Tips on Raising a Baby In A One Bedroom Apartment
Living in New York City certainly has its perks; you have access to culture, dining, museums and so much more. As you raise your children in the city, you can take them on exciting outings and show them so much of what the boroughs have to offer. However, living here also means that you might be tight on space. In fact, you may begin to worry about how you and your baby will fit in a one-bedroom apartment. Fortunately, you can make this situation work well.
Consider Other Bedroom Spaces
It’s typical for newborns to sleep in a room with their parents, but you should start preparing for the later months now. Take a look around your apartment. If you have an office space that is never used or a dining room that is used merely for storage, you might want to consider putting a bed or futon here for you and your partner. Instead of everyone sleeping in the bedroom, you can dedicate that room to the baby and use the new space for yourself.
Allocate a Space
When living with a baby in a small apartment, you aren’t going to have the space to create a pseudo-bedroom for yourself, so you’ll need to get creative with your current bedroom. You may initially think that it’s just best to put everything wherever it will fit, but this approach can make you feel more cramped. Instead, decide on what segment of the room will be used for the baby’s items. You may choose a particular wall where you will set up the crib, changing table and other necessities. As the baby gets older, you could even look into a room divider so the space feels more private for you all.
Choose Wall Storage
While you do not want any items hanging over your baby’s crib, you can use the other parts of the wall for storage. Instead of trying to cram a huge changing table or another dresser into a bedroom, you can hang up clothing, diapers and other items. This process can also give you a chance to decorate. If you’re crafty, you might want to try your hand at making your own storage containers for the wall. Whether you’re buying or making them, remember to take accurate measurements so that these storage units don’t take over.
Clean Out
Before the baby arrives is the time to clean out your bedroom. Raising a baby in a one bedroom apartment is possible, but you might need to finally part with those shirts that you haven’t worn since college. If totally parting with these possessions is too much for you, look into keeping your items in a storage unit until you move into a bigger place. As you’re going through the clutter, you can also decide to sell some items online or donate them to charity. Remember to go through the rest of your apartment too. You might be able to move some items from the bedroom into the kitchen or living room so that you have more space for the baby.
Remember Yourself
While it’s tempting to turn your entire room into a nursery when you see all of the cute baby items that are available, remember that you need to focus on yourself too. If you turn your whole bedroom into a nursery, you are likely to stop feeling like an adult. When you have a baby in a one bedroom apartment, you must make clear where the diving line is between your nursery and your bedroom. Whether you have different wallpaper or a piece of furniture that indicates the division, make certain that the line isn’t drawn by a messy pile of clothes on the floor.
Tailor Your Baby Registry
Think about the last baby shower that you went too and how many gifts the mom-to-be received. If you have the same experience, you may find yourself totally overwhelmed by the number of items that you need to cram into your apartment. A baby in one bedroom apartment situations may require you to seriously trim that registry list. In fact, you might want to ask for mostly gift cards so that you could purchase diapers, formula and other such necessities later.
Limit the Toys
It’s also tempting to buy every cute toy on the shelves, but doing so simply isn’t realistic in a baby in one bedroom apartment situation. A few keepsake items are certainly nice to have. However, ask yourself how many toys your baby really needs to play with. In the first few months of life, the answer likely does not amount to a tremendous sum. Also, teaching your baby the value of having a few good toys is a practice that could lead to more positive behaviors in the future.
Shop for Safety and Space Efficiency
When you see all of the flashy new products on the market for babies, you might feel as though you want to have them, yet if you’re raising a baby in a one bedroom apartment, you need to focus on more important qualities. Make safety and space-efficiency priorities over how trendy a particular item is.
Raising a baby in a one bedroom apartment is certainly possible. You may just need to get crafty. Also, remember that you can store your extra items with Stop & Stor until you are ready to use them.
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