5 Tips - Preparing your Home for your Baby

Jul 22

It is a certainly a difficult task to wrap our heads around the idea of having a baby and of getting ready in all areas! There are so many new things to consider and so many others that we need to start learning about. Here are 5 Tips on how to prepare your home when having a baby!

How to baby proof our home and how to make it ready before our baby arrives is also difficult, taking into consideration that pregnancy is never easy physically and psychologically, and that it is definitely not the best moment to be moving around furniture, or renovating your home.

So today, I wanted to go deeper into the theme of this week and help you with practical ideas that you can implement without the need of a renovation, to save you some sweat and to get your home ready for the arrival of your baby!

SAFETY FIRST

Your baby’s safety should always be your #1 PRIORITY! Start looking at your home with new eyes and analyse each one of your spaces. Look for any safety hazards such as electrical plugs, furniture with glass doors or tops and/or pointed edges, things that might fall and break, loose furniture that might be climbed and can fall over, and dangerous chemicals, medicines or objects must be kept out of reach. Also, any windows or balconies where the baby will have access to must be secured with safety nets.

Remember that every house is unique so look out for anything that might represent a risk for your baby and make sure to secure or remove it.

2. STORE & DECLUTTER

The second practical thing that you might want to start doing right away is to declutter your home in all areas to remove any clutter and make space for new things that you might need. You might need periodically to do some declutter because inevitably you will start having toys and baby’s clothes and objects that as months pass by, babies grow up and you will stop using many of these items.

Also, it is important to have enough storage space in different places of the home and it is best if most of it is closed so that you can not see it, helping to eliminate the visual clutter. Give a place to everything so that you know always where to put them to avoid ending up with cluttered areas where you will place everything.

My PRO TIP here is to have also designated areas in different parts of the home to store toys because you will probably will spend lots of time in areas of your home other than the nursery (you may even don’t have one) so it is a good idea to be able to play and check on your baby from different spaces. This way keeping things tidy will be much easier.

3. FUNCTION VS. AESTHETICS

My first advice here is to only buy what is really necessary; today’s world & society are always trying to convince us that we need to buy so many things for our babies, when truth is that we really NEED only a few things. Try to keep things simple and ask for advice to more experienced parents, your paediatrician or some expert on baby’s development. You will thank me one day!

When you want to buy furniture or decor for your baby, make sure the dimensions of the furniture are correct for your space and always think of both, functionality and aesthetics. Keep in mind what you want to buy and try to plan in advance to make sure that things will look good when placing them together.

4. ADAPT YOUR SPACES

Babies change & grow so fast! So always have in mind the specific age & needs of your baby. Plan your spaces since the beginning to make them flexible, so that they can adapt for different stages of development without having to do major changes. Think of where will you put your toddler’s bed once he outgrows the crib? Or where will you place a desk a few years down the road? This can save you a lot of money if you plan in advance so that with little tweaks you can update the space for the needs of your growing child or even adding another child to the family.

5. FUNCTIONALITY

Functionality is a serious thing to consider here. Keep in mind the different activities that you will be doing and have designated spaces for them, such as play time, sleep, eating and hygiene. Also think of flexibility in terms of use for the spaces and for the furniture. Are there items that you can use in more that one way? For example, some breastfeeding pillows can be also used during tummy time, or you can have a soft play mat that you can also use for changing diapers or getting your baby dressed. And finally, think in the long term, for how long will you use each item?

I hope this post was helpful and I hope to have given you some insights and ideas that might suit your growing family!

BabyParenthoodDeclutteringOrganizingMotherhoodFlexibilityPractical Advice