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This little haven for baby could have previously been a study or office, or it’s a specific bedroom you have in mind, or you’re working with a temporary and space constrained arrangement. I’m in the latter situation, so every inch and potential source of storage counts.

There are essentials to a nursery that have to be your first priority when you’re not working with palatial luxuries. These are some of them:

• Somewhere for baby to sleep: from newborn to about four months, then four months to toilet training age, then onwards…
• Somewhere for baby to be fed
• Somewhere for baby to have a bath
• Somewhere for baby to be changed
• Somewhere for storage

Then there’s making it all look nice, and decorating is definitely the fun bit.

I got my baby kit induction at Baby Kingdom, where they have prototype nurseries set up so you can see how all this stuff fits together. So this blog is a focus on somewhere for baby to sleep.

Sleepy time

I’m slightly amused by the need for a cot, given that all you hear is that babies never sleep. But you do need one sooner or later. Baby’s sleeping arrangement is an important investment. You might want to think beyond ‘just a cot’, especially given that you can plan for up to about three years ahead – and convert the furniture for other uses beyond that – and save yourself a bundle.

You can go for high quality wood and an obvious top-of-the-range quality or for a more budget conscious solution. They really do all look great.

Many cots upscale to become toddler beds. There are chests of draws that can accommodate a change table top, then later a hutch with bookshelves – great for adaptable storage so you can just top it up as you go and as your needs and space constraints change.

For my money, I love the Tasman Eco and King Parrot products – but then I’m working with a nursery space that needs to accommodate well proportioned options. Also, if being environmentally conscious is high on your priority list, I have to say the Tasman Eco range is great.

Tasman Eco has not only thought about adaptability in your home, but that grandparents will also be a big part of Baby’s life too. So their cots are designed to transform from chaise lounge to cot and back again. I’m leaning towards the Siena in white. Which would look lovely at my Mum’s place. For my place – when we finally get one – I quite like the Tuscany.

In the King Parrot range I like the Yarra and the Daintree cots. It’s great that this stuff is made using Queensland timber, too, so less on the old carbon footprint, a homegrown choice and it’s a good middle of the range solution that is still of a really gorgeous quality.

Both Tasman Eco and King Parrot have excellent warranties too and you can have a cot-and-mattress bundle deal on some of them at Baby Kingdom.

Mattresses

You can go for inner spring, foam or latex mattresses. I like the Tasman Eco latex boori mattress, which is very reasonably priced.

In the beginning

As a starter for the first four months, I love the Tasman Eco Amore bassinette and King Parrot Cub bassinette. I am also thinking about a Moses basket from Mothercare.

Having a bassinet or Moses basket is a very personal choice. It’s absolutely fine to put your baby straight in a cot, in fact I’ve heard many people recommend that it’s easier in the long run because there are no transitional issues later. I’m just one of those people that would quite like Junior to feel snuggly for the first few months and to be able to move them around the house with me throughout the day. But it is not essential that you have a specific newborn sleeping option – a cot is fine.

I’ve recently shifted back to Australia from the UK in preparation for my first child. Figured family and friends could come in handy. So in addition to expecting Baby Number One in the frighteningly near future, I’m also reacquainting myself with a country that looks the same but feels different (or it could be me), and all the jargon, tricks, products and advice about ‘shopping for baby’.

What makes it even more fun are the exasperated eye rolls you get if you don’t know about something and the assumption that – because you’re a woman – you should. I’d be forgiven for finding a cave to hide in for the next year. Like many new Mums, I haven’t got a clue. It’s all new and daunting.

I quite like my creature comforts, so I’ve opted out of the cave solution and instead went in search of help. I found it at Baby Kingdom at Bankstown in Sydney where I learned more in one hour with their sales team than I thought I would ever know.

For a start, I have to say this store is designed with sanity in mind. Actually, that’s a fib. It’s designed with insanity in mind: particularly the confused, sleep deprived and nervous insanity of new parents who don’t have the headspace to cope with a poorly disorganised store. Here you will find a neatly organised, one-floor space that tenderly guides you to what you need for feeding, getting your baby on the move, dressing and protecting your baby from the elements, and sorting your nursery space.

Babies have to eat

We started in the feeding and care section – right near the entrance. Here we found the breast pumps, the dummies, the bottles, the formula, the sterilisers and the countless other items I’m preparing myself to term as ‘necessities’ in the coming months. You can sleepwalk in, grab, pay, go.

I’m toying with the notion of a breast pump, but don’t know if I’ll need one yet so holding out – but the advice on electric versus manual was straightforward, human and honest. Basically, I’m not going to be in the mood for manual labour and some nifty person far better at maths than I has taken the time to sort an electric option. I say that’s a winner in my book. So I took notes. At the moment the Avent Electric is looking like an option, but we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted in late April.

Getting baby around: Prams, buggies, strollers etc…

Then there was The Buggy. Or Pram. Or Stroller. Or Integrated Travel System. Or Hydrogen Fuelled Infant Rocket. Honestly, my head was spinning on the Big Buggy Dilemma. In any case, I was eased into this with an explanation on a few key factors that I found helpful as criteria for this monster purchasing decision.

There are a few options on baby carriers and slings as well. I’m eyeing up the Baby Bjorn Active myself.

A place for baby to sleep

Then it’s time for the nursery – a whole other story. But it should be said that there isn’t just the cot to consider: linen, mattress protectors, night lights – it’s all there.

Babywear and grooming

You also have accessories, baby grows, grooming and skincare to consider. So there are the lotions, bathing, clothes and of course, nappies and associated products for taking care of a key preoccupation in early life.

Oh my, and then there are the toys. Which is a whole other adventure.

For the minute, I’m enjoying the fact that I actually understand all this a little better and had it explained to me by friendly, helpful and thorough people. They didn’t stare at me aghast that I don’t have the magic microchip that allegedly equips every female with immediate encyclopedic knowledge about baby kit. They have an online checklist too.

If I wasn’t eight months up the duff, I would have invited my newfound best friends out for a glass of wine in thanks.