Five nesting tips to get your home ready for a new baby
If your due date is on the horizon you might be feeling the urge to clean and organise your home, or ‘nest’. Here are five tips to help you.
Getting your house in order for a new baby is a great way to see if you have everything you need and to check your environment is ready for when you and your new bundle come home. Here are some top tips to help you prepare for your baby’s arrival.
1) Pick the nursery
One of the first things to do is decide which room in your home you want to become your baby’s nursery. If this is an already-occupied room – maybe an office or spare room – you might want to look into placing some of the bigger items of furniture into storage. This way, if you decide to move rooms around, or even houses, you will still have your furniture.
You’ll find a range of storage services offering similar solutions, but when storing personal items, you may want to consider using a provider such as Cubic Storage. Cubic offers enhanced security, is available 24/7 and has a range of different unit sizes available.
2) Open windows
Once you’ve picked your room, open the windows wide to air it out. This will keep the room well ventilated and improve air quality.
The average person breathes 12,000 litres of air a day, and just like cleaning the lungs with fresh oxygen, opening doors and windows in your home can remove any indoor air pollutants such as odours lingering after cooking, smoke, and carbon dioxide. When airing your home, it’s a good idea to also dust to ensure all of these particles exit the room.
3) Prepare some meals
Nesting doesn’t always mean getting the duster out; it’s also about thinking practically about how you can make your life a little easier once the baby is here. Prepping meals is a great way to free up some time.
Until your baby gets into a routine, you may find yourself up at times you should be asleep. This means you may not be eating at a regular time and your baby may want to feed at a time you would probably be cooking.
It’s a great idea to prep some meals and freeze them ready to throw into the oven at a moment’s notice. You can rock your little one to sleep in comfort, rather than standing over an oven.
4) Small steps
Nesting comes in the later stages of your pregnancy. Despite having a bigger bump, using more energy to move and generally feeling uncomfortable, women tend to get a burst of energy and desire to clean – and sometimes completely redecorate – their entire house.
As well as deep cleaning, you’ll also feel a longing to get all of the baby equipment and furniture built. However, despite this urge to nest, it’s important to take small steps. Cleaning and doing the baby’s laundry etc. are fine, but moving furniture around and building things should be approached with caution.
This is because pregnancy hormones can soften ligaments and tendons, meaning the chance of injury is higher, so it’s a good idea to delegate these larger tasks.
5) Relax
Be sure to get in as much ‘me-time’ as possible. Once the baby is here, you’ll have less time to do this. Run a bath, do a face mask, and get ready to welcome your little bundle of joy into the world.
Photo by Nynne Schrøder
