Expanding Your Living Space: Making Room for a Baby
Expecting a baby is a wonderful experience, but it can also be very stressful, especially for first-time parents. There are so many unknowns, one of which is figuring out how you’re going to make room for a whole new person in your life. Babies may start as tiny bundles of joy, but they grow fast and require more space than you would expect. It basically comes down to two choices – adapting your current home or moving to a new one.
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Adapting your home for a baby
If you decide to stay in your current house or apartment, you’re going to have to make some pretty big changes, starting with the baby’s room. Obviously, most people don’t just keep a spare room in their home, so you will have to convert one of the existing rooms (most commonly your office or guest room) into a nursery. In addition to a crib or bassinet, every nursery should have a changing station, but you don’t need to waste money on a separate changing table – just put a changing mat on the dresser where you store all of the baby’s things. While it’s not absolutely necessary, consider putting a comfortable chair and small table in one corner of the room where you can feed the baby and put it to sleep.
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When it comes to the theme, colour palette and decorations, there are a lot of cool ideas you can find online if you’re not the creative type. The next step is baby-proofing, because once your baby starts crawling (and it will happen practically overnight), you need to make sure it can’t hurt itself. You may think it’s too early to bother with that before the baby is even born, but it’s easier to do it now rather than after the baby comes, because then you’ll be exhausted and sleep-deprived. Here is a handy visual guide to get you started. Once everything is baby-proofed you will need to rearrange the space – remove unnecessary clutter from the counters and tables and allocate room in your fridge for the breast milk and formula. When in doubt, ask your parents or friends with children for advice, they will be more than happy to pass on their experiences.
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Moving to a new house
On the other hand, maybe you don’t feel like spending your time and energy on renovating your house or apartment with a baby bump, or maybe you feel your home is just too small or inconvenient for raising a child. In that case, it may be time for a fresh start.
Moving to a bigger house that is move-in ready saves a lot of time and effort in preparing it for a baby. Of course, house hunting is stressful and time-consuming at the best of times and adding pregnancy into the mix may seem like a terrible idea. However, it’s definitely better than doing it with a baby in tow. And there’s the issue of being able to afford a house, especially with a baby on the way. Consider taking a look at some excellent project homes in Sydney, as it’s a great cost-effective option. While you may be reluctant to spend a lot of money on a new house, think of it as an investment in the future, especially if you plan on having more children or the baby on the way is not your first child. Plus, it’s always nice to be able to invite people over for a nice barbecue in a lovely garden or yard with room for kids to run around and play.
Final thoughts
Whatever option you decide to choose, never forget that what your baby needs most from you is love and attention. If you provide your future son or daughter with love and attention, they will be happy regardless of where they live or how big their rooms are, because it’s a loving family that makes a house into a home.
