Nursery Room Essentials: Infant

Getting your nursery right for a newborn can be truly challenging for new parents. With so many options, how do you know what to include, and what to skip? An infant won’t care about what theme you choose for the room, only that he or she is comfortable and well fed. At this stage, the nursery should be set up so it’s functioning best for you as you adjust to caring for your little bundle of joy. 

A minimalist nursery skips the frills and keeps only what you need, so you can focus on what matters most. Caring for a baby is stressful enough, you shouldn't have to worry about clutter as well.

If you’ve been scouring baby registry items and wondering what essentials to pick, we have a small list of must-haves for each category in your infant nursery. 

Sleeping

When it comes to your baby’s sleeping needs, it’s pretty simple. You need a safe sleeping space and soft lighting. For sleeping, you’ll need:

• Crib or bassinet - Kibou’s pick: Nestig Wave crib - from mini crib to toddler bed all in one
• Mattress - Kibou’s pick: Naturepedic organic--no off-gassing 
• 2-4 fitted crib sheets - Kibou’s pick: Quickzip easy zip-on sheets
• Lamp or dimming light - Kibou’s pick: Hatch Rest - programmable night light that doubles as a noise machine
• Optional: Nightlight or noise machine - Kibou’s pick: Dohm Classic

Feeding

Whether you’re nursing, bottle feeding, or lulling the baby to sleep – this will be a frequently used space in the room. For feeding you’ll need:

• Rocking chair or glider - Kibou’s pick: Crate & Kids — great construction, super durable, reasonable price
• Basket with feeding essentials (burping clothes, nipple cream, pads)
• Nursing pillow-  Kibou’s pick: Boppy or My Brest Friend
• Small table for water
• Optional: small ottoman (to prop up your feet and use as storage)

Diapering

In a minimalistic nursery room, less is more. So if you can double up your dresser for a changing table, you’ll save space, money, and keep the room open. For diapering you’ll need:

• Changing table OR changing pad for dresser- Kibou’s Pick: Keekaroo - wipeable changer
• For dresser: fill drawers with diapers, wipes, cream
• For changing table: basket for diapers, wipes, cream
• Optional: Diaper pail - Kibou’s pick: Ubbi-steel canister doesn’t absorb odors like plastic

Clothing

It’s important to keep the baby’s clothes organized because they grow out of sizes so quickly. For clothing you’ll need:

• For closets: Hang clothes by size
• For dresser: Organize drawers by category and size - Kibou’s pick: OXO drawer dividers and Mari Kondo folding method for baby clothes
• Optional: Donation bin-if space allows, keep a bin in the closet or beside the dresser for what they’ve outgrown
• Optional: Hanging shelf

Books & Toys

If you don’t have the space, your baby probably won’t miss the toys. But books can double as beautiful decor as you build a story into your nighttime routine. For books and toys you need:

• For very small rooms: skip toys
• Basket or toy bin
• Donation bin
• Optional: Small bookshelf or two display shelves

A minimalist nursery includes only what you need – everything else is extra. The benefit of sticking to the essentials is eliminating the excessive stress that comes with clutter, and being able to focus on what matters most. That’s the philosophy behind Kibou diaper bags, and will ring true with any minimalist parent.

Stay tuned for our next post where we’ll explore toddler nursery essentials and big kid room essentials.

Photos courtesy of Tatiana Syrikova via Pexels