Room-by-Room Guide to Preparing Your Home for Baby
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Is your new baby moving in soon? Are you wondering exactly what you are going to need to organize in your home to prepare for your little one? Well, I got you! Knowing how to prepare for baby is not something that comes natural, it comes with experience.
With a new little one comes a lot of baby gear, clothes, bottles, and so much more. Figuring out where to put each item in the house and how to organize all the baby stuff when you feel there is limited space can feel like a daunting project. But trust me, if you take the time before the baby comes to ensure that your home is safe, organized, and functional, it will make the first year home with your newborn so much easier.
In this post, I will give you smart, easy, and practical tips for organizing each room of your home before the baby arrives and how to maintain the organization as your baby grows. Preparing for baby does not have to be overwhelming! Moms and future moms, you will not have to drown in piles of baby stuff when your baby arrives, but instead get to spend more time bonding with your child.
Organizing Before Baby: Steps for Each Room
- Declutter by removing everything from drawers, determine what to keep, donate, sell, or throw out.
- Group or categorize like items together
- Relocate items that do not make sense to places that make sense
- Label bins, boxes, jars, and any other containers
- Create more space for baby items
- Assess to see if you need organizational systems like bins, door organizer
- Measure to see what size organizing systems you need and make a list
- Designate and put back like items to specific spots in the room.
- Clean the area before putting items back if dirty
- Put items back in designated spot
- Maintain organization over time
How to Prepare Your Kitchen for Baby
In your kitchen, you will have to create more space for baby items and organize the items. When organizing before baby, you will have to store baby bottles, plates, utensils, bibs, a bottle drying rack, and more. I highly recommend following the organization steps above in the organizing before baby: steps for each room section to make more room for baby items in the kitchen.
Cabinets and Drawers
You will have to make space for bottles, bottle parts, plates, bowls, cups in one of your cabinets. So do your best to throw out or donate unnecessary items. I threw out many unneeded items, like the several bachelorette cups that I had. I stored my bottles and bottle parts in clear bins in a cabinet and labeled the bins.
When my son was born, I worked with a lactation consultant, and she recommended these bottles. They are such great quality and are slow-feeder bottles, so your baby slows down when drinking milk. I stored our washable bibs and baby burp cloths in one of our kitchen drawers. We love our washable bibs because they are so easy to clean. Our burp cloths are muslin, easy to clean, and are great quality.
Refrigerator
Create a section in your refrigerator for baby bottles, and breastmilk bags (if pumping). You will also want to create a section in your freezer for breastmilk storage if you intend to freeze excess breastmilk. I used these bins to organize my breastmilk bags in my freezer upstairs and downstairs.
My husband and I decided to organize my breastmilk using the pitcher method. The pitcher method is pouring all your expressed breastmilk in a pitcher from the day and mixing it, so the nutrients are divided evenly. It was also great to see how much milk I expressed every day. We love this pitcher by Dr. Browns.
Sink
A wash basin designated for only cleaning bottles, pump parts, and other baby items is a great system for keeping baby items separate from the other dishes and items that need to be washed daily. This will keep germs and bacteria off all your babies’ bottles. I really like this wash basin because it collapses and has a drain at the bottom.
Kitchen Countertops
A rack to dry bottles is important for bottle organization. I really love our bottle drying rack because it holds so much! You can not only dry and hang bottles, you also have room to dry bottle parts, and place a bottle brush. We decided not to get a formula maker for our countertop due to lack of counter space. Many of our friends loved the Baby Brezza formula maker. It’s basically like the Keurig of formula.
Living Room
You will most likely be spending a lot of time in the living room bonding with your new baby. When thinking about how to prepare for baby, the living room should be one of the first spaces you set up. The couch will become a cozy spot where you’ll read, play, talk, and sing to your little one. You will also want to set up and organize some baby gear in this area of the house as well. Here are a few items you’ll want to set up in this area:
Pack and Play
I recommend setting up a pack and play equipped with a changing station in your living room. It’s not only great for diaper changes but also great for naptime. If you have a two-level home, going up and down the stairs for naps and diaper changes will be a pain.
At the pack and play changing station, keep all your essentials within reach—diapers, wipes, ointments, diaper creams, and any other baby care items you’ll need. The pack and play is also perfect for placing your baby down when you need a free hand, getting them dressed, or even giving them a safe space to play. I absolutely love our pack and play because it has everything you could possibly need, making daily routines so much easier and more organized.
Baby Bouncer & Swing
Setup and place the baby’s bouncer and swing in the living room or somewhere downstairs. These two items are great for placing the baby down when you want to do something around the house. We use a baby bouncer for downstairs and a baby bouncer for upstairs.
Baby Play Area
Setting up a little play area in the living room is great for your baby to explore and start to learn how to play. We adore our Lovevery play gym and we have continued to order the toy play boxes for almost a year.
I also ordered this mat to go under the Lovevery play gym, so our knees would not hurt. Our son also has this second play gym that has a piano kicker that he adores as well. I would use this play mat upstairs or use it when I was working out because it was easily movable.
Organize and Plan the Nursery
Organizing and setting up your nursery will take time to complete. I recommend starting your nursery in the middle or end of your second trimester so you can work on the nursery slowly without feeling rushed. When you’re thinking about how to prepare for baby, the nursery is one of the most important spaces to focus on.
Waiting until the last minute often leads to unnecessary stress. For a detailed post on nursery organization, check out my post called the Ultimate Guide to Baby Nursery Organization: Tips for a Tidy and Functional Space and I would also check out my post called How to Organize a Nursery Dresser: From Top to Bottom. Both will give you step-by-step ideas for creating a functional and clutter-free nursery that works for you and your baby.
