Let the nesting begin!

Up until this point in my pregnancy I haven't really had much of an urge to "nest" or really do much around our home. Every single day someone asks how the nursery is coming along and I usually shrug my shoulders and tell them we have a room....and that's about it. I haven't really been in a hurry for many different reasons, mainly because we plan to have baby in our room for the first few months, so her nursery hasn't been on the top of my list of priorities. However, sometime this week I started to freak out. We really haven't done anything...and it's the middle of January...and this child will be here before I know it. So, my dear loving husband has promised me that this weekend will be the weekend that we begin to work on nursery stuff, which includes a dreaded trip to Ikea. Hooray! He's such a trooper for agreeing to take a crazy hormonal pregnant lady to Ikea...I'm sure it will be quite the adventure.

Our nursery will look a little different than most traditional nurseries. After much talking, research, thinking, reading and planning...we have decided to create a Montessori nursery for our girl. A lot of people usually don't know what that means or think I've lost my mind when I explain how things usually work in such a nursery. I like to tell people that in a Montessori nursery the entire room becomes a crib...everything is safe for baby and the doorway is usually closed off with a gate. There is no actual physical crib, the child sleeps on a floor bed, once they're about 4 months old at least. Yes, a mattress on the floor (this is where people think I've lost my mind). There are many reasons for a floor bed, one of them being that once baby learns how to crawl she is able to move around her room to explore...we want to make sure we encourage her to move as much as possible. Just about everything in her room will be child sized and safe. My goal for her room is to create a soft calming environment that is organized, child friendly, comfortable and encourages independence.

Here are some examples of some of my favorite Montessori nurseries:

Finn's Montessori Room

Otis's Montessori Room

Montessori Floor Bed

 

 

 

 

We are totally prepared in case our floor bed idea doesn't work. She might be a child who needs a crib in order to get solid sleep and that's totally fine. While we agree with a lot of the philosophies behind Montessori, we don't plan to stick to everything 100%. We have agreed to follow and be flexible about what works and what doesn't work for us. Once she's moving around some more we plan to make our entire home Montessori friendly to continue to encourage her independence.

Since a Montessori nursery is quite simple, we don't have many things we need to purchase. We've just got some organizing to get through and figure out the best layout for her room to create a place for sleep, play, eating and diaper changing. Since we already have a crib mattress, we plan to use that in the beginning to see how she does and at some point change it out for a full size or twin mattress so that I can lay with her to nurse. We plan to build or purchase a low shelf for her "work" materials, which in the beginning usually consist of wooden or natural handmade items. I've started researching and collecting ideas to create some interesting mobiles for her as well. I'm excited to see what it will all look like in the end! But, I'm most excited to see her in her room exploring her "work" and becoming her own little person.

And because I love pictures...here are some more to enjoy!

Finn's Montessori Room: reading area & activity/movement area

Otis's Montessori Room: low work shelves & art work

Montessori ici: low shelves

If anyone has created a Montessori home or nursery for their little ones, I'd love to see pictures! I'm excited to get started this weekend and get some organization going in her room...which looks like a major disaster at the moment.