If you are a new parent, bringing your baby home from the hospital is an exciting time in your life. You spend a lot of energy, effort, preparation, and planning to create a serene and beautiful nursery for your newborn including a bassinet, the crib, the bedding for the crib, a changing table, and all the other accessories needed to take proper care of your baby.
Enjoy every minute because babies grow fast. Before you know it, you will have a toddler and then before you blink, you will be the parent of a teenager. As your baby gets older, she will outgrow her clothes, toys, and even her room.For starters, you are going to need to replace the crib with a bed and make other changes to the room more suitable for a toddler. As children grow older, their unique personalities and tastes become more apparent. As their parent, you want their bedroom to be a place not only where they sleep, but also where they can play and express themselves. How can you update their bedroom while they grow up without spending a lot of money?
From Crib to Bed
No two babies are the same and there is no best time to move your toddler into a bed from a crib. Although there are no steadfast rules, most parents make this transition between the ages of 2 and 4. There are many factors that go into this decision including:
- Is there another baby on the way?
- Does your child climb out of the crib and are you concerned about safety?
- Has your toddler asks about a bed of his own.
Each parent has to make their own decisions based on their own child. Just because your neighbor moved her toddler from a crib to a bed when she was 2, doesn’t mean it is right for your child. Once you have made up your mind that the time is right, you will want to make the transition easy and smooth.
One option is to put your child’s crib mattress on the floor.Another option is to purchase a toddler bed as a next step because it is lower to the ground than a regular bed and therefore safer should your child fall out of bed. For those parents that have budgetary constraints, you can skip this step and move your child directly into a regular bed that they can continue to sleep in while they grow. There are removable guardrails or bumpers that you can put on the bed to prevent your child from falling out and getting hurt.
Linens
Whether you choose to move your child into a toddler bed or a full-sized bed, you can still design her bedroom to reflect her personality. Keep in mind that children’s tastes and interests can change often, so it would be helpful to keep this in mind as you decorate, setup, and update your child’s room. For example, think about the bedding you choose. If your daughter loves Cinderella, you might go out and purchase a theme-based comforter set that she loves until she outgrows that phase. Are you going to run out and buy new linens every time she has a new passion? That can cost you a lot of money. A great alternative is to consider purchasing a duvet cover which is a removable and protective cover for duvets or comforters. It is like a pillowcase is to a pillow. Duvet covers can help your child’s room grow with them and their changing tastes because they:
- Are easier to clean than the duvet or comforter inside them. Think about it, is it easier to clean your pillowcase or your pillow?
- Are generally less expensive than a new duvet or comforter. You can inexpensively and quickly change the theme and look of a bedroom by purchasing new covers.
- Can be used by themselves as a lightweight bedspread during the warmer months.
The Walls
When it comes to decorating the walls in your child’s bedroom, it could be a bit cumbersome to re-paint or re-paper them every time her favorite color changes. Even though you want the bedroom to reflect your child’s personality, there are many other ways to change the look, style, or theme without having to change the paint or the wallpaper.
- Hang posters that reflect your child’s favorite pop stars or superhero.
- Display digital photos in an arrangement that resembles a brick wall.
- Decorate your walls with posters or artwork that your child likes.
These are a few examples of adding a personal touch that can be easily changed without having to make major changes to the walls every time your child changes her mind.
When it comes to children, their tastes and preferences will change often as they grow older. In addition, as they grow older they are going to want to have more control over how their room looks. Talk to them, discuss the options, and decide together so that your child’s bedroom will grow right along with them as they grow.
