Travel Equipment - Pram

Ok now you’ve kitted out your nursery, there are a few more things that you are going to need, so lets start with a biggie, the pram. This an absolute minefield so here’s a few pointers:-

·         Size is important – You need to know what size the pram is when folded.

o   Umbrella Fold - When folded these types are very compact and are useful if you are going to be putting it into a small car or taking it on a bus. However these types of pushchair tend to be more suited for older babies as most of them do not allow your baby to lie flat.

o   Flat fold – Most Travel Systems and larger wheeled prams and pushchairs only fold in one dimension and are generally a lot more bulky. 

·         Travel Systems – These are all in one solutions. Most travel systems have a car seat that can be lifted out of the car and attached to the pram frame. This can sometimes be a godsend as there will be many times when your baby falls asleep in the car and you don’t want to disturb them. Many systems also have a separate pram/cot that attaches to the main frame and allows your baby to lie flat. This cot/pram section is then converted to a more traditional pushchair seat when your child gets a bit older.

·         Wheels

o   4 or 3 – Having tried both I could not notice the difference between the two, so this one is really down to personal preference.

o   Big wheels or small wheels – Part of this argument stems back to the size debate as the big wheeled versions also tend to be the flat fold versions. The big wheeled prams are definitely easier to wheel, as the large wheels offer less resistance. If you intend to do a lot of ‘outdoorsy’ walking,  ie on the beach, through the woods, over gravel then a large wheeled pram is the only way to go. There are lots of models which offer a compromise of small wheels at the front, and big wheels at he back, which is useful as if the going gets really tough all you need to do is tilt the pram backwards onto the back wheels while you get through the rough stuff.

·         Suspension – Again if you are intending to do a  lot of countryside walking over rough ground then suspension really does make a big difference.

·         Storage – I would recommend that you get a pram that has as much storage as possible. You will not believe just how much stuff you have to take with you when out with your baby, and your pram will quickly become your ‘packhorse’!

·         Footmuffs – I know what your thinking, what an earth is a footmuff!. Its essentially a cosy little sleeping bag that attaches to the pram to keep your baby nice and warm. They are quite useful but don’t worry if your pram hasn’t got one as you can always snuggle them up with a blanket or two.

·         Raincover – Most prams will come with a Raincover, but you can always buy a separate one relatively cheaply, so don’t worry if it doesn’t.

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Kitting out your Nursery - Bathtime

Bathtime

I would recommend that you buy a small plastic bathtub to bathe your baby. It saves a lot of water compared to filling the main bath. We also bought a large flat sponge that our daughter would sit on making it nice and comfy, but its not essential. Its also good that you can use the bath anywhere you like,

DAD TIP: We tended to use the bath on the floor in the nursery as its then easy for both parents to sit either side of the bath and both help out. And certainly for the first few months it’s a lot easier to bathe your child with both parents.

That's the last of my "Kitting out your Nursery" blogs for the time being, I hope it has helped some people focus on what they need to buy to prepare for thier first baby.

Look out for my next blog which will focus on Travel Equipment.

Kitting Out your Nursery - Nappy Changing Area

Nappy Changing Area

Now I have to break it to you that you will be changing nappies, lots of them. So it makes sense to have a good work area to do this. You can buy purpose built chests of drawers with an integral changing area at the top. However we found that a traditional chest of drawers with a baby change mat on the top was sufficient.

Make sure that you buy a wipe-clean foam baby change mat that has nice high curving sides to it. This helps to stop baby from rolling around and makes the job a lot easier.

DAD TIP: Use the top drawer for things such as nappies, wet wipes cotton wool, lotions etc. so that everything is to hand when you are changing the nappy.

Comfy Chair

If you have the space it is a good idea to have a comfy chair in the nursery. We used ours most nights once our daughter had moved into her own room for night time bottle feeds.

Wardrobe

Never underestimate just how many clothes you will acquire for your baby, especially in the first year when not only you are buying baby clothes, but all your relatives, friends workmates, neighbours etc. So a wardrobe is good idea to store all those clothes and blankets.

DAD TIP: Don’t bother buying clothes hangers, most of the baby clothes you buy will come with hangers, we bought hangers and now we have a big carrier bag full of spare hangers!

