By way of introduction into some posts that will follow, I want to share with you the basics of our setup for baby Liora.
In our home, the living space is downstairs and the bedrooms are upstairs. As we live in the UK, this basic principle is unlikely to change as most houses follow this arrangement.
As I may or may not have mentioned before, our bathroom is downstairs and has no tub; not the most convenient arrangement, but not the end of the world by a far stretch.
Liora has her own room, in which she does not yet sleep . In her room is a cot-bed bought for £60 from a charity shop (new mattress bought at Mothercare), a Brimnes chest of drawers from Ikea, a Hensvik changing table from the same and a cupboard that covers one whole side of the room. (Apparently the landlord had a lot of clothes). There is decor and stuff, but due to one thing and another, it isn't finished, and at three-months of age, she doesn't care, so it's not a priority.
Almost all the changing stations we saw when we were baby shopping were side-facing, which we believed would be awkward to change baby. So we opted for the front-facing changing station that turns into a bookshelf. I have since discovered, having changed the baby in public changing places, that is isn't always awkward and can actually be quite good because you do not constantly stand in your own light.
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| HENSVIK from Ikea |
Don't get me wrong, I like our changing table, but an elbow height dresser with a changing mat on top would have done the trick in a pinch, even though there are some advantages to our layout.
She sleeps in our room with us. Sleep is an issue. I will talk about it. Not today.
She had a Moses basket, which, frankly, I am still not sure about. We resisted buying one for the first month or so; Mr C built a unit that would go next to the bed to but the pram bassinet onto and lock it in place.
She refused to sleep in it, so out of desperation, we bought the Moses basket. She hates it too (she has no problem lying in it if I am right there and she isn't sleepy / being made to sleep. If she is there to play with her toys, she is happy; once sleep comes into the equation, it's a no no. Strange but true) . She only likes to sleep on us. I am working on this. Moving on.
Downstairs, we have a bouncer; not a fancy one that can teach her the classical harp, a simple one from Argos that is bouncy with a button for vibrating and one for music. She loves this. It puts her right to sleep.
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We have a travel cot from Mothercare that we occasionally use and we have her Babyzen pram. It is incredible and we love it. We do not use the seat thing yet; just the above-mentioned bassinet that she will now happily sleep in (go figure) and her Recaro Young Profi Plus car seat.
We have one of those playgym things with the criss-cross bars arching over. She doesn't play with it much yet. It is a simple one from Argos as we didn't want to buy an expensive one in case she hated it. she is interested in the thing but the mat is quite thin so I don't bring it out too often. She does most of her tummy time on our bed, or on us.
We bath her in a Mothercare baby bath or use a top and tail bowl with plain hot water and a flannel (face cloth / gant de toilette). We wash her while she is on her changing station. The water in the bowl may be hot, but by the time the cloth touches her skin it is barely warm,
That's basically it, really. Not much more to tell, unless I go into brain-numbing detail.
Liora, who is currently lying in her crib, is tired and therefore starting to fuss.
Please leave a comment to let me know you've stopped by. I would love to hear from you.
Goodnight.