How to Prepare Your Home for a New Baby

If you’re expecting your first baby it’s an exciting time! There’s a lot to learn and a lot to prepare for.

At the top of your to-do list should be ensuring that your home is ready for the new arrival.

Here are some tips to help you prepare.

Preparing for a new baby is a unique experience.

Even seasoned parents can forget the amount of planning involved, not to mention the amount of equipment and accessories that a new baby accumulates (seriously, so much stuff!).

Is your home ready for a baby?

Here are some points to take into consideration as you prepare your home.

Plan a move well in advance

If you’re thinking of moving to a new house before your baby arrives, it’s a good idea to plan the move as early as possible.

If you’ve ever bought a home before, you’ll know how long the process can take, not to mention how unpredictable and stressful it can be.

If you are pregnant, the last thing you want is to go through the experience in the late stages of pregnancy.

To remove the stress of house hunting, get in touch with an experienced real estate agent and book an appointment.

Let them know precisely what you are looking for and how much you want to spend so they can find some potential houses for you.

Better still, by telling them what you’re looking for in your new family home, they could point you in the direction of unlisted properties, giving you an advantage over other buyers.

Reach out to a reliable local property conveyancer as soon as possible once you have had an offer to buy a property accepted so that you can avoid any legal missteps.

Prepare the baby’s sleep space

Sleep is a valuable commodity for new parents.

While it’s necessary to prepare a space (or several) for your baby to take their naps in, that doesn’t mean you need to go all out and prepare an entire room.

Here’s a somewhat controversial opinion: your baby doesn’t need their own room yet!

In all likelihood, your baby will spend much of their nap time in your arms or in their pram or carrier.

At night, parents often choose to have their baby sleep in their room to make night-time feedings easier.

While you may enjoy the task of creating a beautiful nursery, don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you don’t get around to it.

That job can always wait until you get to know your baby.

Instead, focus on creating quiet nooks, perhaps there’s an area of your bedroom for a bassinet, or an area of your living area that you could devote to being a comfortable feeding chair.

It may be a good idea to think about creating a room that will easily transform from a nursery into a child’s bedroom.

They don’t stay babies long – pretty soon, you’ll need to switch out the changing table for a toy box and the cot to a bed, so it’s worth thinking about ahead when creating your nursery.

Prepare food

Babies take up a lot of time, leaving chores like grocery shopping and cooking a long way down on your list of essential things to do.

Rather than fishing around the cupboard with your one free hand for anything to sustain you, spend some time in the weeks before your baby arrives preparing food.

•  Batch cook meals and freeze them. The easiest meals to prepare in advance are pasta sauces, stews, curries and soups. That way, you can quickly grab a nutritious meal that will fuel you.
• Bulk buy biscuits, coffee, and tea to feed guests when they come to see the new baby. And make sure they clean up after themselves – you have enough work to do!
• Organise to have fresh food delivered to your home once a week to save yourself the bother of dragging your newborn to the shops. By signing up for a home fresh delivery service, you can ensure your fridge is stocked with veggies, cheeses and organic meats without you having to think about what to buy.

 

Make room for the stuff

For such tiny people, newborn babies come with a lot of stuff.

There’s the pram, the Moses basket, a changing station, bouncer, toys and bottles, to name just a few.

Before your baby arrives, take some time to re-evaluate your needs and remove anything you don’t use or will no longer have time for.

Now, you can start bringing in the baby paraphernalia, ensuring everything has a place.

You’ll find it a lot easier to keep your home tidy knowing exactly where to put things once you have finished with them.

Toy baskets or simply wicker baskets are handy options to make tidying up easier once your baby grows to be a curious toddler.

Rethink your spaces

If you’re about to become a parent for the first time, this may be a difficult step to take, but do your best to reimagine your spaces with the baby in mind.

This might mean rearranging your bedroom so you can put their cradle right next to your side of the bed.

If you are planning to bottle feed, think about where you’re going to put the bottles and formula, and prepare a path to the kitchen that won’t leave you in danger of stubbing your toes in your sleep-deprived stupor.

If your baby is going straight into their own room, can you easily find your way there in the middle of the night, or should you install some night lights to guide the way?

For many new parents it’s handy to have a designated feeding chair.

Choose a comfortable armchair, add a throw blanket for cold night feeding sessions and, if there’s room, position a little side table nearby to put a glass of water or a snack on to keep you going.

Clean while you can (be bothered)

You’ll find very little time in the first few months to clean your home and tend your garden.

The last thing you want is to bring your baby home to a messy house, so use the last few weeks of your baby-free life to deep clean the oven, scrub the tiles in the bathroom and dust the bookshelves.

Get outside to mow the lawn one last time and take care of any weeds you find.

It may seem like an obvious suggestion, but it’s something many parents regret not doing before the baby arrives.

If you are pregnant, it can be challenging to get down and dig in the dirt, and you certainly shouldn’t be breathing in any harmful cleaning chemicals!

If you have supportive family and friends around who want to be helpful, you might call in a favour by asking for their help here.

And if your budget stretches far enough, you could think about enlisting a regular cleaning and gardening service to keep your home and yard in prime condition while you focus on your new arrival.

Just be sure to find a company that offers discounts to regular customers, so your in-home help won’t break the bank.

Yes, preparing for a new baby takes a lot of work and organisation.

But by getting stuck into the work while you’re still waiting for their arrival, you’ll be able to spend all those newborn days focused on the most important thing – your baby.

If you are considering hiring some help around the house, talk to Jim’s Group for a free quote on any of the gardening, cleaning or home fresh delivery services.

Just call 13 15 46 to speak to one of our friendly customer service team members.

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