• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About/Hire Me
    • About Me
    • Hire Me
    • Contact
    • Family
    • Faith
    • FAQ
    • My Running Story
    • Recipes
  • Disney
  • Fitness
    • runDisney Information Page
    • Fitness
    • Races
  • Parenting
  • Travel

Through Heather's Looking Glass

  • Disney
  • Fitness
  • Travel
  • family
  • About Me

Essentials To Consider When Creating A Nursery

May 3, 2020 | baby

As someone who is “out of” the baby stage and has made it on to a “big girl” room for my preschooler, I feel like I have some words of wisdom when it comes to creating a nursery for your baby. There are SO many things I didn’t need that I had when I was pregnant, and things I did need that I didn’t have. Here I will try and prepare you the best way I can in a practical sense so you will be ready when your little bundle of joy comes home. Here, we’re going to break it down to the essentials. What do you need to make sure your nursery has and how do you make sure you’re choosing the right option? Let’s look at the facts.

Creating A Nursery
Source – CC0 License

Enough storage 

Between clothes, toys, bottles, and all the other items you will continue to rely on throughout the months ahead, you will soon find that you cannot have enough storage for a nursery. It’s recommended you have some easy-to-reach open storage, such as a large wicker basket next to your baby’s crib. This is the perfect place for extra blankets, burp cloths, and other essentials you need to keep close at hand. A single dresser should be more than enough to serve as a more comprehensive storage of all the clothes, bibs, socks, and other small items they will need throughout the day. You shouldn’t need too much more than that. Baby will grow out of clothes SO quickly anyway, no sense in having too many in one size. (And mine spit up on everything, so there was no sense in having a lot of “nice” outfits!)

A place to sleep

Of course, what could be more important in the nursery than the place that the baby goes, itself? When it comes to this essential, there are plenty of simple bassinets and more complex cribs you can buy, so how do you make sure that you’re choosing the right one? For a young baby, have a fully enclosed crib with no drop-sides, and ensure that they are made of quality materials. Also, consider the crib size when making your choice. Whether you choose a standard or mini crib, you have to make sure that they offer enough space for the baby to sleep comfortably, but not so much that they are going to be rolling around too much in the night. Emma Kate stayed in her crib until she was three, and it was a great size!

The right bedding

Just as important as the bed itself is the bedding that goes on top of it to keep the baby comfortable and help control their temperature at night. Once you have selected a good crib, start with a firm mattress that fits the crib snugly. If you can fit two fingers between the mattress and crib, it’s a hazard. Soft mattresses are also known to be suffocation hazards. As for bedding, make sure to choose those proven safe for young children. Bumper pads are known to be risky, for instance, and offer no real protection for infants. There are guides for safe baby bedding and sleeping tips that can help you be a lot more conscientious in and comfortable with your choice.

Creating A Nursery
Source – CC0 License

Making change easy

It’s a fact of parental life that changing your baby’s diaper is going to be a regular part of your day. When it happens in the nursery, you can make sure that you have the right place to take care of it. Changing tables, also known as diaper stations are a must. They include a comfortable, organized place to do the changing in a way that’s ergonomic for you, as well as storage for the changing essentials that you might want. A diaper bin or pail, however, is not recommended. While it might seem like convenient temporary storage for dirty diapers, when they are opened, they can release all the odor that has been stewing in there, creating a truly awful smell that can be hard to get out of the nursery. We personally just put the dirty diapers in a bag and walked the straight out to the “outdoor trash can” that was in the garage.

A chair that really rocks

While the nursery might be for baby first and foremost, it also needs a place for the parents. A glider can work just as well, but a rocking chair performs a very comfortable place for feeding, not to mention helping to calm and soothe your baby to get them back to sleep. When choosing a chair, be sure to consider not only your own body size and type but also how you tend to sit, especially when you’re rocking a baby. Of course, you can always add cushions and soft furnishings to increase the comfort of the seat a little more, but you want to try and get a chair as ergonomic as possible. You can expect to spend a lot of time in it, after all. We actually still have Emma Kate’s chair in her room, and we use it to read to her at night and sing etc.

Let’s bounce

Some people might not consider a bouncer entirely essential. After all, if you have a crib for when the baby’s lying by themselves and a rocking chair for when you’re spending time with them, then why use something else? Think about the times you’re with your child but not holding them. For instance, it can be great for when you’re cleaning the nursery, putting away laundry, or doing work at home. A good bouncer seat will help cradle and rock your baby, keeping them comfortable while you’re not holding them. Furthermore, the crib should be reserved for sleeping only, and having a non-crib place for them to rest outside of your arms can reinforce that fact. They will learn that crib-time is time to sleep.

