Expecting a new baby into your home has got to be one of the most exciting events in a person’s life. However, there is a huge list of tasks you need to perform and items you need to buy to make your new baby safe and comfortable in your home. Here are some ways you can prepare your home for the arrival of your baby.
Decorate and Furnish the Nursery
Your baby will need a place to sleep. They can have a bedroom of their own, or perhaps you will want them to sleep close to you for the first few months.
If you decide to give them a nursery, you may want to paint and decorate it a few weeks in advance of your baby’s arrival so that any paint fumes have time to diminish. If you don’t know the sex of your little one, decorate in unisex colors.
Let your creativity flow and make the room appealing to your baby by hanging cute musical mobiles above their cot and adorn the walls with pretty pictures and shelves filled with cuddly toys.
Babies will sleep better in darkness, so hang a blackout blind or curtains at the window to block out the afternoon sun and early morning brightness.
A decent cot is one of your most important investments. When your baby is newly born, you may want to bed them in a Moses basket or a bassinet and then move them into a larger cot. Side sleeper cots that attach to the side of your bed and are ideal if you want your baby beside you – they make night feeds a breeze.
If your baby is in their own room, you will probably need a comfortable nursing chair for nighttime feeding and a footstool to ensure your own comfort.
Breast or Bottle?
Once your baby is born, you will know pretty much straight away whether your will bottle or breastfeed. Perhaps you have decided what you will do well in advance of the birth of your baby. If you plan to breastfeed feed, you might need to buy a breast pump so that you can express milk for times you are not able to offer the breast to your baby.
You will need a supply of baby bottles and tests if you are going to express milk or if you wish to bottle feed. Another decision you should make is what type of brand of formula you will feed your baby. To give your child the best start in life, you will need to choose a quality formula such as Alula Baby Formula, which has the optimum balance of vitamins and minerals for your baby.
To clean the bottles and sterilize them, you can submerge them in a bucket of water with sterilizing tablets dissolved in it, buy a microwave sterilizer or an electric sterilizer that uses steam to sanitize the feeding equipment.
Safe Journeys
If you are bringing your baby home from the hospital in a car or plan on traveling in a car regularly with your baby, you will need a rear-facing car seat suitable for newborn babies. There is a vast range of car seats on the market so do some research and buy the one that best suits your requirements. You may want to buy an entire travel system that consists of a car seat that fits into a pram or stroller base and grows and adapts with your baby.
If you don’t want to use a pram every time you take your baby out and about, you can buy a sling or a papoose to enable you to strap your child to your body. Having your newborn close to you in this way can help strengthen the bond between you and them. It also makes walking around shops much easier as you don’t have to maneuver a bulky stroller through small spaces.
The Bottom Line
Changing diapers is probably the only downside to having a baby, but it has to be done. Ensure you have a good stock of diapers in your home, ready for your baby’s arrival. Buy them in a range of sizes, starting with Newborn, as you will not know the actual size of your baby until they appear in the world. Stock up on toiletries such as diaper cream, baby shampoo, cotton wool, baby bath, and baby wash. As you will have a lot of dirty diapers, you may want to buy a diaper disposal system that compacts the stinky packages into smaller bundles and eliminates nasty odors.
Swaddled and Safe
Babies are most comfortable in loose-fitting garments such as babygros and soft vests. Always buy soft cotton clothes to reduce the chance of your baby’s skin becoming irritated, and always wash them with a non-bio sensitive washing detergent.
