Of course aesthetics matter when designing your baby's nursery. You want the space to be cute and sweet and everything else that your little bundle of joy is. But more importantly, you want your baby's nursery to encourage good sleep. You have read about all of the things you can do to make your baby sleep better (less night feedings, bedtime routines, noise machine, etc.), but what about your nursery? Is it conducive to the kind of sleep your baby needs? To ensure that it is, follow these five easy tips.
- Keep it Simple: Your baby's nursery is for sleeping. Try to avoid anything that is too engaging for your little one, including artwork or wall colors that are high contrast. If you don't, your baby will be too busy checking out his/her surroundings to get the shuteye they need.
- Choose Your Colors Wisely: When painting your baby's room, color can make a big difference. Studies show that green and blue are the most calming colors and evoke a feeling of peace. Choose lighter shades to keep the tone in the room neutral. Having a little girl? You can still use these colors, just pick more turquoise shades or use girly accents.
- Make it Dark: Think about it, your womb was pitch black. That's what babies are used to. To save yourself some ZZZZZs, make your baby's room pitch black too. Of course, blackout curtains are the best way to accomplish this. However, only use the blackout shades at nighttime so that your baby can differentiate between night and day.
- Get Organized: There is a lot that goes on in the middle of the night. You have to feed your baby, change your baby and burp you baby. If you have to turn on the light every time you need to do one of these things, you will be waking your baby up more than you need to, making it harder for them to fall back asleep when you are done. Instead, purchase some cute organizers to keep everything you need handy. That way, you can simply use a nightlight or dimmer switch to accomplish what you need to get done.
- Fix it Up: The final thing you will want to check is if you can walk through your baby's room and open and close the door without any loud squeaks or creaks. There is nothing worse than spending an hour getting your baby back to sleep, only to wake them up as you are trying to stealthily exit the room.