Organizing Your Nursery - The Sleeping Area

Photo by peasap

a continuation of my posts on Organizing Your Nursery...

Finally, we get around to the "traditional" purpose of a nursery -- sleeping. This has been a hot topic over the past 13 years since the quest to eradicate SIDS began. Since then, the rate of SIDS has decreased by 50%! So this is a very effective campaign.

There are 10 basic rules for reducing SIDS. The most important rule is to place babies to sleep on their backs. Also, cribs should have firm mattresses that fit snugly with no gaps on the sides. Blankets, crib bumpers, and other soft loose items should not be placed in cribs. Instead, wearable sleep sacks can be used to keep babies warm at night (but not too warm, because overheating is another SIDS risk factor). For babies younger than 4 months, I like to use the swaddling sleep sacks. Swaddling helps to soothe babies. However, you should only swaddle the arms. Swaddling the legs for significant amounts of time can cause the hip joints to grow improperly.

Recent studies shows that using a fan in your baby's room lowers SIDS risk. There are also additional reasons to use a fan, such as using the white noise to soothe babies.

I realize this is a pretty unconventional stance, but we chose not to use a formal crib for our babies. I dislike large special purpose items (like changing tables, and high chairs) that you only use for a short period of time. So, we use a Pack 'n Play. We use the bassinet attachment while baby is small and then we use the Pack 'n Play normally when baby is bigger. Most people's objection to the Pack 'n Play is that the mattress doesn't seem that comfortable. We purchased a firm 2" thick mattress at Babies R Us that lays on top of the included thinner mattress. Our babies seem to be perfectly comfortable on it. I've not found an "official Pack 'n Play" mattress specifically designed for this, so be sure that the one you select fits snugly. If you have a tiny nursery like ours, foregoing a formal crib for a Pack 'n Play can save you a lot of space!

Getting your baby used to sleeping in a Pack 'n Play also makes traveling easier. I don't have scientific proof, but I think they sleep much better on the road the closer you can replicate their normal sleeping environment.

Once they have outgrown the Pack 'n Play, we transition them to a mattress on the floor. This avoids the "falling out of bed" problems that a lot of kids go through when they transition to a big-kid bed.

Whether you choose a Pack 'n Play or a formal crib, make sure to adhere to the SIDS guidelines when creating your baby's sleeping environment.

This wraps up my series on Organizing Your Nursery. What are your tips and tricks for organizing your nursery?

Related Posts:
Baby Sleep Routines for 0-1yr
Newborn Gear List
Your Baby Does Not Have Colic!
What to Do When Your Baby Has a Cold

Organizing Your Nursery - Storage

a continuation of my posts on Organizing Your Nursery...

The key to managing storage in your nursery is to not have too much stuff. Keep baby items to a bare minimum. Scrutinize each item and make sure it is essential and/or serves multiple purposes. Having done this, you will find that you don't need much storage after all. Besides a dresser, we have 6 fabric bins, and a floor-to-ceiling shelf in AB's nursery. That's all. There isn't even a real closet!



In the dresser we only keep items that are in the current size. If it doesn't currently fit him, it doesn't belong in the dresser! For items that he has outgrown, we have two fabric bins labeled "Too Small". We also keep two bins labeled "Too Big" for items he has not yet grown into. When the "Too Small" bins fill up, we transfer them to a plastic tote in the attic until they can be handed down to his younger cousin.

Besides clothing, we use two of the bins for random supplies, such as extra diaper cream, hand sanitizer, etc. That way, we can buy in bulk when things go on sale and have a place to store them until they are needed.



All other baby items get stored on the shelf. We have a basket on the top shelf for holding medicines and extra toiletries way out of the reach of our toddler. Wire baskets hold extra flannel receiving blankets, sleep sacks, crib sheets, and towels. Another shelf holds a small variety of baby blankets. Since you can't use these in the crib, you don't need that many. We use them primarily as play mats and when traveling in the car or on an airplane. Another shelf holds our slings and baby carriers. There is one last shelf that I like to keep empty (but is currently holding some "Too Big" clothes that have overflown the two fabric bins allocated to them). Having one empty shelf leaves room for those unexpected windfalls, like a large bag of hand-me-downs.

If you keep your gear to a bare minimum, you will find that you can get away with minimal storage in your nursery.

Related Posts:
Newborn Gear List
Managing Kid's Wardrobes

Organizing Your Nursery - The Nursing/Feeding Area

a continuation of my posts on Organizing Your Nursery...

Newborns spend a lot of time eating! Especially if you are nursing, you can spend nearly 8 hours a day just feeding the baby in the first few weeks! Because you spend so much time here, I think it's important to make it super comfy.