Creating A Nursery
Source – CC0 License

Sending off to sleep

Before too long, you’re going to learn that you will use any advantage you can get when it comes to sleep training and helping your child calm enough to sleep through the night. If you’re feeling like your crying baby has got you on the brink of your patience, then you can let a mobile take over. Baby mobiles are so popular because they are effective at what they do: calming and entertaining your baby. When it comes to which mobile you should buy, there are a lot of different types, including those with different toys, directions of movement, ways of powering them, and the ability to make sounds. You don’t have to get a fancy one, but instead you should look to the kind of toys your baby already shows interest in and get a mobile that resembles them.

Light up the night

When it comes to buying a nightlight, it’s important to remember the purpose of them. Unlike slightly older children, most babies aren’t afraid of the dark. They might cry because they wake up and they can’t see you, but the nightlight isn’t to help calm them and get to sleep (though it does play that function to some degree.) The main purpose of getting a nightlight, and the factor that should be top in your mind when choosing the right one, is that it helps you have some visibility when you’re making night-time trips to the nursery without having to turn on the overly-bright main light and further wake up your baby.

Stay cool

Good bedding is likely to be enough to help your baby stay nice and cozy when it gets cold, but what about cooling it down when the weather starts warming up? Here in the south that happens fast. A small, safe air circulator or fan is going to help a lot in keeping the room cool during nap time. However, it can also help your baby sleep a little easier, as well. A good fan can act as a source of white noise, making it easier for your child to tune out the sounds of the world outside so that even if someone is making a little noise elsewhere in the home or outside, your child is much less likely to be disturbed by it. A good fan can multitask and do both at once.

Source – CC0 License

Do you need a baby monitor?

This one is a point of contention for a lot of people. The benefits of a baby monitor are obvious. They let you rest assured your baby is safe while allowing you to sleep and stay in another room. For some parents, that constant contact with their child, with can be visual only, audio only, or both, is reason enough to get a baby monitor. However, there is also plenty of evidence that relying too much on a baby monitor can actually increase feelings of anxiety in parents, causing them to pay more attention than is really necessary, and even getting in the way of your own sleep. Needless to say, this isn’t good for you or baby, so choose wisely. We chose to get one as Emma Kate was on the opposite side of the house from us.

The essential supplies

Of course, while it’s not likely something you will forget to buy, it is something that should be considered when you’re putting together a budget for the rest of the items mentioned here. Ensure you have plenty of the essential necessities, with diapers and wipes chief amongst them. You will want plenty of clothes that are easy to put on, such as baby-grows, as well. Just try to not buy too much clothing as they will be outgrowing them as fast as you can replace them before too long!

There will be plenty of extras you can find when creating a nursery if you feel they are important and worth the cost. Just ensure they don’t come at the expense of the essentials mentioned above, either in terms of budget or space. Enjoy your new sweet baby!

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sign up for my newsletter

Primary Sidebar

I am Heather Montgomery, a 30 something southern girl living in Knoxville, Tennessee with my husband Bobby, 10-year-old daughter Emma Kate, and our goldendoodles Dolly and Luna. I’m just a regular girl who likes to workout, travel, hang with my family, text, and eat chips and queso. Be sure to check out my “about me” page for more info!
Thank you for visiting, and feel free to contact me with questions, (or for PR inquiries or press trip invites) at Support@HeathersLookingGlass.com.

Please, no guest post requests. 🙂

More about me

Privacy Policy

You can also find me here:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • A Quick and Easy Seasonal American Road Trip Guide
  • Why Quick Workouts Deliver Big Results
  • 4 Things That Stop People From Exercising (And What To Do About Them)
  • 6 Tips for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
  • Family Fun in Tuscaloosa: Your Ultimate Getaway Beyond Game Day

 

Search

How to Start a Blog

How to start a blog
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
  • Disney
  • Fitness
  • Travel
  • Family
Big batch, big flavor, zero stress! 😍 #sponsore Big batch, big flavor, zero stress! 😍 #sponsored 

I picked up the NEW Butterball Smoked Turkey Sausage at @Foodlion and added it to my favorite red beans and rice — lean, smoky, and less sodium! 🍽️ 

The best part? This recipe makes plenty of leftovers, so no cooking tomorrow 🙌. 
Quick, easy, and totally elevated — your weeknight dinners just got a major upgrade! 

Comment “BUTTERBALL” to receive a link to shop these products at your local Food Lion. *Check your message request folder if you don’t follow my account in order to receive the link.

