Ahh, The Nursery. Where it all happens. Baby's home. You will spend more time there at first than any other place in the house. Currently, our nursery is purple. We have no matching bedding, or a fancy bumper or matching curtains. It's just purple with a white crib, a mattress, a white changing table dresser with hutch and a laundry basket. Don't forget the La-Z-Boy recliner. When we first registered we did get all the cute stuff..... but I think we have phased it out and kind of piece-mealed everything together. It also changes when you have your second or third kid or if you move and have to re-do the nursery which we did. It was our older daughters room for a while so things went into storage and never came out.
The Chair
The most difficult decision I ever made I think was the chair in that room. We looked for MONTHS for that chair. It took a final trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart when I was about to deliver our first baby to get me to settle on a chair. We looked at Gliders with Ottomans but finally decided for the wide chair with the built in leg rest. Best decision we ever made. I love that chair. I can sit cross legged and hold the baby across my lap on the Boppy pillow and not be uncomfortable. I can't tell you how many hours I have spent in that chair or how many nights I spent actually SLEEPING in that chair. When you shop for a chair make sure it's comfy. I needed one to sit cross legged. That was my "deal breaker".
The Crib
I am not the one to talk about fancy cribs or fancy nursery furniture. We got a Delta Jenny Lind Crib which retailed about $120. It's the old fashioned spindle crib with the drop down side. I'm pretty sure the government doesn't allow them to be sold again due to the drop down side issue. It still works. Never had any problem. Our kids slept in it almost every night of their baby lives and they didn't know it only cost $120.
Infant Sleep Positioner & Crib Wedges
I would wait on anything speciality like a sleep positioner, crib wedge. It all depends on your baby. Also note that the CPSC & FDA have warned about sleep positioners. Click Here for the link regarding a warning about using these in cribs. We do own a sleep positioner because our youngest had such issues sleeping in her crib, I don't think I would use it again. Crib wedges are used to lift the mattress up and supposedly "prevent reflux" for a more upright sleep. We never owned one but our doc says you can just elevate the crib by putting a few receiving blankets under the crib to lift one side.
Changing Table
This one is always up for debate. To get a changing table or not. Some of my "mom friends" said that one of the pieces that they never used was a changing table. We used ours all the time. We have drawers underneath and kept all the diapers in the side. The top part was used for baby books... and it looks cute in the nursery. If you don't want a changing table, I would just get some good changing pads and you can change the baby on those. It's up to you on how you want to do it! We kept one changing table upstairs and one downstairs to keep the diapers in etc.
Diaper Genie and/or Diaper Pail
I originally really wanted one of these. I thought "how cool is this???? wouldn't that be great to keep all the diapers in this thing and twist it around and seal it together???". I talked to my sisters about it and one of them I believe called it "A Festering Pile of Poop". Really? I was told that they will just stink up the house and it would be much better to just use a scented garbage bag for the diaper, tie it in a knot and throw it in the hall and take it to the garbage. We bought a generic "diaper pail" that just used regular bags and we put the dirty diapers in there. Let me tell you, THE POOP STINKS. Every time I opened that pail, the smell would linger for a long time. I am not going to do that again. I'm just doing - one bag, one diaper. So on my recommendation, I say no Diaper Genie or Pail. Just my opinion.
Bumpers
Since I first bought my bedding set, the government has come out on some issues with bumpers. Those cute fluffy bumpers that come with your Pottery Barn set... well, I guess they are frowned upon. We had one which of course made our nursery cute, but ended up getting rid of it and replaced it with a BreathableBaby Bumper. We took out the original bumper once the baby was wiggling in the crib and left the bars open. But then we realized that the baby was waking herself up because her little legs were falling out of the spindles. I of course started to panic and we bought the BreathableBaby bumper. It is like a real bumper but it's a little "meshy". Worked like a charm. I would just get one of those from the beginning!!!!
NightLights & Soothers
Babies love soothing sounds... womb noises... CDs with bubbling brooks etc. Our choice for a soother was a Prince Lionheart The Original Slumber Bear. It's this little bear with womb noises recorded. I kept it hooked on the crib and when the baby moved it turned on. It's a pretty cute device however I'm not sure it really worked. We did however play CD music in the babies room. I think it had nature music on it. I found myself falling asleep when it was on!
Fisher Price Peek a Boo Rainforest Mobile is another item that has gotten great reviews. We did not get this one the first time around... as you remember, I got the cute nursery set which included Winnie the Pooh everything. We had a Winnie and Friends mobile... no fancy music or movement... just went around and around. I can't wait to try this one out. It's got everything.
With regards to mobiles, YOU HAVE TO TAKE THEM DOWN ONCE THE BABY CAN PULL TO A STAND. Our second daughter ripped that thing right down and broke it (thus why we no longer have Winnie and Friends). We switched to a Fisher Price Oceans Aquarium Soother. Our little one LOVED this. She would stare at it all the time and play in her crib. Apparently when I was first pregnant, Fisher Price had all Aquarium items. We had the aquarium swing, bouncer, travel swing, soother. Now they have replaced it all with the Peek A Boo Rainforest line. I'm assuming it's the same. I would recommend the FP Rainforest Peek a Boo Soother. It has a remote that you can hang on the door (I believe as does the mobile) so you don't have to disturb the baby.
As for nightlights, we have had a bunch. Of course we had the Winnie the Pooh one that came with the nursery set and some of those $1.99 ones from target that keep breaking when someone looks at it the wrong way, but I have since switched to the Mobi Tykelight Wallmate. They are pretty cool and the kids will appreciate them when they are younger. Along with that, when the baby is older - maybe toddler age, I would get the Mobi Glowmate. It's like a little friend they can take to bed with them. Really neat products available usually at Walmart or online.
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