I sort of already feel bad for this baby. When I was pregnant with Ebony, we decorated a nursery for her. She never slept in it, of course, but it was a room in the house just for her. Or for nappy changes at least. I’m not making that mistake again. Our house is bigger now, but I don’t want to dedicate an entire room for changing nappies in. It just seems a bit ridiculous. I’m not going to put up a cot that will probably never get slept in. Instead, we’ve made room for the baby in our bedroom. We have a drawer full of baby clothes and a huge bed that will fit us all in.
And so the baby has no nursery which I feel a little mean about. Of course, one day the baby will have their very own bedroom, but for now, there is nowhere. We talked early on in the pregnancy about getting a changing table so I decided to make that the baby’s little corner of the house. I bought a changing table second hand from Gumtree. I decided to put it in my office. I’ll have writing to do when the baby is little, so I think we might end up spending quite a bit of time together in there. It’s the smallest room in the house but is a place I love because it’s mine all mine. Well, and the babies now. So, behind the desk where I sit to write is a changing table filled with all the things I’ve acquired for this baby. Some of it is second-hand, passed down from Ebony, and other bits are new, my way of compensating for the lack of nursery.
One of my favourite items is the mobile which dangles above the changing table. Ebony drew pictures of our family and I made a simple mobile for the baby, I wrote about it in more detail here. I think it’s such a lovely personal touch and it’s something Ebony is really proud of. I’ve been doing lots of little things to get her involved in preparing for her new baby brother or sister but this was definitely one of my favourite activities.
Last time, we had a fancy changing mat from Mamas and Papas, it even came with a little pillow. It was very lovely but always covered in pee. The pillow and changing mat cover spent most of their time in the washing machine. They only ever seemed to be in the nursery for a few minutes before they got peed on again. So, this time, I decided to get a simple patterned changing mat that will look nice even when it’s soaked in urine. I chose this turquoise chevron mat for £7.99 from Kiddicare.
I wanted some brightly coloured storage for under the changing table and fell in love with the designs from Minene. I chose this huge fabric navy box for £30 from John Lewis. It fills almost a whole shelf and is big enough to house all the washable nappies. I currently have 21 nappies, a load of extra liners, nappy bags and spare wipes in there and there’s still room for more. I also bought the smaller box in red for £11.50 from Amazon. I love the vibrant red and the huge stars, it looks lovely. I’m currently using it to store a pack of disposable nappies, some disposable wipes and a beautiful blue towel I bought for when the baby’s born.
And finally, because I didn’t seem able to stop buying Minene storage, I got this beautiful cloud storage bag for £14.00 from Amazon. It is the perfect size to slot onto the shelf and looks great next to the other Minene storage. I’m currently using it to store muslin cloths. I have these brightly patterned muslin cloths for £12 from JoJo Maman Bébé (although I actually got ours second hand and much cheaper from eBay) and a packet of these Bright Bots muslin cloths for £12.95 from Amazon. I have 11 muslin cloths which I guess may not be enough, but I figured it would do for now. Last time we borrowed muslin cloths from a friend and we must have had at least 30 so I have no idea how many we’ll actually need.
We’re using washable nappies again so will be using the same ones we had with Ebony. We bought a BumGenius birth to potty kit when I was pregnant with Ebony (sort of like this one for £396 from The Cotton Nappy Company). I seem to remember it costing closer to £300 at the time but my in-laws very kindly paid so I might be mistaken. I loved using cloth nappies and am really looking forward to doing so again. We have replaced the velcro tabs on the nappies because ours were wearing out (this cost £30 at our local tailors). Ebony helped me sort through the nappies and put all the liners in over the weekend so we’re all ready for the baby to be born now (hint hint, baby).
I took Ebony into Manchester a few weeks ago to choose a first outfit for the new baby. This is another of the little activities we’ve done to make her feel involved in the new baby. Obviously, it backfired terribly because Ebony couldn’t choose anything unisex and insisted that I buy the pink rompers because boys can wear pink too. Which is, of course true, but I don’t know whether this baby would forgive me if he happens to be a boy forever haunted by a Facebook birth announcement of him wearing a pink floral romper. And so, we decided to buy two sets of rompers, one for a boy and one for a girl. Ebony’s in charge of going to select the right romper when the baby is born. I have a feeling she will choose the pink regardless of the baby’s genitalia.
The blanket waiting patiently on top of the changing mat is the blanket I knitted for the new baby. I’m quite proud of it because I actually managed to finish it. I only finished Ebony’s last week and I started that when she was still in my tummy. So, whilst this baby may not have a bedroom, I did actually finish knitting a blanket and I feel like that proves my love. I’m really looking forward to snuggling down on the bed with my new baby in my arms enjoying some skin-to-skin under the blanket I knitted.
As well as using washable nappies, we’re also going to be using washable wipes. The lovely people at Cheeky Wipes have very kindly sent us a kit to try out. I’m really pleased because we used Cheeky Wipes with Ebony and I loved them. It’s much kinder on their skin that many of the disposable wipes on the shelves. There are no harsh chemicals, there’s no waste and hardly any nappy rash. You can buy a complete kit of Cheeky Wipes for £40.97 from Amazon.
So, the baby may not have a bedroom, but I think this changing area will do for now. And, since it’s all so nicely set out and the rompers are waiting patiently on the hangers, erm, do you think maybe it would be possible for the baby to be born sometime soon? Please?