5 Simple Nesting Tips to Help Prepare a Healthy Way for Baby
by Jen Reyneri
Mar 22, 2017
The last couple months of your pregnancy can be exciting and also overwhelming. There are so many things to think, dream and do before your new season of life with baby.
Whether your first or fifth, you’ll need to be prepared.
These tips will help you make the most of your “nesting” season while you act as mama bird, preparing your home for baby’s birth.
Clear the Clutter
In our home, we have a saying: we either love it, use it often or lose it. Take the time before baby arrives to go through each room in your home and eliminate the excess.
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Donate to worthy causes. Have a garage sale. Take your old books to the library. There’s something super liberating about living with just essentials and only items that lift your spirits and bring you joy.
Having a hard time parting with something because you “just might need it someday?” Take heart- put your faith in God to provide exactly what you need in the right timing. I love this scripture reference from Matthew 6:
Do not worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?...if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Stock the Pantry and the Fridge/ Freezer
After you’ve given your pantry, refrigerated and frozen foods their own de-cluttering and cleaning, it’s time to think and prep ahead for the days you’ll be spending with your new baby. Make some healthy freezer meals and even meal starters. Stock your pantry with BOGOs on healthy snack items you (and your family) love and even prepare a standard must-have grocery checklist to help you once baby arrives with things you’ll need regularly. One quick pinterest search for “healthy freezer meals” and you can create your own board with some make ahead, getting ready for baby, freezer meal ideas.
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Stock your pantry with BOGOs on healthy snack items you (and your family) love and even prepare a standard must-have grocery checklist to help you once baby arrives with things you’ll need regularly. One quick pinterest search for “healthy freezer meals” and you can create your own board with some make ahead, getting ready for baby, freezer meal ideas.
Rethink your Cleaning Products
The Urban Dictionary defines nesting as “a ritual performed by pregnant women in ridding the house, the "nest", from anything potentially harmful to the soon to be born child.”
When you are getting your space ready for baby, take a serious look at what you’re using around your home. Turn to natural cleaning products for the healthiest nest. Keep those harmful chemicals away from you as a new and pregnant mom, and of course, from your new baby bird.
Get Your Nursery Ready
Whether this is a space in your master bedroom, a converted closet, or lavish living quarters just for baby, take this nesting time to add your family’s personality to baby’s room. With today’s farmhouse inspired décor, it’s easy to upcycle antique store finds and combine with the perfect glider chair to create a paradise for you as a nursing/ feeding mama bird, as well as a sanctuary for baby.
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Remember, you’ll want to organize your space with some fantastic storage pieces and fill your baskets with plenty of diapers, natural wipes, diaper cream, breast milk bottles and nursing moms’ breast cream like Lansinoh, my favorite.
How about some farmhouse simplicity with a couple hand painted signs in the nursery, perhaps a prayer, baby’s name, or an inspiring quote or Bible verse? I found this Pinterest search full of ideas for beautiful baby’s room signs, from something as simple as baby’s name to “Love You to the Moon and Back” , “You are our Greatest Adventure”, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”, and everything in between.
Get Your Laundry Done
Using a natural laundry detergent, pre-wash all baby’s clothing and onesies, nursing bras, crib bedding, curtains, duvet, car seat covers, all-in-one diapers, and more. There’s nothing worse than having to do extra wash because you weren’t prepared. This is a simple, healthy way to be ahead of the curve.
Following these simple tips for nesting will help you feel prepared and even more excited as you know you’ve paved the healthiest way possible for baby. Good job, mama bird!
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Do you have any other nesting tips for new moms?
Jen Reyneri
Renaissance Woman Jen Reyneri and her husband Luis often live life on the road with their two home-schooled sons. Popular author and speaker, Jen is founder of WordTraveling.com. Spirited and spirit filled, she savors life, poetic words, sabbaticals and strong coffee.
