I so get it, momma. The baby ship has sailed and it's trekking along from one room into the next throughout your house. You wonder when your baby will spend more time in that adorable little nursery. You know the favored play areas and shuffle to keep them all tidy.
After my first baby, over time, I realized what would work for my home and how to keep a sort of flow from one area to the next. You will find your flow soon too and I'm here with the hacks to help.
Mind you, I don't have a big house. We're talking 1400 sq ft single story. I still found it useful to have several diaper changing areas, toy bins and feeding spots. Read along for what rooms are best utilized and how to have your space of cake and eat it too.
To set yourself up for methods that will work for your specific space, I want you to first think about where YOU occupy most of your time. Where you sleep is first, now where do you veg out? With a new baby, you will be vegging so where do you have the most entertainment?
Next is your productive space, either an office for work or a hub of the house so you can get things done. And last is where baby's living space is, the nursery area designed for baby.
I'll share my spaces.
Obviously I sleep in my bedroom, so having diapers and a few changes of day to night clothes was handy there.
My veg was the living room couch, one spot had the best view and it got a little sunk in after month three.
My hub is around the kitchen, but in my small home that's like in the living room too, so I had a diaper and play area between the two, with visible peeking anytime!
Baby's area was her nursery, where I ran for clothes & supply replenishes. She uses it more now that she's a little older.
A bonus hub was my office. I had (and still have) a play area with some diapers and wipes for the emergency moments when I'm multitasking through work with her.
Once you know your spots, look around and think what will fit. How can the house move a little for this new family member? Remember that baby is moving in with you, not shoving you out. You still keep your own spaces. To organize diapers, clothes, teethers, medicines & anything baby I love the use of narrow storage units.
I have in my room a cube organizer, but it's 1/3 cube size of a normal cube organizer. It holds all her items for my bedroom area just right and takes very little space. Those full sized fabric cube storage bins are great for a little toy bin in each room.
A storage cart with wheels is wonderful for a portable breastfeeding cart. With baby on your chest, you can waddle over and wheel that sucker to where ever you're sitting and voila! You have your water, snacks, a portable phone charger, Hakkas, cloths, baby blanket & whatever else you may need. One cart can take the place of multiple storage cubes if you have a smaller space.
For your hub space, i.e. office, kitchen or anywhere for a quick "I need to get this thing done" stuff, read on. I know this one sounds odd, but I tell you to consider your "hub" for a reason. You may not know where your hub is at first either. After a few weeks if you notice that you're in the same spot when you have to go "UGH!" and run for a diaper, that's your hub. You'll find it, sister!
Mine was the office as a corporate work from home mom. A changing pad or blanket and a small handful of diapers with wipes will suffice. Don't be like me and resist putting baby crap on your neat desk space, just find a spot and put it there. Believe me, you will use it.
My favorite spot was my veg place! I was very fortunate to have three months off from work. To this day, I relive some of my sweetest newborn memories in my veg space. It's where my baby fell asleep breastfeeding and where I'd be stuck for the next two hours in peace and love wrapped in her little hug across my body. I found the joy of YouTube without ads. I found how long I could hold my bladder. Such beautiful times were my favorite and I remember the good over the difficult.
To be blunt and simple, this one's about you, momma. You need some stations through the house too, whether bottle or breastfeeding. If you can set baby down and roam, more power to you! But when you pause and let yourself be stuck, because you secretly love it, here's my advise.
You have simple human needs. Have a water bottle handy by your bed, at each end table and in your cart. Put a snack there too! A portable phone charger is helpful, because guess who can't crouch to plug one in.. you! Keep a blanket within arms reach, not nicely folded on your blanket ladder, but over the couch like your parents used to do. Also have a pillow for your armrest & the baby's feeding pillow at your favorite spot too. This veg spot is where you'll be nap-trapped and is more about your comfort than baby's.
These are my thoughts from my own experience and it may be different for every mom. This is also what worked for the first 6 months or so, then everything had to be redone. Newborn items needed to move over for 12m+ items. The spare onesies had to get bigger and the receiving blankets became too small. (At almost two her receiving blankets are kept in the car for emergencies puke clean up!) Remember momma, the organization won't be perfect, but it will work for YOU and your space.
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