Planning ahead - What baby stuff do you have out in the lounge?

[RebeccaCloud9]

Just been speaking to my partner about some of the baby stuff we're going to get and where it's going to live in the house.

He reckons that we can store all of the things that will be out during the day (play mat, toys etc) in a cupboard every night. This cupboard has a large movable shoe rack and all the mops, broom etc at the front that need shifting every time you use the cupboard.

I think this is highly impractical and unlikely to happen every day. I think we should have somewhere easily accessible to store these bits and bobs but he moaned about the clutter and was a bit mean about me being untidy .

What do you guys think?! I think he is maybe a little bit naive about how easy this is all going to be! Where do you tend to store this kind of thing? Thanks x

[tryingtocatchthewind]

Yup naive I'm afraid.

Now mines a toddler I can contain it to a you box in the lounge but a baby could have a Moses basket, bouncy chair, play mat, books, toys, jumperoo, the list goes on. You don't necessarily need all that but unless you're generally tidy people you'll never be arsed to put it all away in an inaccessible cupboard every night.

[tryingtocatchthewind]

Oh and to answer your question all the big stuff just stayed in a corner of my lounge.

[AnythingNotEverything]

I think it's impractical to even have somewhere to store those items. Most items will be out, ready for use at all times, and are in every house I've ever been to while baby was small. A basket is useful for toys/rattles, as well as for nappy stuff if you have a changing area downstairs.

[TobyLerone]

DD is 4 months old.

Toys/playmat/her u-shaped cushion are all in a biggish laundry hamper type thing with a lid in a corner down the side of the sofa.
Actually 'out' are her rocking seat, a blow-up play ring and the sodding enormous Jumparoo. The pushchair usually lives in the car because the living room is the only other place we have to put it.

I think it's a good idea to have some sort of basket/toybox that you can clear away every night. But your DP is going to have to suck it up and realise that children come with clutter.

My DH is a total neat freak and his mum and I tried to warn him about all the 'stuff' before DD was born. I still think it was a bit of a shock to his system but he's coping admirably :o

[PeaceLillyDoge]

Baby is 8 weeks old. We have:

-changing mat which I store under the sofa and pull outmy foot when needed.

• play mat for the cat to sleep on
  
• bouncy chair
  
• small pedal bin for nappies
  
• wicker b basket with nappies, sudocrem, cotton wool pads and wipes in
  
• wicker basket with spare Vests and Sleepsuits
  
• small bowl of water for cleaning babies bottom, changed daily
  

Everything aside from the playmat and chair are stored down the side of the sofa, although occasionally it is all strewn everywhere!

[Belt]

Hi Rebecca

Your DH is very naive I'm afraid ;-) Once you've got a baby, their things just blend with your furnitures :) and yes - you can put toys in one corner of your living room in couple of boxes but all the bigger things such as moses basket, bouncer along with other things will just "live" with you as you will need to use them every day.

My DS is nearly 5 and he likes some of his toys, crayons, etc. downstairs as well as in his room.
I've had BFP last week so trying to figure out a space in the dining/living area for all the baby things we'll need!

I think you just need to allocate a space for everything and you'll be absolutely fine!

Your DH will just have to get used to the baby mess! Mine did

Good luck

[PeaceLillyDoge]

Oh and a moses basket! One upstairs, one downstairs

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

My lounge looks like a bloody pre school, now dd is 2 and a half.

When she was newborn she had a playmat, and a small basket of rattle type toys. The tidiest they got was toys in the basket, basket on the mat, mat shoved in the corner.

Ahh how I miss those days!

[Truffkin]

It depends what stuff you are going to have really. When tiny there isn't much you can't tidy away but as they get a bit bigger, the mountain of plastic tat just grows exponentially! The jumperoo is a freaking giant and there is no way it could be put away unless you have an entire spare room to stuff full and shut the door on

DS is now 2 1/2 and his stuff in the lounge is mainly in a toy box or on the book shelf so it's just the period in between baby and older toddler where the 'stuff' is bigger and less put-awayable. The time goes quickly and I doubt it will bother your DH as much as he thinks once your baby is here.

If it does though,maybe he could just do all of the cupboard faffing himself

[slightlyinsane]

My dh is like yours, we've had 3 babies and he struggled to cope with that. I think he's going to have a meltdown this time with twins lol. Unfortunately they just have to live with it, it does get worse the more you have.

[ILoveYouBaby]

We have pram, car seat, bouncy chair, high chair and bouncy chair out all the time.

I have a small basket of changing and feeding paraphernalia and a changing mat. These go beside the sofa so out of view.

I have two baskets in expedit that contain toys and outdoor stuff.

The only baby clutter I 'see' in the evening is the playmat. I'm fastidious about putting any toys away that aren't tied to the mat.

There is, however, a constant supply of muslins for the sofa arm

[monkeymamma]

Keep it in a cupboard!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahha.

[Mildpanic]

Oh my, how naive.
Our lounge looks like a showroom for Kiddicare. DC 3 is nearly 5 months, I was once so utterly house proud and house was showroom standard.....how times change. We have changing mat, selection of bouncy chairs, changing stuff box, bumbo, toys and several muslins at various points around room. This is on a tidy day.
Get a box or storage unit if you like, it will always come in useful!

