Preparing flat for baby

[JoyJoyJoyJoy]

... specifically regarding a changing area.

We want to start preparing our (very small) flat for when the baby comes, but came across the question of what kind of changing/dressing area we need.

Do people have a changing table in the bathroom - after all that seems the right place for dirty nappies and wee accidents etc?

Or in the nursery room - as that's where all the clothes will be?

Or both - small changing/nappy area in the bathroom for baths, larger changing table with space for clothes in the nursery?

Or do we not need a changing table at all, and can just change/dress the baby in the bedroom/on the bathroom floor/whatever?

TIA!

We only ever had a changing mat, it sits in a slot beside a dresser in our sitting room and two years later we still use it, just dragged around the house if needed in another room. We put an Ikea baby bath first on our kitchen table when he was tiny and now in either shower for baths. Never had anything in bathroom etc for "putting baby down on", for what? We wrap him in a towel after bath and relocate to bedroom to dress him.

We're lucky that in our nursery, the previous owner had built a unit as a desk, which is essentially a flat desk with shelves under. We've just popped a changing mat on it,no made a nappy stalker, and we store spares on the shelves. We use that for morning top and tailing, drying after a bath and morning and evening clothes changes.
Downstairs we have a changing bag with a fold up mat, nappies etc, with spare clothes, bibs and muslins and do all changes on the floor.
You'll find what works best for you.

We just had a changing mat, too.

With our first, we were living in a one-bedroom flat and there was no space anywhere for baby furniture other than a cot. It was fine.

When we had our second and had moved somewhere bigger, we still didn't bother as it didn't occur to us. Changing mat on the floor wherever we happened to be changing the baby was plenty.

I have just been preparing for new baby as well (10 days overdue now) I wouldn't have bothered with a changing table as plenty of friends said they did use theirs, but my other halves sister has one she bought with her dd and has given us that, I have put it up in my bedroom currently as baby will be in there for 6-12 months so don't want to be having to move rooms just to change nappy! (If I do use it that is.. id be happy with just a mat!)

I do know a friend however who had a c section and said changing table set up was a life saver - all personal choice and opinion x

Didn't use** sorry! X

I bought 2 changing tables (big house) - one for the nursery and one for the lounge. The nursery one is used for storage read dumping ground and the one in the lounge is used by the cats 🙄. More often than not during the day/downstairs, ds is changed on the sofa and upstairs on the bed in the nursery....

On a changing mat obvs.

Two changing mats - one in the living room, tucked behind the sofa, and one wherever baby will be sleeping, tucked under/behind the bed. Pack of wipes and nappies in both rooms. That's all you'll need, honestly.

We did use a chest of drawers for DS, because he's pfb we had it anyway, but really once he could roll we just changed him on the floor anyway.

DD gets changed on the floor, on a mat if she's lucky.

We had a big cupboard (was office furniture and used to have a fish tank on) in the nursery which had a biggish (non foldable) changing mat on top and cotton wool etc. behind. Then a metal kitchen vegetable type trolley next to it with all the nappies and other stuff in. Then was also had a foldable mat, nappies and wipes in a magazine rack thing tucked behind the sofa downstairs.
You really don't need special furniture for a baby, other than a cot/somewhere to sleep. If you do want to get a "set" of nursery furniture, get it secondhand, there is always loads on our local selling pages!

I love my changing table. DH built it so it's v sturdy, and it houses all DSs clothes and nappies and stuff. It was in the nursery although it's now in another room as once we moved him to a bed he could climb it. He's now 2 and I've done almost every single nappy change on it. It'll be getting spruced up and moved back to the nursery for DC2 in a few months.

It depends on your house. Mine is all one level so it was no issue going to his bedroom for every nappy change. And I had a csection so bending over wouldn't have worked for me. Plus DS seems to stay more still on his table rather than on the floor where he just tries to escape!

We used a mat on a chest of drawers. He was never sideways - don't understand why they would be sideways?!

Once he rolled we just used a mat on the floor.

Another one here who used a changing mat just on top of a normal chest of drawers. Totally fine and I still change my 2 year old's nappy on there / dry her off after a bath And sideways on is fine.
Lots of people I know just use a mat on the floor / bed but I don't like the bending over.

Just throwing something else into the mix... as soon as ours started to roll we ended up buying a changing mat with straps as changing him became a nightmare. It worked a treat but resented that id already bought a 2 mats.