For nursing and feeding, it's important to have a comfortable chair. I really love the Ikea Poang chair. I find that it's a relatively inexpensive alternative to the expensive glider rockers that everyone seems to have (because you can usually find them used on Craig's List). When you are first nursing and learning to latch the baby, it helps to put a pillow behind your back so that you are a bit less reclined. But after you get the nursing down pat, it's nice to have a bit of a recline so that you can partially snooze during those late night feeds!

Having a foot stool greatly adds to the comfort factor. Especially in the early days, when your ankles are swollen from labor and delivery, it's really nice to put your feet up! The foot stool is also handy to drag over to the crib for when you have to soothe your baby to sleep. Standing over a crib can be tiring, especially when you are already sleep-deprived!

I also like to have a small side table next to the chair. It helps to have a place to put bottles, nursing gear, and your feeding log. You don't need a lot of room; a floating shelf on the wall could also work if you are pressed for space.

Given the amount of time you will spend feeding your baby, it pays to create a nice feeding area in your nursery. However, you don't have to spend a lot of money to make it comfortable and functional.

Related posts:
Newborn Gear List
Make Sure Your Breastfed Baby is Getting Their Omega-3's

Organizing Your Nursery - The Changing Station

a continuation of my posts on Organizing Your Nursery...

It is estimated that the average kid goes through 7200 diapers! When you do something this frequently, it really pays to have it be organized. For safety's sake, you need to have everything at hand so that you are not tempted to walk away from the baby while they are on the changing table.

It's not necessary to have a formal changing table. A changing pad on top of a low-height dresser with a grippy pad underneath has worked very well for us. I like the idea that we can continue using the dresser well after AB is out of diapers rather than having a specialized piece of furniture that we only use for a few years. We got this sweet dresser on Craig's List for $75.

Whatever your choice, you need to have everything within an arm's length away. This includes diapers and wipes, diaper cream, hand sanitizer, burp cloths, and clothes. It's also handy to have other baby toiletries nearby that you find yourself using on a regular basis.

I like having a shallow floating shelf above the changing table. Make sure to put it high enough that the baby can't reach it while lying on the changing table. On this shelf, I like to keep all my baby toiletries, like nail clippers, snot suckers, thermometer, lotion, hairbrush, any anything else you find yourself using at the changing table. I also like to have a small task light (for those late night changes when you don't want to turn on the overhead light). If you point the light at the wall, it creates a nice diffuse light.


I love the Prince Lionheart Diaper Depot. It holds two stacks of diapers, the Wipes Warmer (or any tub of wipes you choose), and has two side bins for hand sanitizer and diaper cream. I put this on top of a low-height shelf that holds diaper and wipe refills.

For the changing mat itself, it's not necessary to have a changing mat cover unless you live in a cold climate. Instead of specialized changing mat covers, I find that flannel receiving blankets work just as well and are much cheaper.

Next to the changing table you also should have your diaper pail and a small hamper for dirty laundry. It's not necessary for these to be directly within arms reach if you don't have the room, but somewhere within throwing range is helpful.

If you have to concentrate on only one area of your nursery, it should be the changing station. It's definitely the hub of a well-organized nursery!

Related Posts:
Newborn Gear List
Diapering Tips

Organizing Your Nursery

Nurseries don't have to be complicated or expensive. I know that all new moms feel pressure to have a nursery worthy of the Pottery Barn catalog with beautifully-painted pastoral murals and designer hard-wood furniture. But, believe me -- the most important thing is for your nursery to be comfortable and organized. You will spend most of your time in the nursery bleary-eyed and in the dark. You are going to care more that your wipe refills are right at hand when you open the wipes container to find it empty during the most enormously gooey blow out diaper you have ever seen.

AB's nursery is in a tiny room that used to be used as a walk-in closet. Our house is a 100-yr old Victorian, and the bedroom closets are skimpy (to say the least). So, previous occupants decided to turn the smallest bedroom into a walk-in closet. But, along came AB and we had to reclaim the closet as a nursery. The room is teeny tiny at 6'x9'. Many people are surprised when they see it for the first time. They're amazed that I've fit a very functional nursery into such a small space without it feeling cramped. The key was to pair it down to just the essentials and keep it organized.

The starting point for organizing any room is to know what functions you need the room to serve, and organize the room around those functions.

For a nursery, the functions are:

1) changing diapers and clothes

2) nursing/feeding

3) storage of baby-related items

4) sleeping

I will take each function in turn in a series of upcoming posts on organizing your nursery.

Related Posts:
Essential Organized Mommy - Posts for New Moms