Nappy Bin

It is a good idea to have a bin for all your nappies. You can wrap your dirty nappies in plastic ‘nappy bags’ and throw into a normal bin. Or you can buy a special nappy bin that has an integral system that seals the nappies in plastic automatically. The second system is a lot more convenient but bear in mind that you need to replace the ‘plastic bag cartridge’ every so often which normally costs in region of £5, whereas you can buy a bag of 100 ‘nappy bags’ for about  50 pence.

Kitting out your Nursery - Baby Monitors

Kitting out your Nursery - Baby Monitors

Baby Monitors

I would certainly recommend that you get a baby monitor for the peace of mind that it gives you. What you get generally depends on how much money you want to spend but here are a few pointers:-

·         Digital or Analogue. Having used both I would say always go for a digital monitor. You don’t get the annoying fizz crackle with digital that you tend to get with analogue which can be very annoying. Also the sound quality is much much better. They are more expensive, but I think that some things are worth spending a bit more money on and a baby monitor is certainly one of those.

·         Video function. I never went for a video option but sometimes I thought that it would have come in handy for those times when you hear some noises coming from the nursery but don’t want to go in and investigate for fear of disturbing your little one.

·         Movement sensors. These consist of a mat which is placed beneath the bed sheet and alarms if your baby stops moving/breathing. I didn’t have one of these but if you are the sort of person that is a born worrier, and you think you will be kept awake at night worrying about the safety of your little one then I would recommend that you get one of these.

·         Other options. Our monitor has a night light on it which we use every night, also it is able to play five different lullabies which we have used on many occasions. Another useful feature is a room temperature gauge, ours let us know what the temperature was in the nursery and displayed it on the parent unit.

Kitting out your Nursery - Bedding

Bedding

You will need the bed sheets for the cot and the Moses basket, make sure you get plenty as your baby can wee, poo, or sick-up at a moments notice. In fact its not unknown to replace the sheet only for it to need changing an hour later!

You will also need some blankets, a lot of people favour the crocheted type of blanket as they are more breathable and will help to prevent your baby from overheating. It is not recommended that you use a duvet or pillows until your baby is at least 12 months old.

Pyjamas/Sleepsuits

It is very important during the first few months that your baby has the right amount of clothing/blankets for the temperature of the room. This is because babies are not very good at regulating their temperature. Below is a useful guide as to how many blankets to use.

Sleeping Bags

Many parent use sleeping bags, as they cant be kicked off, meaning your baby wont wake in the middle of the night because they are cold. Make sure you buy the right size for your child so that they cant slip down into the bag and overheat. Although you can get sleeping bags for small babies most parents do not start using them until their little one is a few months old.

Room temperature	Amount of bedding	Tog rating for sleeping bags
24 degrees C / 75 degrees F or more	Sheet only	0.5 tog
21 degrees C / 70 degrees F	Sheet plus one blanket, or a 1 tog sleeping bag	1 tog
18 degrees C / 65 degrees F	Sheet plus two layers of blanket, or a 2.5 tog sleeping bag	2.5 tog
16 degrees C / 60 degrees F	Sheet plus three layers of blanket, or a 2.5 tog sleeping bag plus a blanket	2.5 tog plus one blanket

The FSID has the following important guidlines

Babies who get too hot are at an increased risk of cot death. They can get too hot because the room is too hot or because they have too much bedding or clothing. The ideal room temperature is 16-20ºC.

Follow the guidelines below and buy our simple room thermometer to help you protect your baby.

1. Babies do not need hot rooms, all night heating is rarely necessary. Keep the room at a temperature between 16-20ºC.  18ºC (65ºF) is just right.
2. Adults find it difficult to judge the temperature in the room, so use a room thermometer in the rooms where your baby sleeps and plays. A  simple room thermometer is available from FSID. 
3. When you check your baby, if they are sweating or their tummy feels hot to the touch, take off some of the bedding. Don't worry if their hands or feet feel cool, this is normal.
4. Use lightweight blankets or a baby sleeping bag. If your baby feels too warm, reduce the number of layers or use a lower tog baby sleeping bag. In warm summer weather, your baby may not need any bedclothes at all. Do not use a duvet, quilt or pillow for babies under 12 months.
5. Even in winter, babies who are unwell and feverish need fewer clothes and bedclothes.
6. Babies need to lose excess heat from their heads. Make sure their head cannot be covered by the bedclothes by sleeping them 'feet to foot' (with their feet to the foot of the cot) so they don't wriggle down under the covers.
7. Babies should never sleep with a hot water bottle or electric blanket, or next to a radiator, heater or fire, or in direct sunshine.
8. When it's warm, you can cool the room where your baby sleeps by closing the curtains and opening the windows during the day.  Offer your baby plenty to drink, and in very hot weather, sponge them down regularly with tepid water.  Use a fan but do not place it directly onto your baby.
9. Remove hats and extra clothing as soon as you come indoors or enter a warm bus, train or shop, even if it means waking your baby.
10. A car can become very hot in the summer. Avoid direct sunlight on your baby.  In winter, keep the heating low, and remove your baby's outdoor clothing.  A thermometer may be helpful.

