Preparing Home for Baby

Preparing Home for Baby

Preparing your home for the arrival of your new baby and not sure where to start? We’ve got some tips to help make your preparation as smooth as possible! 

1. Setting up the nursery: Whether you plan on turning a room into a nursery or turning part of your bedroom into a nursery, determining where to set up your baby’s nursery is a great first step. For newborns, we highly recommend setting up the crib near your bed regardless of whether you also have a dedicated nursery room for your baby or not so that if you need to attend to your baby at night, you can get to them within seconds. Most  recommend having your baby sleep in the same room (but not in the same bed) for at least the first 6 months. When determining the location of the crib, make sure to avoid placing them below heavy wall decor or near hazardous furniture, such as dressers or shelves as these can be very deadly if they fall on your baby. You are most likely going to have to walk towards the baby’s crib and the rest of the house quite often- so having the area towards the crib clear will make transitioning with your baby in different rooms much easier. Next, it’d be a good idea to invest in a dresser or some kind of organizer to store all of your baby’s clothes! It’s very likely you’ll have to change their diaper quite a bit- so knowing exactly where to get the clothes you need (especially if changing at night when you’re tired!) will save you time and get your baby’s needs met faster. In the Winter, it’s a good idea to store warm outdoor wear in a section of your organizer to help with your transitions between indoor and outdoor. I’d also recommend having some socks and mittens organized as well to keep your baby’s hands and feet warm. Setting up a clear diaper changing area can also make diaper changing time significantly easier- for those who have a multi-story house, it might be a good idea to have a basket with diapers on both floors. Some other essentials that might be good to add to your nursery could be a rocking chair, a laundry hamper, extra preloaded PopYum bottles so that when baby is hungry you can feed immediately, and some storage bins or an organizer cart to hold more of baby essentials. With your diaper changing as well, it’d be a good idea to have a dedicated garbage can in the nursery to keep the room clean.
2. Bathroom: Prepare your bathroom for your baby by getting some essentials for your baby such as a baby tub, comb (once they have hair but it doesn’t hurt to get it early!), baby shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion. 
3. Living Room: Eventually, when your baby is able to crawl or walk, it’d be a good idea to set up a playpen area in the living room and a nice seating area for your baby.
4. Kitchen and Dining Room: To help baby feeding time be as smooth as possible, it’s a good idea to prep your kitchen to include baby essentials such as PopYum bottles, formula (if you are formula feeding), bibs, high chairs for your baby to sit in at the dining table, and baby food.
5. On-The-Go: A sizable baby bag is a must! Baby bags store all of your on-the-go baby essentials. Babies can be quite messy, so it’d be a good idea to include in your baby bag an extra roll of paper towels, some baby wipes, sanitizing wipes or sanitizing spray for your car, skin cream, extra diapers, and even a changing mat for emergencies in your car (some baby bags have a built in changing mat). You will find that your baby bag fills up quickly! Preloaded PopYum bottles (loaded with formula and water separately in the bottle) save precious baby bag space!  They also let you feed a ‘Hangry!’ baby in seconds! It might also be good to get a ‘Baby in Car’ sticker to put on your car so that other cars around you know to be careful.