@smsaulino I say whatever works for you in your home! Just be sure to have a little extra space to stash a few outfits, too, so you're not running in circles too much. ;)
Has anyone ever used their bathroom counter as a changing station? Polly's room is right by our pretty big guest bathroom. It's got plenty of counter space for a portable changing pad, not the ones that go on top of dressers. We have absolutely no room in her room for a changing station and the bathroom just seemed like a logical place.
I have not, BUT I was telling my husband how much I wish we could! Especially if you have a big sink in there next to the counter. Sometimes babies get poop or vomit EvErYwHeRe, and it would be awesome to be able to strip that mess off and drop it in the tub and then stick the baby in the sink or vice versa. I think the only time you'd find it annoying to have the changing station in another room is during motn changes when you really want to just hurry up and get back to bed. If you do put the changer in the bathroom, just make sure you have a good nightlight or soft lighting of some kind so that you don't have to turn on the bright overheads. One, you don't want to mess with light switches when your hands are full and two, you don't want to wake baby all the way up with bright lights motn. But yeah, I don't see any reason why not to put the changer in the bathroom. Sounds good to me!
I will most definitely get one for this LO. We use it at bedside while baby is still in-room with me to do MOTN feedings and changings and then it goes to baby’s room when they go to their crib. It is touch-activated, has multiple settings for color of light and dimming, and is recharged via USB (and lasts over a week on once charge!). I highly recommend it.
@smsaulino I’m super jealous that your bathroom is big enough for any kind of changing station. All ours are super small. I say give it a try. It doesn’t have to be permanent and if it ends up being inconvenient, you can figure out something else when the time comes
@smsaulino We registered for a few Dreambaby rotating led sensor lights. So they’ll turn on when we walk in and off when we leave. I’m not actually sure how bright they’ll be, but it’s an idea for lighting.
@smsaulino You can make any space work for a diaper change. My only concern would be that the portable changing pads are usually pretty thin and you won't want baby to bonk his/her head on the hard countertop. Other than that, there will come a time when they get super wiggly and you might wish you had a strap, but you'll have several months to figure something out. Being able to strap them in also allows you to grab something a couple steps away whereas you won't be able to safely take both hands off a small baby without that. So I'd say it's doable but not ideal and keep brainstorming for a dresser top or something somewhere. Just my opinion.
I think a nursery really only needs 2 things: a crib and a changing station (typically on top of some kind of short dresser), so if really try to fit it in there.
i think the countertop would be fine but I’d use a real changing pad, not a portable one...the portable ones are too thin for a hard surface and will also slide around. You definitely also need dim lighting, and room to store all the necessities: diapers, cream (often more than one kind), wipes, and spare clothes...all within reach while you have 1 hand on the baby.
The room is just about cleaned out! I can’t wait to start setting it up. We have the (peel-and-stick) wallpaper to hang, an awesome light fixture to replace the existing one, a super comfy rug, the crib in a box to be built, and the matching dresser due to be delivered Friday!
We also have movers coming Friday to move stuff all over our house...we just finished a renovation and need to move a bunch of large items (dressers, armoires, book cases, etc) and it just made sense to hire someone to get it all done right and at once, instead of bribing our friends! There’s a LOT of stairs. As of Friday night my house AND the nursery should be in good shape!
@MandyMost that is so exciting! And it gives me hope and inspires me.
DH has promised that he’ll have the room cleared by this weekend. It’s literally all his stuff now and I can’t help, I’ve tried. I think once I have an empty room I’ll feel better. I can’t even enjoy going to target or looking at things like curtains bc I have no nursery yet so it just stresses me out. My amazing friends have started sending gifts so I have a giant pile and no nursery to put them in.
@ashh2018 we just got light blocking curtains and they work well enough, but some light does filter in. It isn’t a huge problem at the moment, but there were a few months last summer when DS would wake us up at 5 am every morning by shouting “It not dark anymore!”
@ashh2018 we just used regular blinds and no curtains. We didn’t have a problem until now... DD is now 2, and I’ve had her convinced that she goes to sleep when the sun goes to sleep. Now she looks at me and says “sun awake!” When I put her down at 7:30. I started closing the blinds before we get her room but she caught on and now says “I look outside!” Before believing me.
