Preparing Your Home For A New Arrival

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Preparing Home for Baby-Chispa MagazineIt is not surprising to find out that many parents feel under-prepared when a new arrival is welcomed to the family. Nine months can really fly by, and suddenly it’s time to go to the hospital, and you still haven’t found time to install the baby’s car seat. It happens to everyone—you’re only human after all. Nesting never seems to be overly practical—it’s always about buying things for the baby, not necessarily preparing the home for your newborn. Plenty of parents have voiced that they wish they knew more about preparing the home, to avoid the mad rush right before baby and mum return from the hospital. Here are a couple of questions to ensure you are fully prepared for your new bundle of joy.

The Nursery: Do You Need To Extend? You may already have a dedicated room, or, you may have a big family and be planning on the baby sleeping in your room for a few months. This is common, however, the baby will eventually need their own space as they learn to grow and fall into a routine, so you will need a room ready for when that happens—and it will happen quicker than you may think. Your spare room many need to be altered and decorated, or if you already have your children sharing a room it may be time to think of extending your house. This may seem like a lot of stress on top of preparing for your new baby’s arrival, however, it will be a lot easier to extend whilst baby’s arrival is anticipated, compared to after they have arrived. There is obviously a lot of work that can come from having an extension built, although you will be decorating a room for the baby anyway—starting from scratch may be easier than trying to cover up a dark red paint you thought was cool when you first moved in. You can find rig mats for sale that will protect your lawn from the bricks and heavy materials that come with the extending process, so you won’t have the added work of redoing your garden afterwards. You can also put down sheets to protect flooring, and put up dust sheets on windows and doors, to ensure the rest of the house stays in tip-top condition while the work is going on. If you feel like you and your family are outgrowing your house, but are not in the position to upsize, an extension before a new arrival may be essential.  

Is Your House Completely Baby-Proof? Sharp corners, exposed plug sockets and drawer handles—your baby will find them all as soon as they start to crawl and walk. It’s a good idea to have your house completely baby-proofed before the baby arrives as you will not have a lot of time once they have, and you’ll be distracted and sleep deprived. Make sure all chemicals and harmful cleaning products are moved to locked and out of reach cupboards, and all drawer, cabinets, and the fridge freezer have baby locks on them—you’ll avoid any trapped fingers. A lot of parents say mobility happens overnight—you’ll thank yourself for your baby-proofing when you’re little one is walking long before you thought they would.

Hopefully, these questions will help to feel a lot more prepared and ready to welcome your new little one into the world. If you are expecting—congratulations—and best wishes for a smooth labor and delivery.

Photo by Sadık Kuzu

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Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Editor-in-Chief at Chispa Magazine
Mavian Arocha-Rowe is known as an asset to the business and communications industry and is motivating and advocating “your authenticity should be your strategy,” for all women, regardless of their season and roles. For the past 20 years she has directed magazines, plus multiple art and marketing departments as creative director and brand manager. What supersedes all of her great career moves is her role as wife and mother living in Atlanta. Challenging herself to discover and bravely pursue the calling for her life, Arocha-Rowe helps other women discover and pursue their life’s assignment. She is a passionate, and loud-laughing speaker on the topic of purposefully redeemed, and mentors young women so they can exercise a mind that is doctrinally pure, along with a heart that beats toward sanctification. She will almost never turn down Marlow’s Tavern double-tavern cheeseburger, a cooking-demonstration from Leaning Ladder, or any opportunity to head to Miami to spend time with family.
Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Latest posts by Mavian Arocha-Rowe (see all)

Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Mavian Arocha-Rowe is known as an asset to the business and communications industry and is motivating and advocating “your authenticity should be your strategy,” for all women, regardless of their season and roles. For the past 20 years she has directed magazines, plus multiple art and marketing departments as creative director and brand manager. What supersedes all of her great career moves is her role as wife and mother living in Atlanta. Challenging herself to discover and bravely pursue the calling for her life, Arocha-Rowe helps other women discover and pursue their life’s assignment. She is a passionate, and loud-laughing speaker on the topic of purposefully redeemed, and mentors young women so they can exercise a mind that is doctrinally pure, along with a heart that beats toward sanctification. She will almost never turn down Marlow’s Tavern double-tavern cheeseburger, a cooking-demonstration from Leaning Ladder, or any opportunity to head to Miami to spend time with family.