Besides the crib, the main area of focus in our nursery has been the changing table and dresser. And from what I understand, we'll probably be spending a great deal of time in front of this thing. Did you know (I didn't) that newborns require 8 to 12 diaper changes a DAY? Thats a diaper for every two hours! I'm just a tad bit intimidated. This is probably why the diaper situation has been such a major area of fascination for me (glamorous, I know)...as documented in this previous post about diapering options. 
The way our nursery is set up, the changing table is the only true "work station" for dressing, brushing, washing and, of course, changing baby, so I wanted to make sure everything we need is at an easy reach. The bottom drawers contain all of the baby's clothes -- since we don't know the baby's sex, right now the baby's wardrobe consists mostly of white kimono t-shirts, various unisex onesies, teensy socks, bibs with sassy sayings and a few nightgowns. Hopefully the collection will grow once the baby arrives (bring on the pink or blue!). Above the drawers, the little 1, 2, 3 baskets contain things that we'll probably need to grab in a hurry, such as swaddle blankets, burp rags and (even more) extra diapers.
Space on the top counter is at a premium and everything needs to be easy to access, so we've got an ares for wipes (we went with disposable), cotton balls & rubbing alcohol (for the umbilical cord), lotions, powders, diaper creams, etc, right next to the changing pad. I'm sure the list of necessities will grow once the baby arrives, so hopefully we'll be able to keep this area manageable!
Complicating the matter, we've decided to give several types of diapers a try: initially, we anticipate that we'll probably need to use traditional disposables while the umbilical cord heals and the baby is ultra-tiny. But once the baby is big enough and the belly button is healed, we're also planning to try cloth and "hybrid" diapers. So, my diaper "stash" includes a selection of each type: traditional Huggies Pure & Natural newborn diapers (chosen because we had coupons), Best Bottoms cloth diapers and inserts (from Nicki's Diapers), and g diapers flushable/biodegradable diaper liners. My hope is that even after the baby arrives, we'll be able to keep this little crate of diaper options well stocked and organized at all times so that no matter what time of day or night there is at least one diaper option available. Since cloth and hybrid diapers are a bit of an oddity for many people, I'm also planning to create some small "instruction cards" to post on the station to guide helpful friends and relatives (not to mention JiT) if they end up changing the baby (a girl can dream, right?).
I know our decision to give cloth diapers a shot has been a head-scratcher for many. Its certainly a gamble in terms of up-front cost investment as well as labor hours for washing and restocking the diapers. But my hope is that since I'm home (and clearly have no friends or anything else to distract me), once we get into a system, the economic benefits of not having to constantly buy disposables will outweigh any inconvenience. And while I know the environmental benefits of cloth and flushable diapers is still a source of debate, if there's a chance that it could be better, its worth it to me to at least give it a shot. Plus...I know I'm talking about a baby diaper here, but you can't tell me that this thing isn't stinkin' cute (pun intended). I can't wait to see one of these on slapped on a cute little baby hiney.Of course as an almost-but-not-quite mom, I am VERY interested in tips and ideas from experienced parents. How is your diaper station set up. Am I missing anything important?
4 comments:
Our changig table has nothing on top, two baskets full of clothies and a wipe warmer underneath. We only use cloth and cloth wipes (hence the wipe warmer). Don't fear, cloth diapers are super easy, and far less time consuming than we anticipated. I don't use any diaper creams (because we use cloth), but I also haven't needed any (because we use cloth).
You seem more than prepared and ready! Just a quick note that we were told not to use baby powder as it is something the baby could inhale and cause aspiration I believe. Something that you can ask your doctor about once the baby arrives.
Mary: I'd kind of wondered about the powder. We haven't had any specific direction from our ped yet but I've heard NO products at all for the first month or something. Even so I figured I might as well buy one of everything in advance just in case.
MM: I'm SO relieved to hear you're having success with cloth! I'm very excited to try it but comments from skeptics have been a little disheartening. Out of curiosity, what kind of cloth diapers are you using?
It probably won't be a problem right away but all your lotions and things are in prime grabbing territory so you might not be able to leave them there once baby A gets wigglier. :) My other advice is we also have a couple "satellite" changing stations with a travel mat, diapers and wipes in a little caddy that we keep wherever we spend the most time, in our case our bedroom and the living room. We started because with a c section i didn't want to walk down to o's room all the time but it's very handy. ;)
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