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If you know my story, you know that I only had a week to prepare before bringing my newborn baby home. I didn’t have the luxury of being able to put organization measures into place before she got here, but here are some quick, simple ideas I have incorporated since that have helped this OCD mom stay sane.
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- For starters, get yourself a label maker if you don’t have one. Labeling is a huge part of organization, and trust me, you are going to relish in the calming effect of neatly printed labels when the rest of your house turns to chaos (ha!). But seriously, if you are remotely OCD or have serial killer handwriting like me, a label maker is going to make you happy, like this one does for me.
- Buy two bottle-drying racks and label one for washed bottles and one for sanitized. I love the “grass” drying racks, and I used Modela bags to steam bottles and nipples until Baby C was 3 months old. I also love this idea (second picture below) from the Morris family, currently preparing for their adoption, to place the grass on a plastic drawer organizer to save counter space and provide organization for bottle parts!
- Consider using your smell-controlling diaper disposal bin of choice for number 2 diapers only. We use the Diaper Genie, and I’m not great at changing out the bags (therefore this has become hubby’s job), so to save space and time, we put pee diapers in a small bin labeled “trash” next to the changing table and empty it in our kitchen trash as needed (see below).
- If you plan to use reusable cloth wipes or diapers, you will need some sort of bin for those as well. I use these awesome bamboo wipes and have a bin right next to my trash/pee diaper bin labeled “resusables.”
- Think about a storage solution for all the small items you’ll accumulate. Small tubes of lotion and cream, nail clippers, jewelry and hair accessories if having a girl, etc. We use one of these simple plastic drawer sets from Target or Wal-Mart, stored in the closet.
- Get a set of baby closet organizers so you can hang nicer clothes according to age/size.
- Find a storage solution for the clothes and toys that your child will be growing into. We use fabric bins like these and simply label them appropriately and store them in the closet. Not only will this help baby’s closet stay organized, it will make it so much easier when they start to outgrow things.
- Find a storage solution for the clothes and items your child will be outgrowing. They grow so fast, and it will make it easier if you have your storage in place when it happens. Go ahead and buy a few plastic bins with lids. I recommend starting with two deep bins for clothes and one smaller bin for items like bottles and nipples. I use this same idea for toys she grows in/out of.
- If you may have more kids and have any gender-neutral clothes, either put those in a separate bin or bag them before putting them in with the other clothes so they can be easily pulled should you have a baby of another gender.
- Designate some sort of storage for keepsakes. From the day you bring baby home you are likely to have sentimental items that need storage, and they will just keep coming as family and friends visit your new bundle of joy, so go ahead and label a box for that. Doesn’t have to be fancy.
These aren’t Earth-shattering, but they really helped me. I would love to hear additional ideas if you have them. Tell me what has saved your sanity as a new mom in the comments section!
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