We often stress over the color scheme and décor we plan to use in the baby’s nursery but there’s one important issue often overlooked.
Expecting mothers may not realize how helpful an organized nursery can be, but one middle-of-the-night dirty diaper change with a crying, hungry baby will make everything crystal clear.
It seems the few times baby wets or dirties a diaper that requires an all-out bath and clothing change is the time you are home alone with no extra hands to assist. Or the time you’re slipping in to check on baby before you go to sleep and you trip over a toy and it wakes the baby, launching an hour-long tirade – waiting to clean things up and organize will seem crazy.
Ways to keep the nursery organized requires some pre-planning and thought to the room design. Of course, safety should be considered first but then convenience will be a close second and something you’ll come to appreciate as you run into those “special” situations.
Become A Minimalist
Newton Baby encourages new parents to clear the nursery of anything not absolutely necessary. Babies naturally come with a lot of stuff, so buying extras and trying to store 1,000 toys baby will outgrow fairly quickly isn’t really necessary and adds to your stress. Remember, baby is safe in a non-cluttered environment anyway! The crib should have a mattress with a tight-fitting sheet – no stuffed animals, no blankets, no pillows, and no bumper pad.
Set Up An Effective Changing Station
Never, ever walk away from a baby you’ve laid on the changing table, therefore, everything needs to be within arms reach to accomplish the task. Nursery Design Studio offers a few diaper changing table ideas. Among them, is choosing a table or surface in which the changing pad is secure and includes drawers or shelves underneath for storage. You can use basket racks or a multi-shelved cart to the side of the table or assemble something, like a pegboard to the wall behind the table. Another suggestion to maximize space in a small nursery is to create a diaper changing station in the closet, giving you all the nooks and crannies to place diapers, powder, lotion, and of course, a change of clothes.
Lots Of Clothes In Lots Of Sizes
My mother is a fan of gifting baby clothes a size or two up from what they’ll need when they come home. She says we all get newborn clothes at the baby shower and a newborn isn’t the size of a newborn for long. In a minute, we’ll need three-, six- and nine-month sizes and where are all the gifts then? It’s a great idea, however, that leaves you with an array of sizes ranging from those baby can no longer wear to a 12-month sleeper baby will wear…. someday.
Keep clothes on hangers if possible and organize with a tag showing what size the next section holds. If you’re using draws, get a few drawer organizers, dividers, and labels so one outfit doesn’t fall to the bottom of the pile and baby has outgrown it before it’s found.
Books And Toys
You can never have enough baskets and bins to hold clutter and toys for baby. The rattles and noisemakers can easily be kept in a basket near baby’s play area and as they grow, bins of blocks and stuffed animals make for easy clean-up when playtime is over. You’ll most likely have a growing book collection as well and these can be kept on shelves in the nursery or picture ledges allow a vertical organization for books you want baby to reach and those that you keep on the top shelf to avoid rips and teeth marks. You can also use other things in the nursery as book storage for a time – think the little wagon that you placed in the room for décor or the over-the-door organizer you haven’t yet found a purpose for.
Hair Accessories
Keeping hair accessories in one place will be an ongoing battle for little girls. At least at the younger stage, you can keep them in an organized spot and even use as cute decoration. Nursey Design Studio suggests cupcake stands and jewelry stands make cute displays for hair accessories. You can also buy a rod and clip design or use a wire photo board to hold all the headbands and clips you’re sure to collect.
What To Do With All The Shoes
Those adorable itty-bitty shoes are hard to pass up in the store and they are just as hard to locate at home. They slip under clothes or in between toys and it’s difficult to have the pair together at the time you need it. Project Nursery suggests using a tension curtain rod and curtain clips to keep the baby shoes together and organized in the closet.
Create A Space For You
Om Mamma Co. reminds soon-to-be moms of the amount of time they’ll spend in baby’s nursery. They suggest creating a corner of the room with a comfortable chair, a side table for a glass of water, or any nursing items you may need and within reach of those books you’re collecting. You want the room to work with whatever routine you establish and that will be personal to each mother and baby.
Sources: Newton Baby, Nursery Design Studio, Project Nursery, Om Mamma Co.