@ashh2018 blackout curtains, definitely blackout. We have blackout curtains and blackout shades LOL. Nap time is MY favorite part of the day, I don’t want anything interfering with that!
@klj0228 I did and loved it. It worked great to provide just enough light during night feeds and changes to see what I was doing without stimulating DS too much. I wholeheartedly believe it helped him go back to sleep easier because he wasn’t exposed to a lot of light.
@ash2018 FTM so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. In my infant care experience, I'd go with regular curtains because it'll help differentiate the naps from bedtime. It will also make it easier for them to nap in other places where it might not be completely dark (daycare, traveling, etc.).
@klj0228 I did and loved it. It worked great to provide just enough light during night feeds and changes to see what I was doing without stimulating DS too much. I wholeheartedly believe it helped him go back to sleep easier because he wasn’t exposed to a lot of light.
Good thing, I put it on my registry the other day after seeing your original post on the light and someone has already bought it for us.
@ash2018 FTM so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. In my infant care experience, I'd go with regular curtains because it'll help differentiate the naps from bedtime. It will also make it easier for them to nap in other places where it might not be completely dark (daycare, traveling, etc.).
It's a good thought in theory and worth trying. Totally didn't work for my kid though We got zero naps until we went to blackout mode. I would start with regular curtains but be ready to put some black out curtains if you have a light sleeper.
We have blackout shades, plus a sheer, so for now the only light that gets through could be around the sides. It remains to be seen if h will let me hang curtains bc he doesn't want to put holes in the walls, <<<eyeroll>>> but I'm hoping that would be enough, even if the curtains aren't blackout type. The blind alone blocks mostly everything.
I also use a blackout shade with a curtain over it. My sons room is like the best room in the house to sleep in hah. But we also struggled with naps until his room was totally dark.
@ash2018, we had the same thing going on. The nursery was my husband's "closet"/storage, and it took me so long to get him to clean it out. I think he finally got tired of me saying, "Can I throw this out? Can I throw this out?" and he finally cleaned it up. Granted, he is going to keep the closet in there so occasionally, he'll still leave clothes on the floor in there, which drives me crazy, but I do feel so much more relieved with it cleaned out. Good luck! I hope this is the weekend for you.
I put DH in charge of getting rid of all the furniture in the guest room/ soon to be nursery and he finally arranged for a group to come get it next week. I’m so happy that we can finally start working on getting it ready. The baby furniture should be here by mid July right in time for my registry completion coupons! I’m hoping to have everything purchased and set up by early August
+1 blackout shades. We have the same shades in our room and DS’s room with the only difference being his are blackout and ours are light blocking. Definitely better having blackout in his room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks DS born 9/13/16 BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
+1 for blackout curtains. DS is a champion sleeper, which I partially attribute to the curtains and use of the Dohm sound machine. Will most definitely be getting both for #2!
Now I don't know if I should do black out curtains or not!!
I'm on team "my kid needs them," but my official advice would be to wait until closer to your due date, buy them, but keep them in the package with the receipt. If your baby will sleep without them life will be easier for many things. But if your baby won't sleep without them, then you'll be prepared. It's just so hard to know in advance what each individual kid will need. > Insert big shrug here. < At 2.5 my kid doesn't sleep through the night and we need blackout curtains, a sound machine and a CD playing. When we travel I bring the sound machine, an iPad with his night music and something to cover the windows with. It's a huge pain in the you know what. But he potty trained in 2.5 days and we never purchased a single pull-up and he didn't use training pants or anything and it was hands down the easiest thing ever. >Insert even bigger shrug here.<
I will say that yes he has blackout curtains at home, but he naps at daycare just fine in the bright open room. I just prefer to encourage the best sleep possible overnight/at home during naps since that's when I get stuff done.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks DS born 9/13/16 BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
We are not planning to do blackout curtains because we really want the kid to be able to sleep anywhere anytime. But, we are first time parents! So, we will try it our way and then I wouldn't be surprised if we realize we were wrong!
