12 Ways To Prepare Your Home For A Newborn

 

Our Dresser (Mirror is old from Target)

I’m in full nesting mode and as I prepare our house for a new arrival my to-do list keeps growing with more and more things I think of that I want to do. I’m making progress but have only 6 weeks left to cross everything off, eek! One thing I was obsessed with during my first pregnancy was making sure our house was “ready” for the baby. That everything was clean, organized and ready for life with a newborn. Knowing exactly how challenging and sleep deprived that time period is and knowing we have an energetic toddler on our hands as only deepened my desire to have things as prepped as possible!

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What I Wish I Knew Before Giving Birth // Everything On My 3rd Trimester To-Do List // What I’m Buying For Our 2nd Baby

Deep clean the house.

I vividly remember scrubbing the baseboards in our old (huge) house a week before my due date and you can BET I won’t be doing that this time around! If you can swing it, hire professional cleaners to come in and do a serious cleaning a week before your due date, it will make you feel so much better!

Clean out the fridge

Get rid of anything expired, or that you don’t use and give everything a good cleaning before you stock it full of fresh groceries!

Make a homecoming menu

This may seem a bit OCD but I’ll definietly be doing it this time around now that I need to be sure there’s something somewhat healthy on the table for Piper at dinner time. I plan to map out meals for the first two weeks, of course we’ll be flexible and most of them will be freezer, carry out, crock pot or just easy standbys.

Stock the pantry, fridge & freezer

A week before your due date fully stock your kitchen with all of your favorites, healthy snacks and meal ingredients.

Stock up on household supplies

Think everything you don’t want to be stuck without while caring for a newborn: toilet paper, paper towels, coffee etc.

Change all the bed linens

It will feel so nice to come home to a clean bed, though you may not know when you’ll be leaving, get in the routine of washing your sheets at least every week leading up to your due date. This can also be a good activity to occupy time during early labor.

Set up a bathroom for yourself

This is very unglamorous but the reality of coming home from the hospital after giving birth means you’ll be changing pads and taking care of business ‘down there’ – it can be especially painful and messy if you’ve had stitches. I set myself up in our guest bathroom and had a special garbage bag rigged up inside a Trader Joe’s bag that I could easily take out frequently and it had my stash of products on-hand.

Organize your feeding supplies

You’ll spend most of your days feeding your bebe so make it easy on yourself — whether you’re nursing or need to organize bottles and formula. I had a basket set up next to my chair I planned to nurse in that had all of my nursing supplies — I also had a basket of burp cloths and blankets in several spots where we spent the majority of our time in the house.

Set up a changing area

If your house is two levels you may want to consider setting up a pack & play changing area on the main floor. It makes it that much easier for the constant diaper changes! We spend most of our time upstairs right now so we’ll likely just do diaper changes in our nursery and possibly set up something in Piper’s playroom.

Prepare freezer meals

Prepare as many meals ahead of time as you can — not just dinner either, easy and filling breakfasts that are pre-made are so nice to grab after long sleepless nights!

Make your bedroom a retreat

You’ll be spending a lot of time here — make it a place you want to be. Remove the clutter, get a cozy new blanket for your bed, think about where you’ll be nursing and what you need (boppy pillow, rocking chair etc.).

Stock up on reading material

Get a few new books you’re excited to read from the library, Amazon or on your Kindle to fill those late nights, early mornings and everything in between.

 

Image by Lauren Swann