Practical Nursery Tips

[Mcakes]

I'm expecting my first baby in May and am starting to think about things to do and buy in advance. We are planning to have the baby in with us in a co-sleeper but also set up a changing room/nursery in the tiny box room next door where a cot may go eventually.

Have been googling nursery ideas but most of the info out there is more focused on decor and I am getting fed up of having to wade through pages of twee rubbish to find a few useful tips. Am not after decoration ideas, just advice from more experienced Mums on what works from a practical point of view.

I don't plan to go mad buying a ton of stuff and know newborns don't need a huge amount but of you have any ideas for equipment or room layout that will make new-parenting easier it will be very much appreciated!

Loads of great advice here - many thanks!
Will also start thinking about space and storage downstairs for changing too.

Bellamuerte going by your other posts you haven't even had a baby yet, so perhaps you'll re-evaluate when you have stitches in your nether regions and the last thing you fancy doing is traipsing up and down stairs ten times a day 🙄

I couldn't change baby's nappy in a room full of people.

I don't have guests come to my house that are so precious they can't be in the same room during a baby's nappy change. It's not unhygienic on a dedicated mat that gets regularly wiped down with antibacterial cleaner.

A big smelly toddler or older weaned baby eating all sorts is different obviously, unpleasant, and should be changed elsewhere in the presence of guests, but a newborn/young baby nappy isn't really offensive.

I don't feel lazy for not lugging the baby upstairs 747 times a day.

@Bellamuerte your post cracks me up. I'm assuming you don't have a baby yet because that's the most ludicrous thing I've read tonight.

Trust me, your baby will get changed downstairs on your perfect carpet, in front of other people (shock horror).

The novelty of the perfectly organised change station will soon wear off when it's your 10th poo before 9am.

The novelty of the perfectly organised change station will soon wear off when it's your 10th poo before 9am.

This

(If you have a tiny nursery but a sizeable bathroom, do consider putting the changing mat in there instead - worked very well for us)

Alternative to pp suggestion of kondo folding tiny baby clothes (!) and also storage of changing stuff.

Get several packs of those canvas drawer dividers from Ikea. They are fantastic for small kids clothes so you can just bung them in appropriate section of drawers. Makes for an easy system so you and DH can put away and grab items quickly despite sleep deprivation. And great for keeping nappies/wipes etc neat too. The long thin ones stack nappies perfectly and the tiny square ones keep little socks and mitts easy to find. Other uses we have had of them as DC grew are inside suitcases for trips when we needed to live out of them, beside front door to prevent stray gloves, small toy storage etc

3rd time in and I’m keeping my ‘nursery’ as a play room until baby is 6 months 😂 just got an extra chest of draws and wardrobe in. I’ll probably just shimmy the furniture around and slap a cot in when baby is ready to go in there as well. I had a perfect nursery first time around and it was never used. Dc3 won’t need a bedroom for anything other then sleeping until she is much older.

I’ll suggest having a changing box up and downstairs with everything you need in. Including a spare outfit so you don’t have to constantly traipse upstairs. Nappy bins are useless, just take them out when you get chance.

As for being lazy for not going upstairs every time I change the baby I’ve never known any Mum do that. We all change our babies wherever we are, including in front of guests (who now I’m a parent are either relatives or friends with kids).

“As for being lazy for not going upstairs every time I change the baby gringrin I’ve never known any Mum do that.”
What about dads, don’t they change their babies?

DH and I actually do take DS upstairs to change him because we use cloth nappies and wipes and don’t have space downstairs for a second changing station with all the stuff. Not that we would think for a second that people who don’t do the same are lazy. And based on what PPs have said I suspect if we have a second we would have to find space to change the baby downstairs so as not to leave DS unattended.

@Bellamuerte your post cracks me up. I'm assuming you don't have a baby yet because that's the most ludicrous thing I've read tonight.

This ^.

So I'm meant to run up and downstairs with a baby covered in poo once an hour when I've got stitches in my vagina, am I?

And where is my toddler going to be while I run up and downstairs?

I don't want to shock you, but while we were potty training my toddler, the potty was IN THE KITCHEN while he learned to give us sufficient advance notice to get him to the loo.

Get a cot top changer, one of the hard ones that goes over the cot itself, rather than a changing table (they are pretty useless). That way you can move it around the house as needed. In the first few months, we did most nighttime changing in our room as baby was sleeping with us anyway. Also, it was the warmest room in the house so it meant we didn't have to take her into a cold nursery on a cold changing mat to change her in the middle of the night. You can also take it downstairs for changing during the day. Similarly, it was great for travel too.

Have a little box of changing and other supplies on your bedside table in your room for that. Also, have one downstairs, include some snacks for you as well (and a water bottle) because there will be loads of times you are stuck under a baby feeding or sleeping and need to eat or drink and you'll be grateful it's there.

Don't stress about decorating and stuck. We honestly hardly decorated the nursery as like you were co-sleeping and really only went in there for changing and to retrieve things like clothes, etc. Second time around, we have a cot and a wardrobe in there and that's it. A rocking chair is helpful but you may not want it in the nursery. We kept ours in our bedroom as that's where we did all the rocking early on anyway.

I used a stokke cot as it has wheels and starts off small. My bedroom was quite small and so was the nursery, I rolled the cot in to our room at night then back to the nursery next door in the morning. When DS was ready to move up to the next size of the cot, we moved him in to his room permanently. No issues with rejecting sleeping in his own room or cot because everything was the same and familiar.

You can get inflatable Baby baths that you can put in your big tub at home, this will save water and space, especially if you plan on going on holiday or stay with relatives in the first year.

