4 Things Necessary for the Perfect Nursery

Anyone else out there create a “nursery” Pinterest board about 7 minutes after you found out you were pregnant? Okay maybe not that soon after but it wasn’t long before I was pinning away.

At first, I had these wonderful visions of a woodland scene. Then it was geometric everything. Then I thought about a fun patterned wallpaper. In the end, I didn’t do anything to the walls because life got in the way and before we knew it our babe had arrived. Luckily, my procrastination worked in our favour.

When it comes to nurseries there are 4 words you need to remember, ready?

Comfortable, Cool, Dark, and Boring.

That’s it! Okay let’s dig deeper:

Needs to be Comfortable – Babies spend a considerable amount of time sleeping (nearly half the day) so investing in a good mattress is a must. Instead of spending your time on Pinterest (like I did), use your time to do the research on good quality mattresses.

Needs to be Cool – I know it sounds chilly, but it is recommended that the temperature in a child’s room be between 65 and 70 degrees. Of course, take your kiddos’s lead on this but being snuggly warm in a sleep sack and a cool room can generally lead to better sleep than no covers in a warm room.

Needs to be Dark – I’m kind of a broken record on this one, but that’s because it is SO important. A bedroom should be pitch black dark - as dark at 11 AM as it is at 11 PM. Naps will be a lot easier if there’s no light coming into the room. Blackout blinds or curtains are a great investment (you can even find some for $5 that are made out of paper and work well). It might also be a good idea to put a towel under the door to block out any light from a hallway etc.

Needs to be Boring - I know it’s so tempting to decorate with tons of cute baby things, put lots of stuffies around the room, have a fun mobile (maybe even one that moves and makes noise!?), and have fun bright colours. But you know what? Although all of those things are visually pleasing to everyone involved, they are just distracting your baby from their job of sleeping. Just like you shouldn’t bring any electronics into bed (remember here where I talked about what that blue light does?) you do not want your baby to become stimulated at the exact time that they are supposed to be going to sleep.

SO, paint that room a nice neutral colour, have an easily accessible change table, and a comfy chair to feed babe in; other than that, you don’t need much else! The function of your baby’s room is to be a relaxing and quiet environment and help them get the sleep they need!