19 Apr Setting Up Your Nursery : A Few Tricks of the Trade

Setting up bubs room and a few tips of the trade,

This is such an exciting time for new parents. I know that I really enjoyed it. Nath and I were lucky enough that our parents were happy to pay for the cot and pram. This was a huge help. You find that most soon to be grandparents want to contribute something, so this is a great present for them to buy for your new bubs. We were so very grateful for the help. As these items do tend to be bigger ticket items.

I remember that the baby shops can be overwhelming at first. Just think about how your partner may be feeling though, who usually doesn’t like shopping at the best of times. The trick is that you really need a sales assistant that knows their stuff and is honest with you about what you actually need, and more importantly don’t need. We got all of our nursery furniture from Baby Direct in Richmond and Ringwood. The staff were amazing and very helpful. You will find that if you buy most of your items from one shop (yes, your partner will also thank you for this), they can work out a package deal for you. Baby Direct were great for this and really looked after us. They also had a raffle going and I had a few tickets in for making my purchases from them. We were lucky enough to win a Infrasecure car seat. I was so stoked as we didn’t have a car seat yet.

Items for in the baby’s room;

• A Cot; I was surprised that most of the cots don’t come with a mattress. This is additional as most things are (you will learn this). Our cot has a draw underneath which has been amazing to keep all her blankets and bedding in. I highly recommend finding a cot with a draw underneath. If you are planning on attaching a mobile to the cot railing, ensure that the railing is not too thick and fancy. We could not actually attach the mobile that I bought, as is was not compatible with Tanners cot railing. This was something that I wish I had of known to look for. I ended up making my own. This was actually the idea behind the creation of our Puggle Hanging Mobiles, which hang from the ceiling.
• A Baby monitor; The first one that we bought connected to your phone but we found that during the night it would just use up all the battery and the app that it ran off stopped working on a number of occasions. I think that the technology is improving now. We ended taking that one back and just getting a standard monitor that has video and sound and has been great.
• A Bassinet on wheels was very handy for the early days. This allowed us to wheel Tanner around the house and was easy to have her sleeping next to me. I bought mine off Gum Tree for $70 and just went to Clark Rubber and got a piece of foam cut for the mattress. They have SIDS approved foam, so you know that it is safe and a much cheaper option than buying a mattress for the bassinet, as they are only in it for a few months.
• Changing Table; the one that we got has shelves and draws in it. I have found it to be good for Tanner’s toys and books, as she can just pull them down off the shelf when she wants to. You don’t need to worry about fingers getting caught in draws and trying to get toys out of the draws when you are not there.
• Feeding chair (for mum); trust me, pay the extra money here and get the most comfortable one that you can find. You will be spending a lot of time in this. Before Tanner was born we had it in the lounge room and Nath called it his Xbox/Netflix chair, as it fully reclined and was super comfortable. I even slept in it in those early days while we were working out sleeping arrangements. One that has the ‘glider’ foot stool that all rocks is very handy and really helps you relax.
• Bedding; Mattress protectors and fitted sheets (buy a few of these). I actually have two layers on Tanners bed, in case of any mishaps. I can just strip one layer off so that I am not disturbing Tanner too much. I bought all of mine from a popular baby shop only to find them so much cheaper in BIG W and Kmart. So go there first if you still have not bought these.
• Wraps/ swaddles; it took us a little while to work out the best way to wrap Tanner for sleep. The wing suits with a zip down the front was the best for us we found. We started off wrapping Tanner with two blankets (like the midwife told us to do), but found she kicked most of it off pretty quickly. At least with the wing suits you know that their little toes and fingers are going to be kept warm all night.
• Room décor; I loved decorating the room. I think that it is so lovely for the expecting mum to do, this as it really completed the “Nesting Phase”. We used a bright colourful mobile to give the room some colour, as our walls are grey. We found that we didn’t really need too much else as we didn’t want to take away from the mobile. We ended up going with another colourful print on the opposite wall. Block out blinds are amazing. If you can get them then defiantly put them in. Some baby shops sell removable ones that you can easily install.
• Ensure you are fully stocked with nappies and baby wipes, as well as having a good nappy bin. We have used one of the ones that uses the bag canisters. You place the nappy in the bin then spin the handle to enclose the nappy. Although it does add up in cost, Tanner’s room is free from any nasty smells. Aldi have the bins and bin canisters for sale now and again and have also found the bin canister in Kmart for $15, where other baby shops are about $20 per bin canister.
• First Aid Kit including; Thermomotor, Baby Nurifon, Baby Panadol, Manicure set, Baby Telfast, Prospan (Amazing cough medicine), Bonjela.
• Terry towelling towels; you can get a pack of 20 from Target or kmart for about $20. They are so so so handy for spews etc. I would never feed Tanner without having a few handy. Great for in the car or small enough to fit into an easy reach pocket in your nappy bag. I would keep them in the very front external pocket, so I was ready if the occasion called for it.
• Feeding pillow; I got mine off eBay for about $30 and it was one of the best things that I bought. It wrapped the whole way around me and had a clip at the back. This was very handy when Tanner would fall asleep on me on the couch, as I could easily transfer her into the cot without too much movement.
• Bibs and clothes, I don’t really need to mention these but having clothes that you don’t care if they get spew on is good. As at you baby shower you will be given LOTS of cute outfits. But, if you have a spewy baby, getting them into them can be difficult. I know we spent many days in the same outfit/ zippy suit (If we didn’t have a spewy day). When they are babies it is totally fine to keep them in the same outfit. Not to mention how tricky some of those cute outfits are to get them into and out of.
• Baby coat hangers are super handy and something that you don’t think of. I know my best friend gave me some in her baby shower hamper and was very helpful. I got some more from the reject shop, super cheap.
• A spare shelving unit (anchored to the wall) will be very handy as you do accumulate lots of bits and pieces along the way. Using cube boxes from The Reject Shop, Target, BIG W or Kmart are also very handy for on the shelves. As it keeps it somewhat neat.

Babies are like weddings, you can pay as much or as little as you like and budgets can be very easily blown. If you are happy with your items and they are safe and serve their purpose then that is all good. Enjoy this phase. It is so amazing and great bonding for the expecting parents. Speaking of bonding for the expecting parents, putting the flat pack furniture together is a very testing experience, especially with a great big belly in the way. I put the change table together all by myself, as I think Nath was conveintaly away on a golf trip and I was having my baby shower in the next few days. I do remember assembling the cot together and I love how the flat packs give you two Allen keys, as they know the mum and dad will be doing this together. I wonder how many relationships have been tested during this assembling phase?

So, in closing good luck and enjoy. I hope you may have gotten one thing from my blog.

Warm regards,

Tiff

About the Author

Tiffany is a mother of 2 little adventures. Tanner is 3.5 and Chase is 1.5.  She creates baby gear for your next family adventure.

She founded Jumply soon after the birth of her first child Tanner. She discovered that there was not much out there for adventurous parents like her, who didn’t want the adventures to end just because she had started a family.

Jumply is a community of fun Mums and Dads who build strong connections with their kids through play, adventure and travel.

She’s designed her own Adventure Nappy Backpack and have a range of gear available, including toddler harness backpacks and toddler and kids sunglasses. All designed to make your next family adventure awesome.

Website: https://jumply.com.au/
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