The “perfect” nursery
If you’ve been on Pinterest or Instagram lately, you may have noticed how much time and energy Mum’s have gone too, to have the ‘perfect, photo worthy’ nursery.
Whilst home decorating can be a passion for some, and a fun hobby for others, here are a few things that you need to know about having the ‘perfect’ nursery.
Safety is the most important thing: Please do your research on the product you buy for your baby. Many Mums would be forgiven in thinking that if it is stocked in a baby shop (or online) that it MUST be safe. Unfortunately, this is absolutely untrue. Very few items marketed at Mums have safety standards, which is frightening. If you take a walk around your local baby store, you’ll find cots filled with items that are unsafe for sleeping. You might find cot bumpers, blankets and doonas, pillows, and soft toys, all of which go against Safe Sleep Guidelines! See our safe sleep blog post for more info on this one.
Babies can be distracted in a ‘busy’ environment. Are you determined to create a gorgeous space for your child? If so, that’s completely understandable (and I’m not mummy-shaming you in any ways whatsoever) but understand that ‘less is more’ when it comes to babies. Having an overstimulating environment can interfere with sleep quantity and quality which can result in an overtired baby - and trust me, no one wants that!
SIDS guidelines suggest that babies should room share with their parents for the first 12 months of life, meaning that’s the ‘nursery’ which you’ve painstakingly spent hours putting together may not be used until your baby is older! I will be welcoming baby number 2 into our home sometime in January, and guess what? I’m not actually going to set up a ‘nursery’ for the baby until later down the track!!! Fortunately, our bedroom is large enough to easily fit a cot, and my toddler’s bedroom has all other baby-related items already in it (storage, clothing, change table, etc). This time around I’m keeping things nice and easy for myself, which means no thinking about ‘nursery themes’ or any other decorating ideas until much further down the track.
With all that in mind, if spending time creating the ‘perfect nursery’ truly makes you happy, and is part of your ‘nesting’ phase, by all means - go for it! There is no shame in having a gorgeous space for your child, just like there is no shame in keeping things minimal.