Bobby’s Red Beans and Rice: 

INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 - 1 cup celery, about 3-4 ribs
• 1 Sweet Onion
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 2-4 cloves Garlic
• Seasoning, Tony’s, chili powder, pepper, bay leaf
• 1 tsp paprika
• 45 oz kidney beans
• 28 oz beef sausage, 2 packs
• 2 packs of Butterball Smoked Turkey Sausage
• 2 cup Beef broth
• Buttered Rice

PREPARATION STEPS
1. Chop/mince veggies (suggest food processor)

2. Warm butter on medium heat in pot then add veggies (about 10 minutes)

3. Add beans (slightly drain) and sausage (about 7 minutes)

4. Add garlic and seasoning and simmer about 10 minutes. 

5.) Serve over warm buttered rice

 #Butterball #SmokedTurkeySausage #FoodLionFinds #RedBeansAndRice #WeeknightDinner #EasyRecipes #MealPrepWin #FlavorfulAndHealthy @butterballturkey
Holiday shopping days with my mini me are some of Holiday shopping days with my mini me are some of my favorite traditions. ✨☕ 
From grabbing coffee to wandering through the decorated stores, there’s just something magical about this season. We laughed, made memories, and even managed to cross a few names off our list. 🎄 (ad) 

One of our favorite stops was Reeds at West Town Mall, where I spotted the new Victorinox Air Pro — a watch that’s Swiss-made with incredible craftsmanship, a stainless steel case, shock + water resistance, and even the ability to track 3 time zones at once. 🙌 It’s modern, timeless, and such a meaningful find for the men in my life.

The best part? Ending the day with full shopping bags, full hearts, and a gift I know will be worn and treasured for years. 💫 @victorinoxnorthamerica 

#HolidayShopping #Victorinox #AirProWatch #MyVictorinox
Apple cider margaritas! 🍎 🍺 🎃 This reci Apple cider margaritas! 🍎 🍺 🎃 

This recipe is super easy and tastes like fall in a cup! A great option for people who want to have a festive fall drink but would prefer a cold drink. 

👉🏻Comment the word MARGARITA and I will send the recipe right to your inbox! ✨

#applecider #margarita #applecidermargarita #holidaydrinks #festivedrink #halloweendrink #falldrink
🏖️ I’m so thankful my parents took us on tr 🏖️ I’m so thankful my parents took us on trips growing up. When I was young, we didn’t have a lot of money, but they made every weekend getaway or camping trip special, and I have so many great memories. 

We may not have gotten to travel often until I was a teenager, but we still had a blast, and they even took us to a @spectrumresorts  property! (Ad)

As an adult, I am so grateful to be able to return the favor. To see them laugh and play with my daughter like they did with me. It’s one of those special full circle moments, those core memories that will stay with me forever. 🥹

Staying at @turquoiseplaceofficial makes things so easy, too. The condos are huge and we easily all fit without being on top of each other. There’s plenty to do with pools, a waterslide, lazy river, the beach, movie nights, kids activities, food, and more. ✨

It truly is the perfect place for a multigenerational vacation. So if you are looking for a great place to go with your parents, grandkids, aunts, uncles, or cousins, this is it. 💖

And, you can save 10% on your stay by using my code LOOKGLASS in the promo box when you are booking, here or at @thebeachclubresortandspa! 🏖️ 

Have you taken a multigenerational vacation? Where did you go? 

#albeachblogger #turquoiseplace #spectrumresorts #orangebeachalabama #beachcondo #beachvacay
We take her on these trips and cruises hoping she’ll soak in the adventure, the beauty, and maybe even the food from places different from where we live… but to her, nothing beats a corn dog and mac & cheese. 🧀 

And honestly, that’s the best reminder for us, that joy doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be yours. 🛳✨ 

#FamilyTravel #SimpleJoys #disneycruiseline #disneywish #disneycreators #cruiseship
YES I was dancing, eating mac and cheese from the YES I was dancing, eating mac and cheese from the kids menu, and singing “Let it Go” with a butter knife while wearing Mickey ears on our Disney cruise. 🚢 

When I was 12, I was worried a lot… worried about failing, scared of what people would think of me, and of not fitting in or being “cool”. 
I turned 40 this year and have been spending time trying to figure out exactly who I really am with all expectations stripped away. I don’t love the term “finding yourself”, but here I feel like it fits. ✨

Maybe finding yourself means going back to being 12.… and being myself without being scared. Heather at 12 would never believe this version of me… but I think she’d be proud. 💛✨

#disneycruise #disneycruiseline #letitgo❄️ #findingyourself #disneycreators #disneywish @disneycruiseline
Ever wondered what extra magic you can add for a b Ever wondered what extra magic you can add for a birthday onboard a @disneycruiseline ship? 🚢 

Emma Kate turned 11 last month during our sailing and we did so many birthday things! She got a ton of “happy birthday’s” from crew and guests to make it extra special. ✨

👉🏻For a link to the birthday ears she wore (they have lots of colors and variations!) comment “EARS” and I will send it to you! 

#disneycruise #disneycruiseline #disneywish #disneybirthday #disneycruisevacation #disneytips

Copyright © 2025 · Through Heather's Looking Glass · Theme by Bella Creative Studio

%d