Don’t bother with a nappy bin, you do 10-12 changes a day so just use a nappy bag and empty the bin each evening.

Keep your change bag as light as possible, use half a pack of wipes then put them in your change bag. I had a change mat the clipped together and had space for 2 nappies, wipes pack with 1/4 left, nappy sacks and some mini sudacream. Easy to just grab that and head for the loo when out.

Keep a full change of clothes for Baby in the car and another top for you. Exploding poo always happens when you are least prepared for it.

Get trial versions of sudacream, bepanthem, bonjella etc as they are mini size. Save these for your change bag or use travel toiletries jars and dispense in to those.

Stock up your freezer with home cooked frozen meals, you’ll need them. Best of luck!

Just had a little chuckle to myself as I changed my baby's nappy on the rug. The shame that I didn't go upstairs to deal with said nappy

No way am I dragging me and baby up 2 flights of stairs 20 times a day for a change. I have a box in the living room with a lid on it with a load of changing supplies, and a changing mat to put baby on, so it doesn't have to go on the carpet/sofa/dog/whatever directly. I have another one in our bedroom, and a bigger changing station in the nursery. The changing mats were a few pounds each from mothercare, so not exactly an extravagance in the grand scheme of things. We're also doing reusable nappies so the only thing which will have to be moved around the house is the nappy laundry bucket.

TBH I'm the last of my siblings to have kids, so I very much doubt most of my visitors are going to be precious about seeing a nappy changed, but if they are and they're visiting me in my house they'll just have to deal with it!

I also have loads of those Ikea drawer dividers, they're fab for sorting vests and sleepsuits into sizes, and the smaller ones are great for bibs and socks and hats and things. I've got the bigger ones on top of the changing table too, filled with nappies, wipes, muslins and extra liners and stuff too. Everything to hand and easy to see when things are getting low.

I'd agree with the low level nightlight, so you can just about see to change nappies but baby doesn't in theory think that it's time to wake up.

Also, think where people will sleep. DH slept in the nursery for a while and baby in the main bedroom with me because DS was a dreadful sleeper and DH nearly crashed on his 70 mile commute because he was so tired. There are lots of families where the working parent sleeps elsewhere so they are safe to drive. It's worth having a think where this would be - is the nursery big enough for a sofa bed for you to sleep on, for example, and baby also sleeps in there.

Yy too to the light changing bag. All i take with me is a half full packet of wipes, 4-5 nappies, and a few loose nappy sacks. For changing, i just take 2 vests and 2 sleepsuits. My baby is 6mo now and i can count on one hand the number of times i've had to fully change him when out and about (i've been very lucky!) so I never saw the need in taking a full proper outfit; just something clean and dry to do us til we got home.

I used to get by with just my phone torch, just don't shine it in the baby's face

Go on gumtree and get a sturdy solid wood changing table, with actual chest of draws underneath for the babies clothes. They are hundreds new and so many crop up second hand if your in a big town or city. We are currently sanding one down and painting and it looks like something from John lewis that cost hundreds. It was 15 quid on gumtree which meant we could buy quite posh, child safe paint (little green is a good company as they are clay based so lovely finish or farrow and ball is all also child safe).

I can not recommend gumtree enough for baby essentials. There are even ergo baby 360 slings on there for a third of the price they are new (they only came out less then a year ago aswell). Anything ive picked up has been practically new as babies don't obviously use thing for long as so many people buy things they don't end up using or unwanted gifts ect. My snuzpod cost 40 pounds, as I will be buying new sheets from their website it basically means its brand new.

I'm obsessed but it does mean you can have the most fantastic items, especially prams/travel systems for bargain prices. It just takes searching and devotion to checking in your area quite a bit so thats the only downside . However you have months left so worth it for any items the other posters suggest

Do understand some people want all new though too

oh and always secure all furniture to the wall, especially chest of draws or change tables

And nappy bins are filth just a small bin with a magnatised type top for nappies to be contained in until you (or partner) take the bag out at the end of each day. This can be next to your change table for cotton wool pads (get giant baby ones never the useless tiny balls) to go in as well. I'm due the 7th of March so baby obsessed at the moment

Iya new to this Dnt were to write my own post x

I was one who always traipsed upstairs to change my first DD's nappy. We used washables so they take a bit more space than disposables and only had one bucket. Second DD came along and we bought a second change mat and nappy bucket. It's not practical to carry two children upstairs or leave a toddler unattended.

Having a changing table is much better for your back than changing on the floor. A unit with drawers is brilliant and will be useful in the future. Make sure you have everything to hand as others have said. We had (washable) nappy bucket and dirty clothes basket to one side of ours. Don't do what I did and put a massive toy hanger thing to one side. Once my DDs could get up they would lunge for their favourite toys which was a bit precarious .

@Loulou2001 what does this mean?

Vests, vests and more vests! The cheaper the better - poop stains are hard to wash out so when we had a bad leak it was easier to just chuck the vest away. When DS was tiny, I preferred to take him up to his changing station as it can be a killer on your back hunched over for the 100th nappy/outfit change. We would put his bath on the dining table for the same reasons.

If it's lazy not to change baby in their room then I'm lazy and proud

Don't buy expensive baby furniture. Normal stuff is fine apart from obviously the cot.

Toddler books have really thin spines but lovely colourful covers, so it's useful either to get some of those gallery shelves from ikea, or big boxes (you'll see these in children's libraries) to display books front-on, either on the wall to choose from or in boxes to flip through. Avoid the children's bookshelves sold for this purpose, because they're useless for anything else, whereas boxes and gallery shelves can be reused later for toy storage or pictures.

Oh and when you put your cot in, unless it's by a window sill, look at a shelf or something for the wall above for your baby monitor xx