Congratulations! Your baby is on the way to your home. Are you ready to welcome the new family member? Do you know how to prepare your home for a new family member? Here are some top tips on preparing your home for a new family member.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR A NEW FAMILY MEMBER?
1. Kitchen prep – food
It will be helpful to have a freezer full of food after your baby is born. Prep your freezer meals at least a month before the time.
Preparing some bags of 100% whole wheat pancake mix (just add milk and an egg)
Soups are a great meal-prep idea, healthy and can go into the crockpot like vegetable beef, white bean chicken chili, minestrone, and chicken noodles. You can make a quick 100% whole wheat garlic bread with some soups by throwing a few pieces of bread into the toaster and then adding extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of garlic salt.
2. The whole home – stockpile the basic home essentials
While preparing your house for a new family member, make sure you have all your basic groceries at home. You may not be able to shop after the first week or so, get your essentials prior.
Also, having a delivery service ready to ship things to our door within 48 hours would be more helpful. You may order anything from food to diapers and have it at our doorstep without leaving the house with online shopping.
3. Your bathroom – postpartum bathroom survival prep
For quick and healthy recovery after labor and delivery, it is essential to prepare a postpartum care kit for your bathroom. Stock up on a few necessary items in the third trimester itself. Those items are
Stock up on maxi pads. They are not bulky and the wings provide extra space for any leakage.
Just like the hospital has, buy your maternity disposable underwear.
Make sure to add a good panty liner always as liners are the best because they are comfortable and effective.
For a super healing and fantastic postpartum recovery, prepare to have sitz baths. Buy a simple plastic cover that sits neatly over your toilet and use a high-quality Epsom salt made specifically for these types of baths.
4. Learn the basics of first-week at-home newborn care
The most important thing to do is to prepare yourself for a new family member and bring your baby home. You can learn some basics by taking some parental classes and learn how to prepare for a new family member.
5. Your bedroom
Prepare the necessary sleep environment in your home for you and your baby as sleep is very important for a healthy life. You can buy
Something for your baby to sleep in like a crib, comfortable for the baby.
Buy stretchy, super high-quality swaddle blankets.
Night time sleep clothes: It’s important to dress your newborn so they aren’t too warm but not too cold! Don’t forget socks and mittens.
Newborn hat: Newborns have trouble regulating their body temperature. This is why a nurse will stick a hat on a newborn when they are born and can use it for four weeks.
Cool mist humidifier: It helps clear their airways and ease any congestion and is important in the early days because newborn babies don’t breathe through their noses.
Baby monitor pre-set up over crib or bassinet. You likely will not need the monitor your baby until about week 7 or 8 when you begin to establish regular naps but it’s a lifesaver to have it set up early.
6. Nursing and changing station
A nearby changing and feeding station is important. Having a nearby place where you can rock, change and feed your baby is necessary.
Nursing and changing station essentials:
A quality, low-cost changing pad that is the perfect size.
You can add a soft lamp to your changing & breastfeeding station for those late-night wakings.
A place to put diapers. Cloth diapers are easy and ridiculously cost-efficient. Modern cloth diapers are just like disposables and the only difference is they don’t smell near as badly, your baby won’t get diaper rashes and you have to wash them.
The clothes you use for your baby
Things to have in the nursing station:
A comfortable rocking chair
Phone charger
A place to dock your phone
Healthy snack bars.
Water bottle
7. Prepare your living room or where you spend the most time
You can have your changing and feeding station close by the living room.
Living room essentials:
Safety: Your living room will likely be the first place baby is reaching for dangerous things. You want sharp cover protectors and quick cabinet locks.
Breastfeeding and changing station: This could start off in your bedroom or you can also have a similar set-up in your living room.
Books & toys specifically for newborns and 0-3 months.
Babywearing.
8. Bath set-up
While preparing for a new family member, have a bath set up with everything you need for your baby.
Baby bathing essentials:
Baby bath tub: Choose a comfortable bath tub for your baby while preparing for a new family member.
Baby washcloths: You can use regular wash clothes to wash your little one stored in your bathroom specifically for the baby, they are nice to have.
Soap for baby skin: When using bath soap on your new little one (for hair and body), make sure that you do need a baby-specific bath wash. Babies have extremely sensitive skin and so you need a soap that is tear-free and washes out instantly.
Baby bath towel: It is easy to cover the baby’s head, especially when it is chilly, and also helps so much when drying their hair!
Knee lifesaver: When bathing your little one, your knees can get pretty uncomfortable on the floor and the struggle is real.
9. Car essentials
I’ve included car essentials in the “how to prepare your home for a new family member” category because even though it’s technically outside the home, it’s still a very important step for preparing your home space.
Basic car essentials:
Car seat: While preparing for a new family member, make sure to create a comfortable car seat for your baby. At about a year old (or when your baby is an inch below the top of this car seat) you will need to look for a bigger seat and buy accordingly.
Car seat cover. Car seats need covers. This helps in sheltering your little one from the weather which keeps them warm or cool.