If I were you I would just get a mat and change them anywhere. You do it so often to begin with you won't want to cart them to their special changing place. Bathroom floor, bed, boot of car, park bench...i changed ours anywhere. You'll do it so often you'll become a pro and wonder why you even considered buying a piece of furniture to aid you. If you don't want to be bending over, a bed, chest of drawers or even kitchen counter works fine just have the nappy and wipes to hand and dont leave them unattended for a second. Just as you wouldn't with a changing table.

We don't have a nursery at all! DS sleeps in my room (cosleeping these days, though that didn't start til he was about 7mo) and I don't intend to put him in his own room for a good while. It's much easier having him next to me at night.

Changing tables: we had a really cheap Ikea one and I was glad we got it. I used it all the time when he was younger. We kept it in the living room as that was most convenient and it was a great way of storing all his changing stuff together - nappies, wipes, creams etc (and other stuff I needed easy access to) fitted perfectly on the shelf below. He's too big and wriggly for it now, so we just use it for holding the printer next to the computer! I don't understand how those sideways tables and mats on chests of drawers are useful either - must be a pain.

For the bath, I recommend a Cuddledry towel! They're expensive but brilliant. It's like a big apron that goes round your neck, so when you lift baby out of the bath you can snuggle them up in the towel straight away and you don't get wet in the process.

Thanks again everyone, hearing about your experiences and recommendations has really helped us rethink our plans!

Somehow we seem to have thought the baby needed a proper baby room from the beginning, which now seems a bit silly.

So could I ask one more thing: From roughly what age do children want/need their own room, with just their own furniture and things in it? We're expecting our PFB so have no idea what children are like at different ages really!

Oh and I've definitely added a Cuddledry towel to my list, that sounds fab

My son is 2yrs 3 months and we're starting his room soon

I put my son in his room at 6 months which is the earliest recommended age - it depends on you and your baby, eg if you are co sleeping. Some babies are still waking often for feeds at that age so in that case it's less effort to keep them in the room with you.

When we had ds we lived in a house with 2 large-ish bedrooms so our nursery had a cot, wardrobe chest of drawers/changing top and a double bed. We all slept in there together until he was 6 months when we moved back to our own room. So he had his own furniture from birth.
With dd we put a cot in our bedroom and got three clear under bed storage boxes that we kept her clothes etc in. She stayed in our room until she was one by which time we'd moved ds into a "big boy" room(ie one with a toddler bed!)We moved her into the nursery he vacated. Mine are 2 and 3.5 now and they use ds's room to play in occasionally but they're mainly for sleeping and keeping their clothes in.
Both of the ways we did it worked well for us. I was a bit worried we'd look a bit cheap with having storage boxes for dd's clothes and things but I had two under two so didn't worry for long!

Most go into their own room around 6 months. They should be in the same room as you for the first 6 months. It doesn't really need to be "their" room as such though. We have 2 bedrooms and the "baby's" room still has a lot of our stuff in that doesn't fit in our room. It's just a cot and one chest of drawers for the baby really.

About the bath, I just put them on a towel on the bath mat to get undressed then dried and dressed again. My bathroom is downstairs so would be covered in pee if I tried to do it in another room then walk there. Don't see the point anyway.

Babies tend to stay in their parents room in a Moses basket/small crib until at least 6 months, then when night waking/feeds aren't as frequent move to their own room.

Although the baby doesn't sleep in there straight away, I found it nice to decorate and have furniture from when they were born. They still need space for their clothes, blankets and other bits and bobs, and they will eventually need their own room, so if you have the space and time it makes sense to sort it before the baby arrives.

I had a rocking chair and a dim lamp in there for night feeds too, so I didn't have to traipse downstairs or sit up on the bed.

4 kids and never had a changing station!

Change mat was kept downstairs (behind sofa) and I had a wicker basket that I kept nappies, wipes, cotton wool, cream etc in along with few spares vests/babtgrows. Baby was just changed on this and if I was upstairs bathing etc I just changed on towel on bathroom floor/my bed.

I have never ever bothered to walk upstairs to just change a nappy

For the bath I just bought a couple of extra normal towela and they just use them. I have a cushioned change mat in the bathroom for when they get out of the bath. I got a little towel with a built in hood in one of the 'bags of crap' I accumulated and it's good for mopping the floor when they splash.

We have a changing table in the nursery, but only because my parents gave it to us - it was my changing table as a baby, just a Victorian pine chest of drawers with a rim around the back and sides which perfectly fits a changing mat. Once baby could roll it was a nightmare changing her on it so I tend to just put the mat on the floor or bed to change her now. If space is an issue just get one or two change mats that can be easily folded away and just change on the floor or any available surface.

Baby will be sharing my room and I'll be using the top of the chest of drawers as a changing mat space, with the top drawers used for nappy storage. Also in a small flat!

Thanks, all!