Hands up if before your first child arrived you were madly pinning gorgeous pictures of designer nurseries. These days nurseries are a big business and there are so many beautiful ideas and themes to choose from.. If you were like me though, the busyness of life and a touch of having no idea where to start meant that I barely had anything set up when my son arrived home from hospital. The good news is, it didn't matter. He slept in my room for the first 3 months and I was well and truly organised by the time he transitioned to the cot.
There are a handful of essentials you will need for your nursery, which once sorted, you can decide on the other features you would like to include. If your budget is tight, remember your little one will not be that concerned about anything other than you, so don't feel pressured into having the most stylish nursery possible. Here is a list of the main items you should prioritise for your nursery:
- Storage, storage, storage - Shayna Blaze is on the money here. As your little one grows, so too does the amount of baby stuff that you will accumulate and especially in the first year where they grow so fast. My best advice is choose furniture with lots of storage such as a chest of drawers and make sure there is plenty of room for baby items in the closet.
- The Cot - this is such an important purchase as it will be the most used item in your nursery. I purchased a cot that allowed you to have the mattress at a more comfortable height for your back to start with and then could be dropped down when baby starts standing. It also converts to a toddler bed by removing the sides, so it will last for a few years. . The only downside to my cot is the sides are a bit creaky when you lower and raise them, which is not ideal when you are trying to creep out of the nursery, My suggestion is to test this before purchasing. Of course you need to ensure everything including the mattress and bedding meets SIDS guidelines.
- Block out blinds/curtains - our little cherubs have no concept of day and night to start with and a bright light filled room becomes your worst enemy. The best way to get baby to sleep is to make the room as dark as possible, so invest in block out blinds or curtains.
- Comfy chair- The second most used item in a nursery after the cot is a nursing chair. The last thing anyone wants to do when feeding or settling your baby at 3am is have to move elsewhere or sit somewhere uncomfortable. Even into the 2nd year, I still use the chair frequently when rocking my boy back to sleep when he is ill or teething. Look for a chair that you can happily sit in for a few hours, but is easy enough to get out of hands free. Another feature that will come in handy is arm rests that you can sit an empty bottle or phone on.
- A good place for the baby monitor - This wasn't an issue in the first 6 months, but once my baby hit the six month mark, his favourite pastime was pulling apart the baby monitor that I had set up on the side of the cot. Eventually I installed a small bookshelf on the wall out of reach of the cot, so I can still see what my boy is doing and not have to readjust the camera every time I go into his room.
- Change Table - I bought one that sat atop the chest of drawers, but to be honest, I only used it once a day as most nappy changes were done downstairs in the living area. It wasn't too expensive to get the change table piece that sits on top and it can be removed once nappies are behind us.
Once you have all of your essentials, you can pin away and get inspired by the thousands of gorgeous nursery designs out there. I have found and shared some of the nursery ideas I love and they are all gender neutral, so they will be appropriate for your little boy or a girl.