Safe car seat mirror. When your baby is in a rear-facing car seat and consequently, you will have no way to check on him or her (or even see them) without a mirror. If you don’t have a mirror, when you need to keep checking them, you have to wait to find a safe place to park, get out and then get back on the road, and it is difficult sometimes! Now, there are some claims that baby car mirrors are dangerous in the event of an accident so buy a quality mirror and make sure, when installed, it is very secure.
10. The nursery
You are likely won’t even use the nursery until 3 or 4 months (maybe even longer!) with your baby except to store some clothes unless this is where you have placed your feeding and changing station (opposed to your bedroom or another high traffic living space like the living room). You really can go out without a nursery but some basic minimalistic, cost-effective necessities you can use are as follows:
Nursery essentials:
A beautiful crib: Cribs are quite expensive, however, you can check for some offers in online shopping. Make sure to buy a good quality product.
A mattress: A comfortable, waterproof, quality and low-cost mattress is needed. While preparing your home for your newborn baby, make sure to get a good quality and comfortable mattress.
Beautiful crib sheets and a changing pad cover.
A dresser instead of a changing table. You can opt for a dresser instead of a changing table so you could use it to store clothes and keep them for a longer time.
A good quality, low-cost changing pad that is the perfect size.
Burp cloths that you will use all the time
Baby monitor: you can just transfer the one from your bedroom or start putting your little one for naps in the crib instead of her bassinet
Baby clothes: You wouldn’t go all out for newborn and 0-3 month clothes. You may bring home a baby too small or big for the newborn size and the newborn size is very different from “0-3 months”. You may take the tags off of a few and wash them but you could avoid de-tagging everything and prepping. You will come to know only what your baby needs to wear when she/ he comes home!
Things to consider while preparing your home for a new family member:
1. Feed Yourself
Once your baby arrives, there won’t be enough time for cooking so prepare your food and store them in the freezer for later use.
2. Feed Your Baby
If you’re breastfeeding, get a quality breast pump so others have a chance to feed your baby too.
3. Get some sleep
You can get a co-sleeper or a bassinet so the baby can be next to you, feed her, put her back in her bed and fall back to sleep yourself.
4. Quiet Down
Consider buying blackout curtains or liners for your window treatments to make the room as dark and quiet as possible so light won’t wake your wee one and your baby can sleep well. If you live in a noisy area, get a white noise machine to block out the sounds outside.
5. Smooth the Edges
Remove things that are breakable or with sharp edges or keep them out of reach or wrap the edges with bubble wrap or plastic guards so that the baby won’t get hurt.
6. Lock it down
Cover all electric sockets and is generally good practice to put all dangerous materials way up high.
7. Rockabye, Baby
It is always nice to have a special place that is comfortable to rock your baby.
8. Fold the Clothes
Buy some diapers for your baby, but don’t overload on newborn sizes because infants grow so fast.
9. First Contraction
Instead of using blankets or pillows, you can swaddle your baby or use a sleep sack, which will keep him warm and toasty and free from the risk of SIDS.
10. Keep an Eye Out
You may invest in a baby monitor as it is difficult to watch your baby all the time and you can get video monitors to monitor your baby while sleeping. Before buying one, consider the range for the monitor, the battery life, and the possibility of an intercom option so you talk to your baby.
TOP 10 TIPS FOR BABY PROOFING YOUR HOME:
1. Give your house the safety test
Before your baby is mobile (which ideally means before birth or during those first few days at home), make sure to give your house a safety check.
2. Target high-germ zones
The target zones are dish rags, stove knobs, countertops, refrigerator handles along with the kitchen sink, cutting boards, and toothbrush holders which are the most germ-infested spaces in a home. The reason behind this is that they are high-use areas that we don’t think to clean as much.
3. Prepare for visitors
While preparing home for a new family member, spend a bit of time stocking sheets and towels for any overnight guests might need while staying with you to help out with the baby. You can also set aside a portion of your home for them to feel comfortable.
4. Think of new uses for spaces
Make each room in your home a convenient space for you to care for your baby while preparing your home for a baby.
5. Clear out your refrigerator
Clean your refrigerator and toss any leftovers that have been in your refrigerator for more than a week. Also, inspect the freezer for expired food while preparing for a new family member.
6. Sterilize feeding equipment
Sterilizing feeding equipment for the baby is important, you can soak and scrub in hot soapy water to keep bottles and nipples clean.
7. Check your hamper
While preparing for a new family member, make sure you have a laundry basket that can hold plenty of soiled clothing every day.
8. Clear the clutter
If you have a multi-level house, keep a basket at the base of the stairs of your house for all items that need to be transported to the upper level so that you don’t need to make repeated trips up the stairs when you should be taking any spare moments to relax.
9. Smooth out the edges
While preparing your home for a new member, look around your home and find any sharp edges that could hurt and place them out of reach from the baby.
10. Lockdown and secure
While preparing for a new family member, check over electrical sockets and tuck away cords from lighting, window blinds, and appliances. Baby Proofing and preparing the home for the baby can be part of the fun that comes with welcoming a new family member home. With these tips, it can be easy to do.
