Parenthood can be an exciting journey. It can also be a confusing one. Especially for first-time parents, planning can quickly get out of control. As parents, you obviously want the best of everything for your little one. But the reality is that you might not always have the money or the space to get them all. Fortunately, you might not even have the need. Most experts agree that there are a few essential pieces of baby furniture and accessories that would be more than sufficient to build a great nursery. Let’s take a look at ten of the essential pieces of furniture and accessories you would need for your child.

The Essential Furniture

1. Cribs

Let’s just start with the basics: You need a crib to build a nursery. While there are alternatives available, cribs are generally regarded as the most comfortable and durable option you can pick. Remember, sleep is one of the most important things for anyone, let alone a growing infant. A crib is like a kid's couch that allows your child to have the most comfortable sleep without any fuss.

Cribs are generally built from wood and comply with a variety of safety standards. If you are looking at the long term, you could go with larger cribs or convertible cribs. It is critical to ensure that the crib is durable, safe, and built with eco-friendly materials. While the most expensive investment in a nursery, a single crib can easily last 3–4 years.

2. Strollers/Bassinets

While cribs are great, they do not do anything for mobility. If your toddler has to stay outside more often than inside, you will have to look for options beyond a crib. A stroller is a good option if you want to move your kid around on the pavement or in a park. It’s like a toddler chair, but with wheels. Bassinets come in handy if you want to carry your toddler in a car or simply move them around the house.

A good stroller should be lightweight, sturdy, and have well-functioning wheels. Bassinets have similar requirements: they must be light, safe, and well-padded. While neither strollers nor bassinets might work as a fully functional bed, they are great additions to have around.

3. Toddler Beds

A toddler bed is the next destination after your child has outgrown a crib. In most aspects, a toddler bed is nothing but a miniature version of an adult bed. In essence, it is a stepping stone between infancy and adulthood.

Toddler beds offer a variety today. It could be a loft bed with a desk or a kids bedroom set. What sets them apart from adult beds, apart fromtheire size – is their safety features. You might want to buy a larger bed, so it can last well into your kid’s teenage years. Many toddler beds also offer convertible features; they can turn into a storage unit, sofa, or double bed when needed.

4. Changing Tables

It might not come as a surprise to you that babies poop a lot. Apart from eating, sleeping, and crying, pooping is what they love to do. So, as a parent, you should already be mentally prepared to change diapers multiple times a day—as many as 10! But changing diapers can also be a cumbersome task. From safely handling a squirming baby to having access to whatever’s required, there’s a lot to get frustrated about. That’s where the changing table comes into the picture.

Changing tables are designed specifically to aid in changing your toddler’s diapers. The tabletop is designed to keep your child safe, while the lower compartments allow you to store all diaper essentials. For the first few months, a baby changing table can be a boon for a parent.

5. Gliders

Most parents are so focused on the needs of their children while designing a nursery that they forget their own needs. This is true, particularly for mothers. For newborns, multiple breastfeeding sessions, which could collectively take hours, are the norm. It is important that mothers are as comfortable as their children when they do so.

Nursing chairs are basically the chairs mothers can comfortably sit on while they breastfeed or when they simply want to relax. Rocking chair nursery used to be the norm, but they are quickly going out of fashion. Instead, gliders are the new thing. In simple terms, they are like sofa chairs that could also slide. Apart from being super -comfortable, they also come with a footrest to relax your feet.

The Essential Accessories

• Baby Monitors

Words would fall short of explaining how grateful parents should be for the invention of baby monitors. Imagine having to rush to the nursery at every little sound, only to find out it's just your toddler throwing their toys. A baby monitor solves that and much more. You can now keep an eye on your child from the next room, or even from outside the house, at all times.

Depending on your needs and budget, baby monitors offer a variety of types. They could be audio-only, video-only, or audio-visual. Additional features include WiFi connectivity, two-way communication, zoom-ins, snapshots, and many other features. Pick the one that meets your requirements.

• Rugs

“A rug brings the room together” is what any home decorator would tell you, and they’d be 100% right. Do not underestimate the ability of rugs to fill the visually empty space of your nursery floor. Rugs can elevate the aesthetics of any room cluttered with toddler tables and chairs without doing much.

But beyond beauty, rugs also serve a functional purpose in nurseries. As your toddler grows up, he will spend a lot of time on the floor, trying to crawl, walk, and run. This is essential for their motor skills, but you are also worried if the hard floor is the right thing for your child. A soft rug is always a better option. Go for soft, natural fabrics like cotton or wool.

• Stuffed Toys

Well, what kind of nursery could exist without stuffed toys? Call it a capitalistic gimmick, but stuffed toys have become one of the biggest symbols of early childhood. And to be frank, who could blame them? They are soft, visually appealing, and offer a seemingly unending variety.

Pro tip: Allow your toddler to pick their own stuffed toy; this will allow you to gauge their interests early on. Playing with stuffed toys helps develop the motor skills of your child without any safety concerns. Make sure the toy is made of eco-friendly, non-toxic materials. Also find a storage place to store them, or you would soon see them spread everywhere from the crib to the kids table and chair set.

• Diaper Pails

We have already established that you would have to spend a lot of time, at least in the first few months, changing diapers. And the sad thing about diapers is that they smell. A lot. This is why diaper pails are a great option to have around, even if you might not think so.

Diaper pails are much more than fancy dustbins. While your dustbin might also work for disposing of diapers, it won’t work as efficiently For starters, they are designed to trap the odor inside so that the nursery doesn’t stink every day. They are easier to empty and handle. Also, would you really want to mix your regular garbage with poop?

• Mattress

We have also stressed the importance of good sleep for a toddler. And to be honest, a mattress is much more crucial for good sleep than the bed itself. Many parents tend to overspend on luxury mattresses with fancy features that are essentially useless. You can buy cheaply and save money as long as you fulfill certain criteria.

First, you don’t want to go with super-soft mattresses; they are terrible for your child's spine. Always pick a firm mattress that doesn’t sink. Second, choose a mattress that fits perfectly in the crib or toddler bed without leaving any gaps.

Conclusion

It is quite natural for parents to create the perfect abode for their precious little ones. But we are all humans with limited resources. In the end, as a parent, we try to do the best we can. Fortunately, when it comes to parenthood, doing enough is often much better than doing too much.

There is obviously no end to the love and care you might have for your toddler. But we hope our guide helped you understand the most important additions you could make to your nursery. These essential nursery furniture and accessories would help you the most suitable nursery for your toddler. Once done, you will be free to look for additional gadgets that might make your life simpler.