Nursery Nook in the Main Bedroom

We created a little Nursery Nook in our Main Bedroom for our third baby in order to (hopefully) set us up for successful breastfeeding and so we could all get a little sleep. With a mini crib, a diaper changer on top of our dresser, a comfortable armchair, and a little bit of baby decor, the space is ready for the newest addition to our family!

Nursery Nook in the Main Bedroom

Our littlest man is here, but I’m not quite ready to share him just yet, so instead, I’m sharing the before and after of his little Nursery Nook in our Main Bedroom. 

Many of our friends and family have asked why we’re sharing our main bedroom with the baby when we definitely have the room for him in our house. My initial reason is that I didn’t want to give up our guest bedroom just yet because my husband will be sleeping in there for a few months so he can get a good night’s sleep (or wake up with the twins if needed in the middle of the night). Plus, the new baby can’t room with the twins because he won’t sleep through the night and I don’t want to mess up the twins’ sleep pattern. And, more importantly, the AAP recommends room sharing for at least the first 6 months to reduce the risk of SIDS and it’s easier to breastfeed or do middle of the night feedings. But, I also never got to experience this with the twins because babies are noisy sleepers, and having two babies (especially one with reflux issues) sleep in the same room with you is super noisy and honestly full of just non-stop wake-ups. 

Here are a couple of photos of our main bedroom BEFORE. In one corner of our main bedroom, I used to keep a vintage, oversized laundry cart where we would store extra blankets, decorative pillows, etc. And in the other corner, I had a chair and a little table. You know, one of those chairs where things just get piled upon. Not a chair you actually sit on.

Luckily, our main bedroom is large enough for an entire nursery nook including a crib, a diaper station, storage baskets, and a chair for breastfeeding/pumping. So in making space for the baby, I moved the laundry cart to the guest bedroom temporarily and swapped out the vintage chair for a more comfortable one that I’ll actually want to sit in. 

I looked into getting a rocking cradle, but they’re really only good for 3-4 months. I thought about getting a matching IKEA crib that we would eventually move into the twins’ nursery once he’s sleeping through the night, but it was just a little too big for the space. So then I started looking at mini cribs. And because I’m trying to reduce our impact on the environment, I looked for a used one on Craigslist and after a few weeks of browsing, I found this sold-out Pottery Barn x West Elm Mini Crib. (The full-size version is still available here.) 

The size was perfect! It was in near-mint condition and came with the instructions. It also came with the mattress, but I thought it smelled like plastic or chemical cleaner, and it kinda grossed me out, so I purchased a new one. From my research, I think he can fit in the mini crib for at least a year to maybe 18 months and this will fit into the twins’ nursery better than a full-size IKEA crib. And then once he grows out of it, I’ll resell it on Craigslist, reconfigure the nursery (probably with bunk beds), and he’ll get a hand-me-down IKEA crib turned toddler bed. 

We added another baby monitor camera above the crib because even though I’m planning on a lot of baby-wearing, I’m also hoping to transition him into the crib somewhat quickly and I want to be able to go downstairs and see my twins while he naps or spend time with my husband at night and not worry about waking up a sleeping baby. 

I really like our baby monitor system. You can connect up to 4 cameras. I have one pointed at each of the twins’ cribs, one watching the twins’ downstairs playroom (which also pivots to see the living room couch when they’re watching TV), and now one for this baby. And I love that it isn’t connected through WIFI, so I’m not paranoid about some creep hacking it.

The next thing I needed to figure out was storage. We have a beautiful mid-mod dresser in our room and we weren’t using the drawers for anything but random things, so I cleaned them out and, after rewashing all the twins’ hand-me-downs, I started storing them in the dresser. The overflow of hand-me-down clothes will be stored in labeled boxes in our upstairs den cabinets and underneath our bed.

I’ll also be using the top of the dresser as a diaper changing table. I purchased another Keekaroo diaper changing pad since we’re having a boy and I have LOVED our other Keekaroo changing pads! I cannot imagine how many times we would have had to change the diaper changing pad covers if I had purchased a traditional fabric/foam type fad. 

And then I’m stocking the top two drawers with everything we need for diaper changes: diapers, wipes, butt paste, etc. 

In order to make room for the diaper changing station, I had to pack away my room fan which we use at night for white noise, so I purchased another sound machine to keep in our room. We have the same sound machine for the twins, so I already knew I liked it. 

And I needed a bit more storage, so I purchased a couple of these gorgeous velvets baskets which match my main bedroom decor perfectly! They’re perfect for keeping a few toys and books in one and extra blankets, swaddles, burp clothes, etc. in the other. 

Then we swapped out my corner chair for the rocking chair from the twins’ nursery, but we also swapped out the rocking legs for standard legs.  I’ve never liked the rocking part of the chair. It just doesn’t rock right and it takes up a lot of room. But it’s comfortable and I anticipate spending a lot of time in the chair, so it works for now. 

I’ve stocked the table next to it with washable breast pads, a haakaa manual breast pump, my Mom’s One Line a Day Journal, and my 52 Lists for Calm Journal.

Even though it’s a temporary nursery in our main bedroom, I still wanted it to reflect a space for a baby. We had to take down and put away the artwork on the wall where we put the crib, so instead we put up some unframed (remember, earthquake country) baby-friendly art (Fly Me to the Moon poster) (Moon Face poster), lights (moons and stars lights), a DIY yarn wrapped moon wall hanging (DIY tutorial coming soon), and two moon-themed mobiles – this blush moon mobile and a DIY Marbled Clay Moon Mobile (tutorial coming soon) on the walls. 

We think it needs a couple more things, so we’re going to have the twins do some moon and star painted art to add to the space for their little brother. 

I didn’t add shelves above the crib because we live in “earthquake country”, so that isn’t a safe thing to do, but if we lived elsewhere, I totally would have added some shelves above the crib to hold a few soft knickknacks, toys, and maybe even a DIY rack for a few baby clothes. 

I’m so happy with the space! I think the nursery nook fits within the room both spatially and decoratively. While I love that the twins’ nursery is super colorful and kid-friendly, I knew I didn’t want to put that into our main bedroom, so the artwork and moon mobiles were my compromises to make it a little boy’s area but within our room. 

Eventually, the littlest man will transition into the twins’ bedroom nursery (I’m hoping around 9 months) and all three will share the room for a bit (I’m seeing bunk beds in our future) until Wren expresses that she feels uncomfortable sharing the room with her brothers and then we’ll transform the guest room into her room. 

 

Over the Moon Themed Baby Shower

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