Baskets of Fun – Storage Solutions for Babies Rooms
While you were busy ‘cooking up’ your little bundle, birthing him and then bonding, your house was overtaken by a fairy who left LOTS behind!
Socks, clothing, feeding gear, toiletries, nappies, blankets, wipes, burping cloths, wraps… your baby has so much stuff!!
Here are a few tips we hope are helpful in keeping that ‘stuff’ in order, while still leaving some resemblance of YOUR house!!
*Use baskets to hold everything – toiletries, socks, hats, feeding gear, singlets, wraps. Big ones, small ones, coloured ones!! These can be stacked on a small bookshelf, or placed around the room.
*Dedicate kitchen space. A deep drawer or cupboard should hold the bottles, cloths, cutlery, bibs, sterilizing equipment, spare formula, breastpump etc. This will be in use for a couple of years so make it work for you!!
*Colour Code. Kids love colour and it can teach great skills – as well as being a great organizational tool. Use coloured coat hangers to segregate clothing (dresses on the pink hanger, long-sleeved tops on the green). Coloured boxes or bins to sort toys (blocks from cars from colouring items).
*Label everything. Or better yet, use a Polaroid or print your digital pics of the content inside the box (so your kids have no excuse not to tidy up!). Label clothing ‘3-6months’ or ‘Carrie’s first Winter’.
*Store Well. Clothing should be stored in ventilated bags if you intend to store it for any length of time (you can get these at the Warehouse in a range of sizes). However I have stored my baby clothing in plastic bins for a year without a problem. Make sure everything is clean and REALLY dry, and check it every couple of months for mould etc. Wash everything that comes out of storage.
*Play Stations. Placing baskets or boxes of toys in different parts of the house is actually great for your children, to stem boredom and encourage them to explore. You can have stations in the office, their room, the lounge etc, or you could put the blocks in one room and the pull-along toys in another. It also makes tidying a breeze – scoop everything up and put it in the box!
*Create a changing station You may use a change table or a floor mat, but it can be handy having a changing station in the living room as well as the bedroom. Keep a basket of nappies, cream, wipes and a changing pad in a basket under the coffee table. Do the same in the bathroom if that makes bathtime easier!
Our real-life MUMMYTIPS:
- I use drawers to sort all baby’s clothes, but I admit they don’t get folded!! But it doesn’t matter as long as we know were to find a pair of pants and a top!
- I have a cupboard for all of baby’s feeding gear. I have huge plastic containers to sort the bottles from the teats from the cups etc, and have baskets to hold all the spare teats, the formula sachets and dispensers. I always have a spare tin of formula so that goes in there, along with a basket of bibs and cloths. It keeps everything away but still at reach – although the steriliser wont fit!!
- I was struggling to cope with all the wonderful baby clothes that were given to me, so I came up with this: I bought five different coloured coat hangers, and sorted the clothing by age. So all the 0-3 month clothing went on the green hangers, and the 3-6month on the blue… etc. Anything bigger than a year was stored in a box for later. It means I don’t miss any clothing (if its in a box you can forget to get it out!!) and can see at a glance what to get baby for the coming months.