[MrsMonkeyBear]

Not so bothered about DH but my MIL. You would think after 2 of her own, 2 nieces that practically lived with her and one grandchild she would be ok with the baby clutter.

She already comes and does my cleaning, as apparently I don't do it properly (doesn't bother me as I have a free maid service). I dread to think what she would be like with changing mats, Moses basket, teddies, clothes, toys etc strewn across my living room. I suppose I'll find out in 20ish weeks once I start unpacking all the junk cute baby stuff!!

Oh and I'll be storing it all wherever I can find room. The only thing that has a definate home is the buggy, and that will live in the hall cupboard.

[ZingWatermelon]

in a cupboard?

tidying?



yeah, right

you need dedicated places for all things and leave them there.
sheesh, he really has no clue.
of course there will be clutter - but I guess he is more than welcome to keep the house spotless!

[bouncinbean]

Relative to my other mum friends we have not been overtaken by baby stuff but even then you can see something in every room of the house!
Living room we have a basket of toys that everything gets chucked into once baby is asleep which sits on top of the folded playmate under the window. Hallway has the pram, car seat and trike. Kitchen table has another basket of toys, high chair attached to table plus kitchen tops usually covered in bottles, plastic dishes and spoons. Rocking device is in front of the half of the patio door that we don't even now! Bathroom has baby bath, soaking bowl balanced on the laundry basket. Netting storage for toys, bath washes etc is attached to wall tiles. In bedroom there's a whole corner for the changing mat and baskets of muslin, nappies, creams etc.
We haven't turned our house into baby central but every room has some sort of easy access storage for the baby stuff needed when in that room (as,I am a neat freak and everything needs to have an official place to live!)

[bronya]

Wait until baby is a toddler and every room in the house has something unexpected that they have stashed in it! Within 10 minutes of getting home, my DS can turn every toy box upside down, leaving my living room looking like someone went into Toys R Us and tipped everything off the shelves!!

[SweepTheHalls]

I'm with your other half! In the evenings our lounge is a sanctuary from all the childrens clutter! I had all the change stuff in his bedroom, toys in boxes in an expedit unit, play at folder and stashed under the sofa when not in use. The only things that stayed out were those we couldn't physically put away like the jumperoo and swing chair. It gave us a bit of sanity.

[Hazchem]

we had a expidt (or what every it's called) from IKEA a 4 cube thingy. enough space for small toys and books ect. We kept the nappy stuff in the spare room filled with shit as DS ended up co sleeping for 2 years nursery and just grab it when needed.
We had a bouncy chair and stuff too but that must have just got left out.
Oh and after DS started crawling we just put a stair gate across one corner of the room. Our stuff was on that side. DS stuff was in the rest of the room.

The thing is whatever you decide to do now if it doesn't work you can always change your mind later.

[Solasum]

Bouncy chair lives under coffee table such a tight fit that it rarely comes out and when it does it is covered in dust , muslins on bookcase next to the sofa, cupboard in corner whete 'bits' are tidied away every night. So not too bad really. Oh, then a vast neon playmat in the middle of the floor, plus a tasteful wooden playgym that is too big to live anywhere and does not collapse, and usually a couple of teddies on the sofa.

I have tried to keep plastic tat to a minimum un the bathroom (and recommend a toy net to stick to the tiles) but still have small navy of plastic boats drying and a poury toy suckered to the tiles.

[SizzlesSit]

We bought a nice storage unit that isnt meant for children (so fits with our colour scheme and isnt colourful plastic) and use that. Yes you can see a lot of the toys but they are out of the way.

We didnt bothet with playmats and jumperoos and DS didnt like his bouncy chair. The highchair is tucked away in a corner. But for DS2 we will leave rhe bouncy chair out and a basket for nappy/clothes changes will be down rhe side of the sofa

[Plateofcrumbs]

Good thread! Watching with interest. Am currently trying to convince DH that his prized retro-chic glass side table might need to go into storage and be replaced with a big box for baby junk. He is not yet persuaded (pre-baby denial phase?)

[LillianGish]

We lived in quite a small flat when my children were babies and I am a bit of a neat freak. We had a play pen - old fashioned one with bars which was a brilliant place to put the baby down when tiny to be safe and also to play in when a bit bigger - it sort of replaced the playroom I would love to have had and I could plonk dd in there within easy reach of all her toys. However, it really came into its own in the evening when we used to chuck all the toys and baby paraphernalia in there (changing mat, baby gym, play mat etc.) for a speedy clear up.mCouldn't have lived without it.

[RebeccaCloud9]

Thanks so much for all your messages!

It sounds like there can be a happy medium - somewhere accessible to store smaller things to keep the room mostly tidy then just somewhere out of the way to store the bigger things.

This should keep him happy! But I reckon I'll just let him get used to the unavoidable cluttter lovely baby things in his own time when baby is here!

[IdaClair]

I had a bouncer chair and a basket with nappies and clothes in. Toys didn't really feature until 6m or so when the bouncer went anyway, so a couple of storage boxes is perfectly reasonable IMO. I keep a downstairs toy pox when kids are small, when they are big enough to go up and downstairs on their own they keep toys in their rooms and get them out/ put them away when required. So I only have kids stuff downstairs in the evening when I have an under 3 and even then they have a box with a lid.