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You're probably looking forward to buying furniture for your baby's nursery, but you may also find the prospect overwhelming. You'll quickly find out that whether you shop at the mall or in cyberspace, there is a dizzying -- and often high-priced -- array of choices in baby nursery decor.
Which furniture items should you have on hand when your baby is born, and which can wait? Is the designer baby crib with all the amenities better for your baby than the run-of-the-mill version? Should you borrow or buy?
Baby Development: Your 3-month-old
Your 3-month-old is growing bigger and becoming more aware every day. By this age, your baby should be settling into a schedule, and giving you some much-needed rest! This portion of WebMD’s month-by-month guide describes a few of the baby milestones you can expect your child to reach at three months.
Read the Baby Development: Your 3-month-old article > >
WebMD decided to check in with the experts -- including several new moms -- for their best tips and advice on setting up a nursery for baby.
Unless you're planning to co-sleep with your child, you'll probably need a crib at some point, though not necessarily right away.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that one of the safest places for your baby to sleep to prevent SIDS is in their parents' bedroom. Having your baby nearby also makes night-feeding easier. Of course, you can always move a crib into your bedroom if you have the space, but many parents prefer to put their newborn to sleep in a smaller, more womb-like space -- such as a bassinet, Moses basket, or co-sleeper (a bassinet that attaches to the side of an adult bed) -- for their first few months of life.?
Many parents put off buying a crib until their baby is a few months old, but Ali Wing, who founded the baby store Giggle and wrote the Giggle Guide to Baby Gear, recommends that new parents make the crib their first nursery purchase, even if they won't be using it for a while.
"There are fewer choices in baby cribs than there are in other furniture items," she explains.? "Once you have crib, it will affect how you approach your other purchases." Instead of investing in a baby bassinet, Wing also suggests that parents put their baby in the crib in a swaddling blanket, which creates the cozy effect of a bassinet without the added cost.
"Don't get me wrong:? We love bassinets," she says. "They're beautiful, they're really fun, but it's important for parents -- particularly those on a limited budget -- to differentiate between what they need to have and what's fun to have."
San Francisco parent Lauren Cony says her son Dylan, now 1 year old, slept in his Pack 'n' Play -- a combination portable crib/playpen that can include a bassinet attachment -- until he was 6 months old. "We set it up right next to the bed, and it worked great," Cony says. "He sleeps in a crib in the nursery now, but we still use the Pack 'n' Play without the bassinet attachment when we travel."
Wing recommends that parents buy nursery products that last. All the baby cribs that Giggle carries convert to toddler or day beds, for example. She also urges people to focus less on brand names or what their friends have, and more on what will work for their particular family.?
Before you make a crib purchase, check out Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields. The Fields' book and web site are full of useful advice for buying baby cribs, bedding, and other nursery items, including quality ratings and detailed safety information.
Among the Fields' useful tips: When it comes to cribs, more expensive doesn't mean safer because all cribs sold in the U.S and Canada are required to meet the same safety standards, whether they cost $100 or a $1,000.?
One word of caution when looking for bargains: Both Baby Bargains and Consumer Reports recommend not borrowing or buying a used crib because an old crib may have been recalled or may not include safety features required in newer models. Also, a secondhand crib could have missing parts or other structural issues that pose a hazard.?
You'll need a place to store clothes and other baby items, but there's no reason to go out shopping for something new if you have a perfectly good chest of drawers around the house. Any sturdy, well-built bureau will do the trick -- just make sure that the drawers slide easily in and out, and that the structure is solid. With a new coat of finish, a splash of paint, or a few stencils, you can give any bureau a baby-friendly makeover so it will look great in your nursery.
If you need to buy a dresser, Denise and Alan Fields recommend buying one that doubles as a changing table; when your baby is out of diapers, you simply remove the changing attachment. "For most families, a separate changing table is a waste of space," says Alan Fields. "And what are you going to do with it once your baby is out of diapers?"
Whether you buy a stand-alone changing table or a combo, Consumer Reports recommends that you test its stability before you buy by checking the floor model. Make sure it includes safety straps, which should be used every time you change your baby's diapers.
Some parents skip the changing table all together. Florida mother Carissa Lively never got around to buying one because her twin boys arrived more than a month early, so she got in the habit of changing them on the couch using a changing pad or on the bedroom floor.
"They're a year now and so wiggly when I change them -- they're all over the place -- that it seems safest to do it on couch or the floor," she says. In fact, many parents find the floor a safer place for diaper changing.
Every parent needs a comfortable, convenient spot for late-night feedings and pre-nap snuggles.? Many people swear by the glider, a modernized version of the rocking chair that gently glides back and forth. Gliders come in many shapes, sizes, and price points -- you can pay from $200 for a no-frills model to more than $1,500 for a leather ottoman version.
A glider is one nursery item that you can continue to use as your baby gets older -- as a place to read a bedtime story or soothe an ornery toddler -- so it's worth shopping around to find something you really like. The Baby Bargains team recommends that you choose a glider with a locking mechanism to avoid pinched fingers.
San Francisco mother Lauren Cony cautions parents to wait until after the baby arrives to buy a glider, so you can test it out with your baby before you make a purchase. She bought a glider before her son was born, but found she never used it because she couldn't find a comfortable nursing position. Instead, she nurses her baby in an easy chair, and uses a nursing pillow and a nursing stool for support -- a far cheaper alternative. As for the glider, she sold it on Craigslist.
For many modern parents, the baby monitor is a nursery essential because of the peace of mind it provides. A monitor allows you to hear your baby when you're taking a shower or working in the kitchen at the other side of the house. Monitors range in price from around $20 to several hundred dollars for a video monitor that lets you see as well as hear your child. ??
Alan Fields recommends purchasing a monitor that you can exchange, because it may take a few tries to find one that works for you.?
Lively says she was overwhelmed when she went monitor shopping because there were so many makes and models to choose from. In the end, she bought the one with the lowest price tag, and she says it works just fine. "The video monitors are really popular," she says, "but once I have the boys in bed, I'm ready for a break.? I don't need to watch them on television."
Some kind of low lighting in your child's room will make life easier when you or your partner go to the nursery to change or feed your baby in the middle of the night. Cony uses a regular standing lamp with a dimmer, so she can turn the light down for a night-light and up if she needs to change a diaper or read to her baby.
It's down and dirty, but it's also worth mentioning: Whether you're using cloth or disposable diapers, a solid pail with a lid is essential to minimize odor and keep your nursery sanitary. A diaper pail that opens with a foot pedal will allow you to dump the diaper while keeping a hand on your baby.