Tips on preparing the nursery for your new baby
We put a lot of effort into making sure our children’s nurseries offer a stimulating yet relaxing environment – in fact, UK parents are willing to put an average of 20 hours and £853 into decorating these nurseries, according to a recent survey commissioned by Next.
Knowing how much time and money is spent on nursery décor, Women Talking has put together a few tips and time-saving hacks on how to prepare your own nursery for your newborn…
TIP 1: CHOOSE A NEUTRAL COLOUR SCHEME
Shifting away from traditional gendered colour schemes, parents of this generation tend to steer towards greys, yellows or other neutral shades to decorate a nursery – according to Next’s survey.
June McLeod, a colour psychologist, agrees that this is a good approach, “Babies are happier when surrounded by calming soothing pastel shades; following birth they have a lot of adjusting to do and thrive in a calming coloured environment for the first few months”. She also advises, “Avoid busy patterns and strong colours in their rooms initially to avoid hyperactivity and sleepless nights”.
Next also found that “Animals”, “Jungle/Forest” and “Princess” were the most popular choices of nursery themes with UK parents.
TIP 2: USE LIGHTING TO SET THE MOOD
Complement the muted colour scheme of your baby’s nursery with appropriate lighting. A baby’s exposure to light is much stronger in the first few months.
You can help your baby naturally feel sleepy in the evenings by reducing activities and excitement along with investing in a dimmer instead of an off/on switch. This will allow the baby’s body to understand it’s time to sleep. When doing any midnight check-ups on the baby, this is especially helpful to allow parents to see, but not disturb the baby when sleeping (because we all know how hard it is for them to fall back to sleep!).
Alternatively, night lights provide a soft amount of light but not enough to keep the baby up at night. Due to new advances, some night lights double up as calming sound machines and most come in different shapes and sizes to suit any child. However, avoid any lamps or lighting that can be within their reach as lightbulbs can get extremely hot, especially when turned on for a long period of time.
TIP 3: SEEK OUT SECOND-HAND FURNISHINGS
The research from Next suggests that parents tend to buy a mix of old and new items for the baby with a heavy weighting on new items. However, by switching to second-hand furnishings you’ll not only be positively contributing to the environment but also saving money.
Hand-me-downs save parents a lot of time and expense, especially if the goods are being passed down from one generation to the next. If that’s the case, the sentimental value of these items is retained too.
Learn more about other trends in spending habits for nursery décor here.
Poppy Watt