Everything You Need to Know about Setting Up a Nursery

by May 22, 20190 comments

In case you’re a new parent and don’t know, a nursery is a special space made for your baby. It’s where you can play, feed, lull your newborn to sleep. During the newborn period, both the baby and mother need ample space, comfort and care. By setting up a baby nursery, mum and the newborn can spend quality time together in a space made for them. However, setting up a nursery can be challenging for many new parents. For example, some parents opt for a baby nursery with a simple cot and changing table, complimented by a few toys. On the other hand, you can go for an Instagram-trendy baby room with designer furniture, organic bedding and sophisticated toys. Then comes the decor: depending on your budget, you could hire an interior decorator or you could keep it to the bare minimum. Obviously, as all parents, we want our children to have the best. Ultimately, the newborn to toddler stage will inevitably involve many hours in the nursery room. The best a parent can do is keep this space organised and set-up for the child’s healthy development. Here’s a run-thru of all you need to know to setup the perfect baby nursery.

Setting Up Your Baby Nursery: The Essentials

A well set-up and organised baby nursery will involve some preparedness. Here is a list making sure you’re organised:

Make Sure You Have a Sanitation Station

You need to have a good supply of sanitary products ready to go in the nursery room, from antibacterial gel to wipes to paper towels. Make sure to also consider a sealed system for diaper disposal and heavily soiled clothing. Of course, this concern should extend to the entirety of your house. You have to be consistent with offering your baby a germ-free and healthy living space.

Don’t Forget About Storage and Sorting

Having a baby means an onslaught of gifts, toys and other baby-related items. You do not want your baby to be in a crib full of clutter. Therefore, it is important to keep your baby’s items organised. You need to have drawers, cabinets and containers all labelled.

Post-Birth and Early Development

Your baby’s nursery can also be a space of early interaction and development. Hand-eye coordination and motor skills should be considered in thinking about how your baby will interact with the nursery. A playmat and hanging mobile will be useful for crawling, observing and learning. In the early weeks, keep the mobile about 30-80 cm from your baby’s eyes, and move it closer over time.

It is also important to have a calendar where you make sure the baby’s crib moves once a month. This helps your baby with visual and auditory development by experiencing light and sound from varying directions.

Now that we have gone thru the essentials of preparing and thinking about your soon-to-be baby nursery, we need to think of essential products. Basically the holy trinity of baby nursery items: furniture, bedding and accessories. We will go through a checklist of items you need to for the space as well as your newborn.

The Nursery Checklist

Make sure there is good air circulation. Set up a thermometer for the room.

The perfect room temperature for your baby ranges between 16 to 20 degree celsius. According to this study using fans tends to reduce risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Have good cleaning supplies. Make sure to keep the nursery germ free and clean.

Wipes can be used on door handles and other possibly germy messes. Use good organic disinfectants. Cheque out the products from Biome for top-quality green cleaning.

All those new clothes? Wash them!

This is an important step before you move into the nursery. Use a good hypoallergenic detergent and make sure the fabric is good for a new born.

Install a dimmer.

For those late-night feeding or changing sessions, you do not want to be in complete brightness or darkness.

You need a good lamp.

This can be placed near the crib or near the changing table. It can be a floor or table lamp. Make sure that it has an adjustable brightness control and battery powered motion sensor or baby nightlights.

Keep it dark! Get curtains.

Bright, all white nurseries can seem like the trend on Instagram. But remember those photos could be doctored. What every new mother knows is that your baby will not sleep if there is brightness everywhere. Up until 12 months your baby needs day sleep, a good baby nursery should have either block-out blinds, plantation shutters, dark blind or curtains to do the job. After all, it is important for your baby to sleep thru those long summer days as well.

Get a comfortable chair.

The nursery chair will eventually become the reading chair. So pick a good comfortable one, make it an investment. You will use it to breastfeed, bottle feed or burp your baby. Remember that babies will need to be fed more than 10 times a day. So think about your comfort as a feeder, a good chair goes a long way.

Storage. A decent sized chest of drawers, a shelf and storage bins.

Your baby will grow really quickly, and you will be accumulating a lot of stuff in the nursery while this happens. As you are setting up the nursery, keep in mind the importance of storing or displaying books, toys, clothing, rugs, etc.

A sturdy table is a must.

For those on a budget, this table should be all about multitasking. Consider the changing station like a workstation, so if you have a good table from where you could access your supplies, water, bottles, snacks, phones etc you can make your job easier.

Good pillows (for mum!)

While newborns should not have pillows, a good pillow is important for the mom as she sits on the nursing chair.

Bedding for the baby.

Make sure the crib has ample supplies of sheets, blankets as well as a good waterproof mattress pad.

Deciding Between the Cot or Crib.

You can purchase a used or new crib. The mattress should snug into the crib with less than two inches around the edges so your baby does not get stuck. For a used crib, make sure the company is a good one or hasn’t been recalled. Safety is key! Also, do not put pillows or thick blankets in the crib and do not use crib bumpers.