldPlatedBacon]

I don't have a 'nursery'. Dd slept in bed with us for 3 months, then in her crib in our room for the next 3 months. Even now she's in her 'own' room which also masquerades as our 'office'. She has no bumper or toys in her cot - I'm the worst mother ever

[trilbydoll]

You need somewhere to put the hundreds of clothes people give you, and the nappies, wipes etc. And I don't like changing baby on the floor / chair / bed I much prefer a changing unit at a decent height. So we ordered a changing unit / chest of drawers thing and sorted everything else out months later.

[LittleLionMansMummy]

You don't need to, but it'll be easier than doing it when the baby arrives, even at six months. Also, presumably you'll need somewhere for all the baby stuff - clothes, nappies, etc?

[Snowberry86]

We are still planning on clearing the room and will paint it all timeless. But feature wall, bedding, curtains etc could surely all be chosen once baby is here and we know the sex?

What do peopl use nurserys for in the first 6 months? Surely it's just to store baby's clothes?

[KnockMeDown]

We didn't decorate the nursery until DD was a year old. Before that, she was in with us, and the room was an office. Do it when you're ready, but bear in mind that once your LO is here, you may lack the energy to decorate.

[Trills]

You don't need to colour code your baby.

You may find that once the baby is here you are a bit too busy and tired to feel like decorating.

[Dangermouse1]

YANBU in that you are quite right that the baby won't sleep there for the first 6 months. However (from someone who was due to move house so didn't decorate a nursery), 2 things to consider are - there's a lot to be said for having storage for all their crap, plus nappy change and possibly somewhere comfy to feed the baby which isn't in your room so at least one of you can get some sleep; and secondly at 6 months/1 year in you'll be completely knackered and the last thing you'll feel like is painting and putting up cute pictures and buying furniture.

[pollyblack]

I thought you were going to be asking about a childcare nursery.

We never had a "nursery" at home as such. We had a spare room which turned in to our son's room, it was never decorated for a child or anything though. We just got a cot and changing table and put them in there. I really cannot handle themed rooms.

[brightgreenllama]

We didn't decorate until after DD arrived - not for any reason other than we just didn't get round to it! It was just about finished when she was 6 months old... I don't think there's any great rush provided it's not going to stress you out that it's not done. I would say from experience that there's a lot less spare time for decorating after baby arrives though!

[SusanAndBinkyRideForth]

In my opinion getting the babies room sorted was a complete waste of time, effort and expense for us.
Dd1 never bloody slept so bedshared us until very recently. She's 4. And a babies room was no longer appropriate so we had to redecorate it again to her tastes. Dd2 (2) is still in with me, and so will ds1 when he arrives in a few as she still wakes several times a night and I can to get out of bed to resettle her. We do have a gigantic bedsharing set up though with a king size. Cosleeper cot and a single all up against each other with bed bumpers and bed rails and minimal bedding to make it safe
But then again, you might get lucky and get a baby who sleeps so you could be using the nursery after the 6months guidelines

[NewLife4Me]

We didn't bother with nurseries, they're for posh people.
Just give your spare room a lick of paint, clean the carpet etc.
Some people go mad and buy all sorts of things that are nice but not necessary if you have a tight budget or want to spend money on other things.

We didn't have changing tables, nursing chairs, and other expensive equipment and our kids have grown up and turned out ok.

Our eldest didn't even have a basket or crib to begin with as he was a surprise. So the first few weeks he slept in a lined draw, he came to no harm.

[Notthisnotthat]

We didn't have the room totally ready either, it was painted a neutral colour, with wooden furniture. But as you say baby will be in with you for months (years). We didn't know gender either so had a few white vests and baby grows and that was it. We were very lucky with gifts too, so didn't need to buy clothes for a while either.

[FoxesSitOnBoxes]

I always think that calling it a nursery is a bit pretentious. It's a bedroom, surely? Like the rest of the bedrooms.
We did get a room ready for both of ours even though they slept in our room but it was just used to keep clothes, spare blankets etc initially

[Snowberry86]

We were planning on putting most of the changing bits and toys etc downstairs in the room off the lounge. It's currently just a spare sitting room so was going to have unit in there for baby storage items to save me walking upstairs every time I need to change him/her.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

When I was expecting ds1, we knew he'd be in with us to start with, and then he'd be moving to his own room at some point, and to be honest, it didn't occur to me not to get 'his' room ready.

For me, it was a fun part of getting ready for his arrival - and looking back, it was much easier to decorate when I was on maternity leave, before he was born, than it would have been once I had a little baby to look after.

I didn't know he was going to be a boy, so I went for pale green walls, and put up Winne The Pooh stickers, to make it more nursery-ish. And if I remember correctly (he turns 23 this year, so I am thinking back a LONG way - lol), I bought white sheets and blankets for the Moses basket, and made my own liner and quilt cover for the basket - and didn't buy bedding for the cot until I knew he was a boy, and I wanted to move him into it.

[NotYoda]

This is so interesting

Things have changed so much in the 16 years since I had my first - the 6 month recommendation didn't exist, so he went into his own room at 10 weeks. DS2 was in his room 3 days after we came home.

I think it would be wise to get some things sorted before the baby is born. You may well be too knackered to decorate if you need to, even at 6 months

[NotYoda]

... or maybe it existed and i ignored it

[Ughnotagain]

No, you really dont.

We had DD's room all painted and lovely and cleared even though we planned on having her in with us for 6 months.

She's still in with us and is 1 tomorrow! Her bedroom is now a spare/junk room for now

[NancyJoan]

No need at all. With DD, I nearly killed myself to get it done in time, then she only went in there for nappy changed for 5 months. DS had to wait 10 months, while decorators got act together (we'd moved by then , I wasn't redecorating for the new baby!). He's 7 now, strangely doesn't remember not having a matching room set in his early months.

[pitterpatterrain]

DD moved out of our room at maybe 14-16 months? We just hadn't got around to moving her cotbed from ours into what was going to be her room.

Got some alphabet re-stick-able letters up around the room to add a bit of colour and we needed a new curtain so it was more "kid" than adult pattern - job done.

Changing table was one of those ones that rests on top of the cot bed as we didn't have space for anything else.

[Hodoralong]

I had mine ready and we used it to put all the baby clothes etc in that we had bought, we used the room from day 1 for nappy changes so for me it was worth it. Also I have twins so if we had left it until they arrived it never would have been finished.

You could just paint and put the furniture in and then add gender specific soft furnishings and accessories if that's your thing.

I didn't go with a particular theme as I want the room to develop as they develop likes/dislikes etc.