Being organised when preparing for a baby is something that ensures
that you’re as prepared as possible when your new addition arrives home. While
being organised once you are home is just as important as it can make times
like the witching hours a lot easier when you know exactly where everything is
as you go down the list to things that maybe causing your baby to cry.
Even with a decade of child care under my belt, I can at times be extremely
unorganised. You can ask T and he will gladly tell you that out of the two of us
he is the one that ensures that everything goes back in its place a lot more
than I do. That’s not to say I don’t do those things, he’s just the one that
ensures that it is done promptly and not three days later. Hearing that, you
would probably be surprised to hear that I am actually a planner. When something
big is about to happen, I make sure that I am on top of it as much as possible
in the lead up to the event. T is also a planner as well, so between the two of
us we can usually get things done promptly.
When T and I were preparing for AJ’s arrival we made a list of the
things that we knew that we needed or thought that we needed and then revaluated.
One of the perks of being a Nanny is that I had already tested a lot of the baby
items that are available on the market so it was easy to say goodbye to items
such as the Diaper Genie (which essentially makes long garbage bag sausages out
of dirty nappies) and walkers (while there is a lot of debate about them
causing hip dysplasia, they are known to delay walking development).
However, there were other things that we really thought about whether
we wanted them or not. We skipped the baby capsule in favour of a convertible car
seat and bassinet attachment for the pram, and my parents bought us a pram that
would grow with our family. We even discussed what we wanted to buy second hand
and made sure to research updated safety standards and recalls for the two
items we did buy second hand (our cot and bassinet).
After all of that, one of the items that we decided that we weren’t
going to get was a change table. We currently live in a double story house, meaning
that we would either be constantly trekking up or down the stairs to change AJ
depending on where we put it. It was also an expense that we didn’t really need
as it wasn’t like a change table was something that we had to have to care for
our baby. We could change her nappy anywhere. So instead we decided to put
together a changing station upstairs and downstairs so the items that we would
need would be everywhere. Both stations have a lot of things in common, however, because of where they currently are there are some slight differences in what
is available and how things are organised.
We don’t use our dining table a lot. Both of us are introverts so
it’s very rare that it is used as a place to eat. The only time it is, is when
we have family over late in the evening and we’ve ordered pizza or something
otherwise, it is a place that I put my bag or I work on stuff to do with Le
Giggler or the Bulletin Board. These days it’s been transformed as a changing
station for AJ’s things as well as the place where AJ’s nappy bag is kept so it
can be quickly packed and grabbed on the way out and a storage place for her
tummy time mat.
The main thing we needed to ensure with this station was that it was
easily cleared off in the event that we actually needed to use the table. I had
a couple of wicker baskets that I originally used to organise my wardrobe, so
they were easily repurposed for this. We also had a bunch of smaller items that
needed to be kept together to stop Arlo and Daphne from getting to them as we
had already lost 3 dummies in the month since AJ had come home. I luckily had a
couple of plastic tubs I was originally going to use to organise the medicine
cabinet and so one was grabbed and instantly made use of.
The wicker baskets are a lot larger than what they appear in the photo.
Half of one of these can hold 1 /4 of a box of nappies as well as 12 terry towelling
burp cloths. The burp cloths double as a changing mat as they’re really absorbent
and easily washed. Because of this we do go through them very quickly so we
have to do laundry more often than we did previously, but they’re honestly a
great item to have and I’m thinking we need to grab another 12 next time we’re
at Kmart.
In the other basket we can hold all of AJ’s newborn clothes, that she
is quickly growing out of, as well as a good 3 /4 of her 0-3 month clothes that
she is now fitting into. We keep the majority of them downstairs for now
because there are days where AJ needs to be changed multiple times a day and because
we’re downstairs most of the day it makes sense that they’re kept there for ease
of access. We also keep the bibs in this basket. We use a couple of different
kinds but we’ve found that these ones we got at Woolworths are fantastic. They
have a light terry towelling on the front making them very absorbent and the
back is waterproof, which is great to keep AJ from soaking her clothes in milk
while eating or protect her when she spits up/vomits.
We also keep a couple of swaddles and blankets down the bottom just in
case we need them but seeing as we’re still in summer and AJ hates to be
swaddled we don’t really use them all that much.
In the smaller plastic tub at the front we keep all our baby care
items. These are just things that we use regularly but need to keep in a tub to
stop Arlo and Daphne from destroying them.
We use Curash Simply Water Wipes for AJ. I’ve used a lot of the Curash
wipes at work and these are by far my favourite as I’ve found them to be a lot
gentler on baby’s skin compared to the other wipes. Pawpaw ointment is kept on
hand because we use it for everything from sunburn to chaffing. With AJ, we use
it on nappy rash as it’s a fantastic barrier cream and it also helps with the
healing of it as well. When we first brought AJ home, he got a nappy rash and after
we started putting this on at every nappy change the rash was gone in three
days.
AJ is a comfort sucker so you’ll often find her sucking on her hands if
she’s trying to get to sleep – its why she hates to be swaddled. However, there
are times when hands don’t cut it and that’s where the dummy comes in. These
have helped us lull her off to sleep and help calm her during her witching hour,
so we always have one at hand. She’s a funny baby as she doesn’t want it all
the time and will happily let it go once she’s asleep without it waking her up
and there are times when she’ll just outright refuse it as well.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will be aware that both myself and
AJ are dealing with a virus at the moment that is making the both of us very sniffly.
AJ in particular sounds horrible and when we were discharged the doctor suggested
that we use saline drops and suction to help her clear out the mucus. So at the
moment, we keep a bottle of Fess saline drops and a snot bulb in the tub to help
clear out her nose so she is a bit more comfortable.
The final item is your generic baby care items. We bought a pack while
at Target that had everything that we needed to have on hand. From a hairbrush
to nail clippers, we can ensure that AJ’s hair is always looking good and that
her nails aren’t going to scratch anyone or, more importantly, herself.
Upstairs we don’t have any boxes or tubs to keep everything organised
as it’s all on my bedside table. If I’m completely honest it doesn’t always look
this organised and I have considered putting it in one of my draws, but most of
the stuff on here I need to have on hand at all times. On top of that, we have
to keep the bassinet close to the bedside table to ensure that we can see AJ
clearly. The majority of the stuff that you can see here is the same as what we
keep downstairs with a few additions.
Firstly the baby monitor. I’ve mentioned before but we use an Arlo Baby
monitor to check on AJ when she has gone to bed. It honestly needs it’s own
post because gushing about it will make this post even longer than it already
is but it’s an amazing monitor and I would recommend it to anyone. There is
also a box of tissues kept here as well as my tablet (both of them not labeled)
because I use both with AJ. The tablet is actually our second monitor for when
I’m not home or when we leave AJ with someone while T and I are out.
Like downstairs we keep changes of clothes and burp cloths here,
however, unlike downstairs where it’s just an easy place to store them, we give
AJ her middle of the night feeds in bed with us so having them close at hand in
case of vomiting and to change her nappy is very handy. We also keep a couple
of spare sheets and blankets for the bassinet here for that reason as well. The
sleeping bags are a new addition to the table as she has only just gotten big enough
to start using the ones we have and up until now we have been following the other
option that Australia’s safe sleep standards have, which keeps her hands free –
just as she likes them.
As AJ grows, I’m sure that all this is going to change. It’s probably
going to change when we move in April but for now this system really works for
us and allows us to have everything we need on hand at all times.
What are some must-haves that you
keep at your changing station?
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