@magnolia209 I think having a baby that can sleep anywhere, anytime depends a lot more on luck than on curtains. Hopefully you won’t need them, but if you do,it’s not necessarily because you did anything wrong
@DanyTargaryen@stothi Thanks!! I googled and there are actually really cute ones. I don't know what I expected to find, but by looking at the photos, you can't tell a difference.
In case anyone is looking for suggestions, these are the shades we buy for our bedrooms and bathrooms. They are cordless (which is AWESOME for safety purposes) and are easy to pull down. The first link is the light filtering one, the second is the blackout. They're the same brand and available in the same colors so you can coordinate rooms with each other. They've from Home Depot and we've been very happy with them so far.
@magnolia209 I agree. If you create certain sleep habits at home, getting your older baby/toddler to sleep in strange places (without bringing all those things with you) may be a challenge. I stress MAY because all kids are a little different. I bought blackout curtains but I never hung them up. We had blinds, but they let in light. My kids (4,6) now prefer to sleep with their blinds up even though it's light out at 730 p.m. They are reassured by the evening light.
I love our black out curtains. Living where the the sun hardly goes down in the summer, they are absolutely necessary. Summer solstice was last night for us (sun didn't even set!), I found my 5 year old sleeping with a blanket over his head because there was still too much sun coming in around his curtains. I'm hoping for another good sleeper.
After trying out both gliders and recliners, I went with a leather recliner from Kroger. I just couldn't get comfortable in the gliders, and I didn't see it getting any better trying to nurse or rock a newborn in one. I'm not a fan of leather, but I think with a newborn it'll make potential clean up easy. It also fits really well in the room. It's perfect for a small office, but as a bedroom it's a little cramped. So I'm trying to utilize the space wisely!
On another note, this thread has been SO motivating. There is so much creativity and such a large array of different styles here. I love it!
I really want to get the room finished and get some nice pictures! We purged the downstairs living room a few months back, and moved the office/music studio down there and let the boys have there man cave. This opened up the second room upstairs with our bedroom, and we got it mostly painted in a mint green shade. I also gave my sons old crib new life and painted it gray, and have it assembled. We bought a new dresser/changing table, its out of the box but still needs to be assembled. I have curtains, lamp, shelves, new mattress, rug, framed prints, and a bunch of other stuff literally in piles in the hallway and my bedroom. I just need to find some baskets for the closet and the cube shelf I plan on putting in their. The only thing holding me up is the trim needs to put back on, and my boyfriend promised he'd get it done while he's home next week. I didn't get a nursery for my DS so I'm really excited to get things put together and see the final product! If he doesn't follow through, I'm gonna haul out the air compressor and just do it myself
Oh, and we need doors still. We got rid of the 1980's oak ones when we moved in and never replaced them.
Well, looks like there’s no consensus on blackout vs non blackout curtains/shades. Our nursery is naturally pretty dark because of trees and woods in the back of our house. I’m thinking we should do normal curtains first because there won’t be a huge impact and then if we notice light sensitivity then we can try blackout.
In case anyone is looking for suggestions, these are the shades we buy for our bedrooms and bathrooms. They are cordless (which is AWESOME for safety purposes) and are easy to pull down. The first link is the light filtering one, the second is the blackout. They're the same brand and available in the same colors so you can coordinate rooms with each other. They've from Home Depot and we've been very happy with them so far.
Yes! We just started switching over to these (or something very similar) and I love them! We'll be using these in the new baby's room and switching out what's in our toddler's room. I didn't know before that cordless was an option but now that I do, I'm sold! No extra cords in baby's room? Yes, please! Me likey safety.
I have similar cordless cellular blackout shades in the bedrooms, and cordless blinds in other rooms (although the blinds still aren’t totally safe because the cords that hold the blinds together, even though there’s no dangly cord to get tied up in). Love cordless! They’re so easy to just push up and pull down.
Re: Nursery- The Big Post!
