Fixing up your baby’s room is a great start in preparing for your new role as a parent. Babies are especially sensitive and needy — and their room must be convenient for both you and your newborn.
Comfort
Before anything else, give your baby’s room a thorough cleaning. Babies are sensitive to allergens like dust, mold, or pet hair — so give the room a good scrubbing with plain soap and water or green non-toxic cleaners. The room should be cool and comfortable — with access to air conditioning and heating. Your baby will spend most of the time sleeping so a comfortable crib is essential.
Make sure the bedding is firm — just a mattress and a crib sheet. No pillows, blankets or any other soft items inside the crib to avoid suffocation or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). You’ll need a comfortable chair to sit on when you’re inside the room — preferably a nursing chair or one that rocks.
A nearby dresser can hold your baby’s clothes and formula and a separate changing table will make nappy-changing easier while minimizing the chance of contamination. Don’t forget to oil the door hinges — the creaking sound of a door can be hard on a baby’s ears and you don’t want a sleeping baby to suddenly start crying.
Monitoring and Safety
It’s hard enough to stay away from your newborn — but a bit of alone time will do you well. Baby monitors can alert you if your baby wakes up and starts crying or if there are unusual noises inside the room. You can opt for one with video — just make sure it’s close enough to catch any noises your baby makes.
Audio-only monitors work fine because you probably won’t be looking at the monitor all day. A baby’s constitution is frail in the first few months — so you’ll need to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, just to make sure nothing happens in case of a sudden gas leak.
Stimulation
Your baby’s eyesight isn’t developed enough to distinguish colors and small shapes until the fourth month. However, he/she can distinguish light and movement almost as early as birth. Colorful kids’ wallpaper can be both stimulating and informative — especially if it has various pictures that kids find interesting (animals, simple objects, etc.)
Mobiles are fine as long as they’re made well and stay out of reach of your baby. Babies react differently to mobiles — some are soothed and lulled to sleep by their movement while some are stimulated to the point of excitement keeping them awake. Just keep the receipt until you find a mobile that works for your kid. Music inside the room is fine — but try to avoid exposing your baby to laptops, tablets, or phones (preferably until they’re 8). Screens are extremely stimulating and can induce the development of ADHD in children with prolonged use.
Your baby’s room needs to be functional and comfortable — for both you and your newborn. Start fixing up your baby’s room a month or two before their arrival and make the first few months of being a parent a little bit easier.
