This is a sponsored post by Nationwide. All opinions are my own.Over the past few months we have been re-organizing our house, painting, and de-owning some of our stuff. Our youngest daughter (baby #4) spent her first few months sleeping close to our bedroom, but now we have moved her to her "own" room. We decided to make our guest room into a very simple playroom/nursery for her and our older kids to use. We used the Nationwide Make Safe Happen app to help us design a safe space!
Today I want to share a little peek into our simple playroom/nursery and tell you a little bit about some simple safety tips we kept in mind as we created this new space.
Our playroom/ nursery contains a wall storage system, small couch, portable crib, and some toys and toy baskets. We had a large baby crib, but after three kids, it was destroyed. A friend gave us this amazing portable crib/play yard as a shower gift and it is so cozy! Our daughter sleeps in it each night and we can move it to different rooms for naps depending on what my older kids are up to. I love the flexibility of not having a large bulky crib in our home.
Here are four things we like to do first when we start putting together a new playroom/ nursery, besides picking the crib and colors:
1. ANCHOR THE FURNITURE
It is really important to know your furniture. Bookshelves, dressers and changing tables are all susceptible to tipping over, posing the danger of injuring your infant. Anchor this furniture to the wall with anti-tip or safety straps to stabilize them, also keep heavier items at the bottom.We live in California, where earthquakes are prevalent, so anchoring furniture is extra important. We anchored our wall storage system to the wall and made sure that our crib was away from it. My big kids are climbers and love to scale furniture and my baby is just watching them and hoping to follow along someday. By having the furniture anchored (and setting clear rules about not climbing the furniture, of course!), I can worry a little bit less about everyone.
Nationwide’s Make Safe Happen has a great video about details on furniture and TV tip over safety. Read it HERE.
2. BE SMART WITH WINDOWS
Windows and window treatments can add beautiful lighting and pops of color to your nursery, but they can also pose dangers. Keep cribs, beds, and furniture away from windows, so kids cannot use them to climb up to the window. Always keep windows closed when you aren’t in the room. Install window stops to keep them from opening any more than 4 inches – screens do a great job of keeping bugs out, but not keeping children in. If window treatments have cords, snip the loop or install a cord shortener to keep the cord out of the reach of little ones.We have simple white shutters in each room with no cords so that kids don't have anything to pull. We also try and keep furniture away from the wall to prevent kids from climbing up to the windows.
3. MINIMIZE THE CRIB DECOR
Minimalist living is one of my favorite things. Not only can minimalism decrease your stress, it can keep your kids safer too! As you begin planning your nursery layout, it is important to consider the decor you plan to use and whether or not it is safe. Babies should sleep in a safe crib, bassinet, or play yard – free of anything that could block their nose and mouth or get wrapped around their necks like blankets, pillows and quilts. The crib or bassinet should contain only a firm, well-fitting mattress and a tightly fitted sheet. (We have a Lotus travel crib from Guava Family that we use at home and on trips).
I love cutesy bumpers and pillows and toys, but those items need to stay out of the crib. Décor and accessories with cords or strings, such as hanging mobiles, name banners and baby monitors should not be in or near a crib either. We keep our baby camera up high on top of our wall unit so that it isn't near the baby.
4. KNOW THE ABC'S OF INFANT SLEEP SAFETY
It’s important to learn the ABCs of infant sleep safety: alone, back, crib. You can read more about infant sleep safety HERE.Emergency rooms treated over 65,000 young children for nursery-related injuries in 2015 (CPSC). I believe that when you know better, you do better. My hope is that we can help decrease those numbers going forward!The #1 cause of childhood death is accidental injury, and 50% of accidental injuries happen in or around the home. Nationwide's Make Safe Happen website is filled with safety tips for every area of your home. Your home is cozy and where you spend the most time… so making it a safe zone where you can feel comfortable enjoying time with your family is important. Check out the Make Safe Happen App to help you put these safety tips into action in your home.Let's keep our kids safe and help them avoid preventable injuries!
Do you have any additional tips you follow to help keep your nursery or home safe for your little ones?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nationwide. The opinions and text are all mine.
Thanks for sharing this post about baby bedroom. Keep it up…!!!