The number one piece of furniture that I want you guys all to consider is the nursery chair.
And this is actually a helpful thing to have whether or not you're nursing.
If you're not nursing, it's a very useful place to give your baby the bottle because
it provides a lot of nice support for you, for your back, for your arms.
I would even get the nursing chair with the foot stool because it's very nice to prop
your feet up on the foot stool.
And this is not something you're only going to use for one year, you might use it down
the line when you're reading to your child.
You can use it for quite a long time.
Some people don't like the style of these and they think, "oh why would I get that big
ugly chair," well you kind of have to forget about that because this is a very useful thing.
Now especially if you're nursing, you're going to need something like this- you need the
back support.
It's going to support your upper back, your lower back, your arms.
You're going to be spending a lot of time in this chair.
You're going to need something comfortable and supportive so definitely consider the
nursing chair.
Number two thing, the crib.
Now I'm putting this number two for kind of an interesting reason.
I think when we're expecting a baby, one of the first things everyone thinks about going
out and buying is a big crib.
Meanwhile you probably can get away for at least a while on having a Pack 'N Play in
which you can put your baby.
And actually if you have your baby in your room you might even choose to use the Pack
'N Play, especially the insert comes with the Pack 'N Play for a young, young baby.
This is also a very helpful thing, the Pack 'N Play, if you're traveling because it can
help you be very mobile.
You'll bring it on the weekend and so forth.
So anyway, I'm not saying don't get a crib down the line, you're definitely going to
need a crib.
You really can't have a two year old in a Pack 'N Play, but at least for the few months
when you first have your baby you might be able to get away with just having a Pack 'N
Play.
Check with your doctor because I think that can really take the sting out of all the different
things that you need to buy when you first bring the baby home.
Okay, so nursing chair, Pack 'N Play, moving on - changing table.
This was one of my big questions when I first had the baby, why do I need this changing
table?
Why can't I change the baby on the bed?
Or change the baby on the floor?
And then I had this old like antique chest that had been in my family for fifty years,
it sort of looked like an antique roadhouse kind of thing, and I wanted to put it in the
nursery and I didn't have room to put in my babies room along with the changing table.
So I said to friends, can't I just like put a changing pad on this old thing and that
would work as my changing table?
And everyone's like "No, you need the changing table."
And I'm like why?
Well now I know why.
And I have a show on this because I think this is a very useful piece of furniture.
This is a great place to organize all of the stuff you're going to have for your baby -- your
diapers, wipes, creams, medicines, manuals, product catalogs, all that kind of stuff you
just need somewhere to put and the changing table is a great place.
It's also just a good place to change your baby because the baby will be at the right
height.
And this is going to be very useful until your baby is probably a year old and you can
even use after that for storage.
So that's a really, really great thing.
Okay, another word on storage.
It's very important, especially if you're a neat freak like me, that you have places
to put things when you have a new baby - clothing and books and toys.
So let's talk about the closet first, what do you do?
Well if you can invest in a built-in system and if you can't do that, in a California
closets type of thing, which can also be expensive.
But this will really help you organize all of the stuff you're going to have- pajamas,
little outfits, t-shirts, swaddling blankets, sheets, all that kind of stuff.
So that's very, very useful.
And at the very least try to get some stackable containers because this is a great place to
keep all the stuff you're going to have with your baby.
So that's true for the clothing.
And the same thing is true for toys and for books.
You just need places to put things otherwise you're going to end up with stuff like all
over the floor.
You're never going to believe how many little things you're going to get- little books,
little toys.
It's just great to have a place to put them and stackable containers can be really good
for that.
Toy chests are also wonderful.
You'd be surprised how many non-breakable toys you can just sort of throw into those
things.
So those will really help you in terms of getting organized.
Okay so let's quickly walk through the basics of your baby's nursery: a nursing chair, a
crib, get a Pack 'N Play, a changing table, and definitely get good storage -- drawers,
bookshelves, or some nice stackable containers.
I hope this show will help you guys out in terms of deciding what you do and you don't
need for your baby early on.
And I'm really looking forward to hearing about your life with your new baby.