Paint Nursery And Accent Wall
Determine the color scheme for your nursery. Research some paint colors on the internet before looking for paint colors at the store. Decide if you want to make an accent wall and what type of accent wall you wish to create. Check out my post called The Ultimate 14-Step Guide to Designing a Nursery to learn more about choosing paint colors and about different accent walls. This post will give you some easy to follow steps to help you design your nursery.
Build Nursery Furniture
Assemble any nursery furniture delivered to your home. We had to build our crib, nursery dresser, and cube organizer. Our crib (pictured above) is light oak and is great for a neutral modern nursery. Our changing dresser is forest green but comes in several colors. After all your furniture is built, think about what you will store in each piece of furniture.
Hang all Wall Decorations and Organization Systems
Once the nursery is painted and the furniture is built, that is when you will hang all wall decor and wall organization systems. You can add shelving for baby books, a mirror, baby name sign, and so much more. If you are eager to know more about designing and decorating a nursery, take a look at my post called, The Ultimate 14-Step Guide to Designing a Nursery.
Organizing for Baby: The Nursery Dresser
When organizing for baby, put all baby items on the floor and group them into categories. These categories could be clothes, books, toys, baby care items, shoes, accessories, diapering essentials, etc. Once they are grouped, think of places you can store them in the room.
Most baby nursery items are stored in a closet, nursery dresser, bins, and baskets. Figure out what organizational systems you will need for your storage and then purchase those. Label any bins that require labels. In my post the Ultimate Guide to Baby Nursery Organization: Tips for a Tidy and Functional Space, you will find easy tips to follow to help you organize a nursery.
Bathroom
You will want to follow the organization steps above to make room for your little one’s bathroom items. These items will include things like towels, washcloths, medicine, bath toys, etc. You can store baby items under your sink, in your medicine cabinet, on bathroom shelving, and in your bathroom closet.
Shower
Hang your baby’s tub in the shower if you can with a hook if you do not have a storage place. Your baby will not be playing with bath toys right away, but you might want to think about what you are going to store bath toys in. This tub toy organizer is great and has three compartments for ample toy storage.
Bathroom Shelving or Linen Closet
Make some room for baby linens on your bathroom shelving or in your linen closet. I initially had my son’s towels and wash cloths in his bedroom. Once he was able to start taking baths consistently, I found this was silly because I kept having to go into his bedroom for his towels and wash cloths. I’m a big fan of his muslin towels.
Medicine Cabinet
Rather than storing baby’s medicine in their room, you can store baby health items and medicine in your medicine cabinet. You will want to do this anyway as your child becomes a toddler for safety reasons. As your child ages, you will also need more space in their room for other items.
Your Bedroom
In the first few months, your baby will be sleeping in your room for both safety and bonding purposes. As you may know already, keeping your baby close during this time reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and makes nighttime feedings easier. When organizing for baby in your bedroom, you will want to figure out where you are putting your bassinet and store baby essentials in the room.
Bassinet
Set up and your bassinet for your baby’s first few months rooming in with you. There are so many options when choosing a bassinet. However, I recommend a bassinet with storage at the bottom so you can organize and store any necessary baby items that you will need in the room. On the bottom of my bassinet I organized diapers, blankets, and ointments into a diaper caddy.
Diaper Changing Cart or Station
For the first couple months, while your baby is rooming in with you, having a diaper changing cart or station in your room will make your life easier. We used this three tier cart to store baby diapering essentials as well as any other needed items for me and my son. We would change diapers on the bed. It was great because I did not have to keep going into the nursery to change him all the time.
Baby Travel Items
Baby travel items include your diaper bag, stroller, car seats, and carrier. When preparing and organizing before baby, it’s essential to learn how to use these items and know how they work. Car seats and strollers can take a little time to figure out.
Strollers
To prepare for baby, build and figure out how to use your strollers. My husband and I read watched videos on how to use our strollers and practiced how to use them before our son was born. My husband and I purchased the Uppababy Vista V2 (pictured on the left), which is a great family stroller. You can push two children in the stroller with the stroller attachment.
However, it was very heavy to travel with, so we bought the Uppababy Minu V3 which is very compact and does not take up half of my car trunk. We use this stroller for shopping and for running out quickly. Taking the time to practice and figure out your stroller setup is a simple but important step in how to prepare for baby.
Car Seats
You will want to install your car seats as it gets closer to your due date. It will take some time to figure out how to install and use your car seat. So set aside some time before the baby comes to learn how to use your car seats.
Baby Carrier
We have both a wrap carrier and the Ergobaby carrier. I honestly never used the wrap carrier. Some people absolutely love them, but I did not have the patience to wrap my son in the carrier every time. I really love the Ergobaby carrier. My son just slid right into the carrier and all I had to do was tighten the straps. My son was always happy in it.
Diaper Bag
Some people go into full nesting mode and even organize their baby’s diaper bag when preparing for baby. Alright, alright, I was one of those people. You really do not have to have this packed and organized before you have your baby. The hospital will give you diapers, wipes, and everything you need. I packed his pajamas, going home from the hospital clothes, and birth announcement picture items in his diaper bag for the hospital.
Home Office
While the home office may not seem like an area to organize and prepare for a baby, it’s still important to consider. You might want to create a family filing system. I created a filing system for my family when I was preparing for my son Bryson. It’s definitely something you may want to think about.
Filing System
You will most likely have medical and other paperwork for your baby that you will need to keep and file over the years. Creating and organizing a file system can help you easily find your son’s or daughter’s paperwork. If you are into electronically filing, look into systems online where you can file paperwork electronically.
Conclusion
Organizing for your baby does not have to be a stressful process. You have plenty of time to get ready, and this post offers practical tips on how to prepare for baby so you can feel confident and organized. I hope it made the process clear and manageable. If you enjoyed this post, comment below and take a look at some of my other helpful related posts.
