Bedroom Nursery Tips: How to Create a Nursery in Your Bedroom

Creating a nursery in your bedroom is a lot easier than you might think! It’s a great way to save space and navigate begin a new mom to a tiny baby.

When I was pregnant with Ryan, we were casually house hunting and living at my MIL’s house to build up our down payment. We weren’t sure how long we would be there after Ryan was born, but we did know that there was no real other room for him.

So we set up a little baby zone in our room and it worked really well. After we moved, we had the same set up for some time, even though he had his own room. We’ve done with same with each baby since.

Benefits of Having Baby Sleep in your Room

Not only is it easier, but the AAP recommends a baby sleep in your room for 6 months – 1 years after birth.

It’s easier because there’s less room to walk when abby wakes up in the middle of the night. Just reach over and boom – you can easily feed your baby or navigate a night diaper change.

Creating a Nursery in Your Bedroom

Creating a bedroom nursery is actually super simple. Believe it or now, babies don’t actually need that much stuff! I mention this in our Minimalist Baby Registry post, but babies really just need a few thoughtful items and some careful organization.

You don’t have to give up your entire room just to create a nursery.

Follow these steps and tips to learn how to create your own.

Choose a sleep space.

By this, I mean

1. Where in your bedroom you would like the baby as well as
2. What he is going to sleep in.

Things to consider when choosing the spot:

• Who is going to be waking up most often to tend to baby?
• How easily accessible is that spot to that person to get to without bothering the other person too much?
• Will it be in the way day to day?
• Does furniture need to be moved?

All of these are important to consider before baby is all nice and settled and you’re completely exhausted.

What should baby sleep in?

As for what to have the baby sleep in, I personally recommend some sort of play yard with a changing table and a bassinet.

It’s the ideal space saver, and it can be used later as a play yard or a crib for overnights at the grandparents. But my favorite is that it can be used as storage.

While you’ll eventually need or want real furniture like a changing station and a crib, they’re bulky and can be expensive. If you’ll be sharing a small space with your baby, go for the play yard. You’ll thank me.

We actually covered a bunch of this in our post, Can You Use a Pack and Play as a Crib?

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Playyard combination I recommend:

We had this exact play yard with Ryan and used it again with Owen and had no problems with it with near-constant use over 4ish years. I cannot recommend it enough, plus the price is super affordable for all it does.

We got this one for Ella and it’s been just as great!

Set up a station for nighttime feedings.

With living in a small house with kids, we never had the luxury of a dedicated chair for nursing. In both cases I found myself sitting on the side of our bed nursing and then popping the nugget back into his bassinet when we were done.

This is why having the pack and play is such a huge help – the bassinet and changing table are right next to each other. You’ll inevitably be needing to change a diaper (or three!) before, during, or after a night feeding.

With this in mind, it’s really important to create a bit of a stocked nursing station for yourself. I always keep the compartment in the pack and play stocked with baby and breastfeeding essentials.

What to stock for your night feeding essentials:

In mine, I kept the following items:

• Lanolin for after nursing.
• A burp cloth for spills, spit ups, and other gross baby stuff.
• Breastpads to keep your bra fresh.
• Nasal aspirator, especially during cold season or with newborns. Both of my boys had amiotic fluid stuck in their sinuses for a week or two so we sucked them regularly.
• Saline Spray to help loosen boogies if they’re stuffy.
• Diaper rash cream or vaseline.

These are just the basics, and will definitely change as baby grows and you become more comfortable. But they were always helpful to have on hand for me.

In addition to having things on hand for baby, make a station for MOM! I used my nightstand and kept a few things to make feedings a bit easier.

What to stock in your bedroom nursery for mom:

• Full, lidded cup of water. Nursing and postpartum makes your THIRSTY.
• A long wired phone charger.
• A Kindle! Not necessary, but the ability to read and keep yourself awake with a super dim light is so so nice.
• A small snack. With a newborn, I was always starving in the middle of the night. I would keep a granola bar or something similar and easy to eat one-handed for midnight tummy grumbles.

I also keep a nursing pillow nearby. I love the Brest Friend, but this post on the Boppy Vs. My Brest Friend Pillow might help you decide.

Diaper Changing Essentials for Your Bedroom Nursery. 

The best part about the pack and play is a small section for storing all of your diaper change needs.

I keep pretty printed diapers for Miss Ella, wipes, a soft towel to pat dry as needed, and diaper rash cream just in case. We also had a Diaper Genie with all 3 kiddos.

Do you need a Diaper Genie or a specified diaper pail? No. Are they SUPER convenient and make life easier? YES. Plus, if you have a dog that like to eat diapers (barf, like me.) then it’s pretty dog-proof.

Read more: Diaper Genie Alternatives

Organizing the stuff in your bedroom nursery.

I highly suggest using the interior of the play yard to store your baby essentials if you use the bassinet feature. That way you’re not running around looking for clothes in the middle of the night when your baby has a diaper explosion.

I used a medium sized gift bag for dirty laundry. It’s easy to just toss the laundry into the play yard, so having a spot to throw it quickly helps a lot. A neat stack of swaddles is vital as well.

Next, grab a box or basket and place your neatly folded clothes into it – separate onesies/sleepers/pants to make life easier for you.

We’ve also used those plastic Rubbermaid 3 drawer containers to store baby clothes in a cheap, easy way.

Decorate!

While it’s probably not super reasonable to deck out your nursery in your bedroom, little touches go a long way! As the last step in creating a nursery in your bedroom, I “hung” these DIY Nursery prints.

I just taped them up so that I can move them once the baby is moved over to the big boy room. Plus there is no risk of frames falling on your newborn baby!

Mommas – did you create a nursery in your bedroom? Have you ever tried a Diaper Genie? What were your #nurserymusts? Do you love Target as much as I do? Leave it in the comments!

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• 4 Sleep Mistakes I Made With My Son
• How I’m Preparing for Baby Number 2.
• 7 Unexpected New Baby Essentials.
• DIY Car Diaper Changing Station
• How to push during labor
• Pooping after Birth