Kitting out your Nursery - Beds

Kitting out your Nursery - Beds

Moses Basket

Now most people like to start off with a Moses basket for the first six months of your little ones life. The good thing about a Moses basket is you can put it right next to your bed, which helps you to sleep  soundly knowing that your little one is safe. It is also a lot easier to deal with getting up for feeds etc. when your baby is right next to you.

DAD TIP: Make sure you get a stand for the basket that has a side to side rocking base. We found that the rocking motion really helped to get our little one off to sleep. Sometimes if we were really lucky we could reach an arm or a foot out of the bed and rock her back to sleep without even getting out of bed!.

 

Cot

Now while you have the time (and believe me you will never ever have as much spare time when your baby is born!) it is probably a good idea to buy a cot. There are only really two options here, a cot-bed and a normal cot.

The cot-bed is a cot which eventually turns into a normal bed when your child is ready. These are normally a bit bigger than traditional cots which is something to bear in mind if space is at a premium. Remember that a lot of parents like to put the cot in the bedroom with them for the first few months of usage.

The only other variations are whether you go for a side panel that lowers for easy access, this can be useful if you or your partner is short, as some people I know have found it diffiecult lowering their baby into the cot with a fixed side rail.

We opted for a cot-bed where the base has three different heights which was good as we lowered the base as our daughter got older. When she gets a bit older we will convert the cot into a bed although I don’t envisage doing this until she is about three years old.

DAD TIP: See if you can get a bed with a teething rail, this is a clear plastic strip that covers the top rail of the cot, and is there to prevent your baby damaging the cot when she is teething, as teething babies will inevitably gnaw away at things like a little baby beaver!

One thing that influenced our cot buying decision is the round bars or flat bars debate, some people believe that flat bars are more forgiving than round bars if your baby accidently bangs their little head on them.

Cot Mattress

The first thing to remember is to make sure you buy the right size mattress for your cot, your mattress must fit nice and snug in the cot with no gaps at all between the edge of the mattress and the cot frame. It can be quite difficult to choose a mattress, after all you cant try it out like you would your own mattress, and your baby isnt able to let you know if its too firm or soft. Here are a few guidelines that will help you choose.

·         New or Second Hand – The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) recommends that you always use a new mattress.

·         Cover – To keep the mattress as hygienic and clean as possible, choose one with a PVC-covering or a removable top panel that you can wash at a reasonably high temperature.

·         Thickness – Look for a mattress that is at least 10cm thick.

·         Firmness - Squeeze a selection of mattresses in the shop and choose one that feels firm rather than soft. To compare firmness, squeeze at the edges and at the centre. Your baby needs a mattress that provides good support and won't sag.

·         Safety - Check it conforms to safety requirements: mattresses should carry the BSI number  BS 1877-10:1997.

·         Foam cot mattresses - Foam mattresses tend to be the least expensive. The simplest versions are made from a single layer of supportive foam completely covered with a wipe-clean, waterproof PVC cover.

o   Pros

o   Generally easy to keep clean.

o   Good value for money.

o   Can provide good support and resistance to denting.

o   Cons

o   Some parents may not like the idea of the basic PVC-covered mattress because of concerns about clamminess.

·         Spring-interior cot mattresses - These traditional mattresses have a coiled spring interior with layers of felt and foam padding. They often have a cotton cover on one side and PVC or other wipe-clean material on the other.

o   Pros

o   Many parents like the familiarity of a traditional spring mattress.

o   The wipe-clean side is the recommended surface for your baby to sleep on because of the practical advantages, but you can flip it over onto the cotton side if you prefer – eg if it's hot and your baby feels clammy.

o   Cons

o   More expensive than foam mattresses.

o    The cotton side may be preferred for comfort but can be more difficult to keep clean (unless you buy a mattress with a removable panel).

 

Welcome

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