NURSERY CHECKLIST FIRST TIME PARENTS

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I immediately thought about decorating my son’s nursery. Since his name is Hunter, we went for a forest woodland theme, similar to that of my baby shower. Now that our nursery is 90% done, I wanted to share a nursery checklist for first time parents. There are some essentials that you will definitely need and I’ve complied the below list with details of where our favorite items are from.

Crib: One of the first items we chose for our nursery was the crib. We knew we wanted something of wood material and we loved the Gelato 4 in One Convertible Crib from Babyletto. The best part is that it came with a matching dresser. The walnut color was exactly what we were looking for. An added bonus is that the crib converts to a toddler bed, which makes this piece a great investment. Both items were also easy to assemble and are of high quality. The crib was the focus of our nursery, so everything else had to compliment it.
Crib Mattress: A crib mattress goes hand in hand with the crib. We decided to go for the breathable Dreamweave mattress from Halo. It’s also washable, waterproof, GreenGuard Gold Certified, hypoallergenic and recyclable! The dual sided print is also a nice added touch. My son loves taking naps on it and seems to have no issue falling asleep.
Rug: I saw a lot of nursery rugs for inspiration, but I wanted something different. The popular themes were animals or alphabets. We instead went for the beautiful jade/natural rug from Loiloi. The color and print is even more gorgeous in person! I also loved that it can grow with the baby and it’s not too childish. I truly believe this piece is what ties the nursery together.
Rocking Chair: As a breastfeeding mama, it was important for me to have a comfortable rocking chair. Our nursery is also small considering we live in a NYC apartment. We came across the DaVinci Field Swivel Glider and loved it. I actually sat on it and tested it at the buybuybaby store. The size is great, the color matched our theme and most importantly, it’s extremely comfortable for my back!
Storage Bins: Storage bins are a must for a nursery as they serve multiple purposes. We have three which stores swaddles/blankets, toys, clothing and random miscellaneous items. Our bins are from Pehr because we love the canvas material and the different sizes and prints. These are great for organization and highly recommend them!
Diaper Pail: As I mentioned in my diapering must haves blog, we are a huge fan of the ubbi pail. It masks diaper odor, has a safety lock and is chic. There are also different colors and prints to choose from like storage bins, so it can work for any nursery theme.
Changing Mat: We are a huge fan of the Keekaroo peanut changer which was also included in my diapering must haves blog. It is squeezable, comfortable and supports my baby during diaper changes. Blowouts or accidents can be common, but this mat makes it so easy to clean. You also don’t need a changing pad so it’s one less thing to worry about.
Crib Mobile: We knew a mobile would be essential in completing the crib and wanted to stick with the forest theme. The woodland forest animals one from Lambs and Ivy was perfect. My son adores the song and associates it with nap/sleep time. He actually wakes up whenever the music stops playing, so that just goes to show how much he loves it!
Frames/posters: Frames and posters aren’t as necessary as the other nursery items, but they of course help to elevate a nursery theme. We have three foxes from Desenio and an alphabet poster of animals. The frame colors are also wood and oat which matches the colors of the nurery.
Closet dividers and organizers: These closet dividers and organizers from Amazon were extremely helpful in organizing my son’s clothes. We put his onesies in the dividers according to size and other items including diapers, socks, hats in the storage boxes. Everything is neat and makes life easier with a newborn.
Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor & Wall Mount: In preparation of getting my son to sleep in his crib at night, we’ve been having him take naps in his room. However, I still don’t feel comfortable leaving him unattended so we had to get a baby monitor. The Nanit Pro Baby Monitor is amazing because it’s a wide-angle smart monitor so I can see nearly everything in and around the crib. There are also three options for installation including wall mount, floor stand and flex stand. We went for the wall mount since we felt that was better for our lifestyle and preference. The monitor also comes with a Small sensor-free Breathing Band (0-3 months). Other features include sound and motion alert, sleep tracking and analytics and split Screen feature that allows users to see and control two cameras simultaneously on one screen. We honestly couldn’t ask for a better baby monitor as it does everything we want and more!
Nanit Sound & Light: The Nanit Sound & Light is actually free for a limited time with a purchase of the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor & Wall Mount. We have the hatch in our room, but we also wanted another sound machine for my son’s nursery and fell in love with the new Nanit Sound & Light. It’s a sound machine with a night light to help children fall asleep, stay asleep longer, and build healthy sleep routines. The features include 11 soothing settings, including white noise and nature sounds, lullabies, and wake-up songs. I love the options because I like to have white noise for night and the softer sounds like lullaby or the shh for day naps. There’s also a favorites option so I’m able to automatically make it turn on for his nap times instead of manually doing it daily.

Though this nursery checklist might seem like a lot, know that every baby and parent is different. Some might not need or want all of these items. These are just the items that worked for us and ones that we highly recommend. I also wanted to note that it took us time to get everything together and we didn’t have all of this before my son was born. In fact, we are still not finished with our nursery, so it’s a work in progress. Don’t stress out about it mamas, it will all come together eventually.