When it comes to decorating your baby's room you have so many choices to make. Do you want: dots, stripes, animals, flowers, sports, blue, pink, purple, green? You literally can find a crib set in anything you can think of. But, it can also get pretty pricey. Spending a lot on a crib set doesn't necessarily mean you are getting better quality, it just means you have less money to spend on the décor. Crib bedding cost starts around $75.00 and can go up to $500.00 or more. If you are trying to stick with a budget it’s best not to let the crib bedding be more than 50% of the budget.

            Once you have chosen the crib bedding you want it’s time to move onto décor. Décor can sometimes be hard to find, so it’s best to try to choose a site that carries the matching décor. So what do you decorate a baby’s room with?  What about a crib mobile? It has two uses, décor and entertaining and soothing the baby. A wall clock is always nice; it makes it easier to keep up with your baby’s feeding time. Picture frames, of course, that way you have somewhere to put those sweet pictures. A diaper stacker comes in handy when you have a whole bag of diapers to put somewhere. Some Crib sets now come with a diaper stacker, but a lot of them still do not. You can get a hamper that matches your theme to put all those little dirty clothes in. Buying matching bins in different sizes are a big help. You can use them to put all that stuff you need for your baby (nail clippers, hairbrush, rash cream, Tylenol, nose syringe, etc.). You can also use them for your baby’s books, or toys. Also to decorate you can get a chair with matching ottoman. When your baby is big enough you will love to see him/her in their own chair looking at books.

            No matter what you choose to decorate with, your baby’s room will look great because you did it. Now it’s time to stop reading about decorating and start doing it! Have fun and try not to spend too much, you still need diapers!

Crib Bedding Ideas to Reduce SIDS

There is so much controversy over whether or not to use bumper pads in a baby’s bed. SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is a horrible but real concern. I always used bumper pads with my kids and had no problems, but a lot of people haven’t been as lucky. Bumper pads originally were to help keep the baby from rolling into the hard bed, but as time passed what they saw happening was that babies were rolling into the pad with their face up against it (babies do not know to turn their head), resulting in suffocating themselves.  

            The same goes for the quilt or comforters. Everyone is always worried their baby isn’t warm enough so people out nice heavy blankets in the beds and the babies would pull them up to their face resulting in suffocation.

            We all know that these two items haven’t been banned from the bedding sets, but a lot of people are afraid to use them. So what do you do with these two items that come with your crib set and you don’t prefer to use them? For the quilt or comforter you can get plastic rings to sew on the back (you do not have to be talented for this) and make it a wall hanging. So, this would also help out with your décor. As for the bumper pads you can tie them at the bottom legs of the bed (like you would in the crib but at the floor) and you could store stuff under the bed. So, the pads would make the stuff under the bed less noticeable.

            I guess you’re wondering what you cover your baby up with now that their comforter is on the wall. The best thing to do is dress your baby warm. Something I really liked for my own children were the sleep sacs. In the winter I would put a long sleeve onesie on them with their sleep sacs, and in the summer I would put a short sleeve onesie under their sleep sac. Most sleep sacs come in fleece so they are plenty warm.

            Now I am sure you want to know what to do about your baby rolling into the hard bed. You will not be concerned with that at first being it takes a few months for that to start happening. But when it does it’s just something they will learn. It may be frustrating at first because you may have to get up with them but they will learn it. A baby will not roll over hard enough to really hurt themselves but it may get their attention.