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!

I just put the monitor on the floor.

Who constantly has rooms full of people in their homes? who must be protected from the sight of one of the home's occupants getting nappy changed? Change them wherever you want. At first I thought I would only change upstairs then did both now just prefer to do it upstairs. However I've never really using the changing table feels too precarious and it's got raised wooden side round it that I worry she'll bang her head on. Shame as it's better for my back. But the changing part sits atop drawers and can be unscrewed and flipped over when don't need changing table anymore and just looks like normal chest of drawers. I don't think its unhygienic to change downstairs as it's on a mat same as upstairs and tbh my baby voms up milk everywhere so my carpets and couch etc have all suffered anyway sadly! Hey ho x

I'd recommend nightlight, breastfeeding pillow for starting out then you won't need it for that for long but can use it to prop baby up or for tummy time later. Cosy dressing gown for night feeds. Don't put cot next to window or radiator and have all changing stuff within reach of changing table if using one - including your drawers for fresh set of clothes. Not nursery related but buy Lansinoh nipple cream, envelope necked vests so can take off by pulling down not up (essential if poo or vom on them), I like Schnoogle bath and I wish I'd worked out how to tie soft sling before baby arrived.

'Don't put cot next to window or radiator' this from @Thissameearth so true and advised. As for putting a shelf above a cot for a baby monitor this is also not really advised in case the shelf or items on the shelf falls off the wall onto the baby (its happened to all of us at some point where a shelf comes loose)

Dont spend money decorating with cutesy pastels. In no time they'll be a toddler who

A really comfy chair
a red light as this wakes you up less than a white light

we had a cot, a chest of drawers with some shelves over the top of it, a comfy chair and a billy bookbase (slim) which had changing stuff, books and toys stored on it. We had one of those cot top changers. It worked fine. I really liked our nursery. It was a small room basically 6ft6 in one direction and 7ft 6 in the other.

What you will want in 18 months time is storage below hip level not high/tall units so think ahead if you dont want to buy twice.

My nursery has a cot, chest of drawers, sofa bed (invaluable as my bf baby didn't sleep through until 14 months so I got my wear out of it!) Also have a bedside table with the monitor on (audio only), nightlight and white noise machine. Would recommend one of those- that bloody sheep went off after 20 minutes and wasn't enough for my LO but this machine can go all night if needed. Don't bother about decorations. Also we never had a changing station in nursery, when he was in with us we changed him in our room on the bed or in the living room on the sofa during the day and after bath (but we are on one level so no stairs). Would recommend a second Moses/basket for downstairs rather than carrying it up and down however we used the carry cot from our pram as it had a solid mattress base.

@grasspigeons any suggestions please on a red light. I have googled but wasn't sure if you had a particular one you used that was good?

Pottery you can get cheap smart bulbs these days anywhere that sells electrical stuff, they come with a little remote control.

@BertieBotts thanks. I found some red bulbs and amazon and thought i'd get one of those spherical frosted glass orbs from ikea and just put the low watt red bulb in that