When we were pregnant with our first, we lived in a small one bedroom apartment, and my husband worked from home. This made the juggle of home, work and newborn a very tricky thing. We did have space in our room to do a small nursery corner for her, but I chose not to. This is why:
- It is expensive
- I felt I was doing it for me, not really for my daughter
- I would rather spend the time and money to create a dream room when she is older, so we can build memories doing it together.
- Why would I hang something heavy right above my child’s bed? Living in an earthquake zone, this absolutely terrifies me (a bit extra and paranoid, but it’s the truth).
- How long will the little one really enjoy the room? As she was my first, I really had no idea, but based on what I found online, she would only enjoy it for a very brief time, if at all.
For me, number 5 was the final reason that sealed my plan to not setup a formal nursery or nursery section in our apartment. Here is the sliding timeline I compiled as a first time mama:
- 0-6 months: it is recommended to have the newborn “room share,” so they won’t be in the nursery.
- 6-18 months: they sleep in their crib and hopefully don’t climb out (so they will enjoy the nursery)
- 18-24 months: they are transitioned out of their crib to something else. So you have to baby proof/sleep proof their rooms. All those cute little lights, wall decorations, etc. will now have to be removed or moved. To me, spending that amount of time and money for a year’s enjoyment seems like a lot.
As a second time mom, my opnion hasn’t changed much. I still feel this list is valid and am glad I did not spend the money on a formal nursery. I am all about creating memories and not wasting money. But, I look forward to the day my children and I customize my kids’ room.
Pizza Dough Base