If you’ve already read, 5 in a House Built for 4: Maximizing Your Room’s Space with Baby, you know that my husband and I have decided to share our room with our new baby. Already a co-sleeping family, he would have been sleeping with us anyway. However, with our lack of available bedrooms for a baby room, his furniture will also be sharing a room with us, rather than being in a separate nursery. To see how we prepared our room for all the baby stuff, read 5 in a House Built for 4: Maximizing Your Room’s Space with Baby.
Adding in All that Baby Gear
We brought in all of the stuff that baby boy would need at first- the bassinet with changing table, the glider, and the bin of diapers. We assembled the bassinet and placed it on the wall next to my desk. We placed the glider in the corner by the window on other side of the bassinet. We then evaluated space to see what else would fit.
Rearranging
I’m really glad we decided to let the room sit for a few days so we could see what worked and what didn’t work. Although we had everything in the room, the arrangement just didn’t make sense. The baby wasn’t as close to me as the girls had been in their bassinet in the past. My desk, and in turn my computer, were right beside the bassinet. The glider was on the opposite side of the room from my side of the bed, the bathroom, and the door to our room.
So, I decided we would rearrange.
The new set up
Here is what we have now.
- Bassinet
- Glider Rocker
- Changing Table
- Desk
- Dresser
- Miscellaneous Items
- Finishing Touches
The Bassinet
The bassinet is on the wall closest to my side of the bed.
This placement makes the most sense because it allows me to pull it right up next to the bed in the first few weeks as well as making my trips to get him far shorter in the middle of the night. We also moved it here knowing we were moving the desk to the other side of the room, and as far away from my computer as possible. We don’t want the noise or the “emissions” that close to him. The placement of the bassinet here also gives me a straight shot to the doorway. If the girls are playing gymnastics in the hall, I can pull the bassinet right over to the door and watch.
Here’s a little bassinet tip. We have animals and one cat in particular LOVES to climb up on it. Using a crib sheet inside out, we’ve been able to cover it to keep it clean and easily see that she’s on the bassinet. (She’s grey and knows how to blend in 
)
The Glider
The glider is a bit bulky and awkward but was my one “splurge” this go around. All of the rockers/chairs we have used in the past were impossible to nurse or sleep comfortably in and I was never successful in getting out of them and keeping the sleeping baby asleep. We moved the glider to the end of our bed near the doorway.
With it placed here, I can walk easily to the bassinet to put the baby there or stay there to sleep comfortably without sunlight coming right in on our faces. There is a tiny little space between the chair and the wall that perfectly holds a Boppy pillow. I can also move it to see down the hall if the girls are playing there. We also opened up a huge space in the floor to one side for baby tummy time or for the girls to play in while I nurse him.
The Changing Table
This piece didn’t *need* to be in our room. However, it has 3 drawers in it that I am using for his clothes, so we didn’t want to walk back and forth from the girls room in every thing else was going to be in our room.
I also stored all the large blankets and floor quits under the shelf side so that tummy time could be set up easily.
The addition of this piece to the room also reduced the need to rearrange and configure in 6 months when we can’t use the changing area in the bassinet anymore. We slide the little bin with the cloth diapers in it on the left side of the changing table for easy access when needed.
My Desk
My desk ended up going beside the window on the other side of the room from where it was initially. This placement gives me a chance to use the computer if the baby is sleeping in the bassinet without disturbing him. It also puts the computer close enough to the changing table that it can be placed up on it to watch movies, etc., streaming on Netflix during the first week or so when I won’t see much outside of our bedroom. I also feel like I still have some sort of personal space in the room by leaving my desk in the room.
His Little Dresser
We have no idea how big Baby Boy will be or how quickly he will grow. We are a cloth diapering family, so my kids usually need bigger pants/rompers to accomodate their bottoms. We have a tiny 3-drawer dresser that houses all the clothes we have that aren’t newborn, 0-3, or 3 months. We left that piece in the corner next to my night stand to remove clutter, keep a walkway, and be sure we could access everything easily.
His clothes are organized in the drawers by size.
The Set Around Stuff
The best thing about having to rearrange to fit all the baby stuff in the room is that I was able to organize better. My books are in the magazine basket behind my desk. All the blankets, piddle pads, burp cloths, and nursing needs are organized in a basket that sits in the floor next to the glider for easy access.
The toys for the baby to play with and for the girls to use to interact with him are in a basket atop his little dresser.
The sling that Drew uses, spare covers to both nursing pillows, and the vibrating soother are all in a bin on top of the diapers so that we don’t have to search for them in a poop or barf emergency.
Little Touches
We keep the kids names a secret until they are born – so there is no wall art or personalization up in our room yet. Once he is born, a series will be on the wall over the bassinet in 3 frames - ”LETTER” ”is for” “Newborn picture of Baby Boy”. We will also being taking photos of the 3 of them together to set around and the girls also want to paint pictures for their brother to hang.
We are slowly realizing that our room will be a centralized place for the 5 of us in the first few months. We want to embrace the warmth and fullness of that fact rather than fight it and keep it an adult only space. Our room will be ours again all too soon as the children grow. We need to fill it now with them while we can.
And Now We Wait
That’s not to say I won’t reorganize drawers, and basket contents, and refold diapers in the weeks to come. But we have a space for all of us prepared when Baby Boy decides to make his debut. He will be born into a home that is full of love and people eager to watch him grow. And his momma is a lot more calm now that he has some room in a room in our home.
Do you share a room with baby? What furniture arrangement worked best for you?
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