But yeah, I don't see any reason why not to put the changer in the bathroom. Sounds good to me!
https://www.amazon.com/VAVA-Stickers-Nursery-Adjustable-Brightness/dp/B01N1S7B60?crid=3TKV4XEA8YK59&keywords=vava+night+light&qid=1529190431&sprefix=vava&sr=8-3&ref=mp_s_a_1_3
I will most definitely get one for this LO. We use it at bedside while baby is still in-room with me to do MOTN feedings and changings and then it goes to baby’s room when they go to their crib. It is touch-activated, has multiple settings for color of light and dimming, and is recharged via USB (and lasts over a week on once charge!). I highly recommend it.
i think the countertop would be fine but I’d use a real changing pad, not a portable one...the portable ones are too thin for a hard surface and will also slide around. You definitely also need dim lighting, and room to store all the necessities: diapers, cream (often more than one kind), wipes, and spare clothes...all within reach while you have 1 hand on the baby.
@Wishilivedinflorida I’m going to look into the light you recommend. Did you use it with your first?
We also have movers coming Friday to move stuff all over our house...we just finished a renovation and need to move a bunch of large items (dressers, armoires, book cases, etc) and it just made sense to hire someone to get it all done right and at once, instead of bribing our friends! There’s a LOT of stairs. As of Friday night my house AND the nursery should be in good shape!
DH has promised that he’ll have the room cleared by this weekend. It’s literally all his stuff now and I can’t help, I’ve tried. I think once I have an empty room I’ll feel better. I can’t even enjoy going to target or looking at things like curtains bc I have no nursery yet so it just stresses me out. My amazing friends have started sending gifts so I have a giant pile and no nursery to put them in.
Totally didn't work for my kid though
I would start with regular curtains but be ready to put some black out curtains if you have a light sleeper.
MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
DS born 9/13/16
BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
Now I don't know if I should do black out curtains or not!!
At 2.5 my kid doesn't sleep through the night and we need blackout curtains, a sound machine and a CD playing. When we travel I bring the sound machine, an iPad with his night music and something to cover the windows with. It's a huge pain in the you know what. But he potty trained in 2.5 days and we never purchased a single pull-up and he didn't use training pants or anything and it was hands down the easiest thing ever. >Insert even bigger shrug here.<
MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
DS born 9/13/16
BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Snow-Drift-9-16-in-Cordless-Light-Filtering-Cellular-Shade-35-in-W-x-48-in-L-Actual-Size-34-625-in-W-x-48-in-L-10793478630233/202587002
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Shadow-White-9-16-in-Cordless-Blackout-Cellular-Shade-18-in-W-x-64-in-L-Actual-Size-17-625-in-W-x-64-in-L-10793478930272/207159216
MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
DS born 9/13/16
BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
After trying out both gliders and recliners, I went with a leather recliner from Kroger. I just couldn't get comfortable in the gliders, and I didn't see it getting any better trying to nurse or rock a newborn in one. I'm not a fan of leather, but I think with a newborn it'll make potential clean up easy. It also fits really well in the room. It's perfect for a small office, but as a bedroom it's a little cramped. So I'm trying to utilize the space wisely!
On another note, this thread has been SO motivating. There is so much creativity and such a large array of different styles here. I love it!
I really want to get the room finished and get some nice pictures! We purged the downstairs living room a few months back, and moved the office/music studio down there and let the boys have there man cave. This opened up the second room upstairs with our bedroom, and we got it mostly painted in a mint green shade. I also gave my sons old crib new life and painted it gray, and have it assembled. We bought a new dresser/changing table, its out of the box but still needs to be assembled. I have curtains, lamp, shelves, new mattress, rug, framed prints, and a bunch of other stuff literally in piles in the hallway and my bedroom. I just need to find some baskets for the closet and the cube shelf I plan on putting in their. The only thing holding me up is the trim needs to put back on, and my boyfriend promised he'd get it done while he's home next week. I didn't get a nursery for my DS so I'm really excited to get things put together and see the final product! If he doesn't follow through, I'm gonna haul out the air compressor and just do it myself
Oh, and we need doors still. We got rid of the 1980's oak ones when we moved in and never replaced them.
We'll be using these in the new baby's room and switching out what's in our toddler's room. I didn't know before that cordless was an option but now that I do, I'm sold! No extra cords in baby's room? Yes, please! Me likey safety.