What you don't need in a Nursery

Preparing your nursery is a special time for any parent.

It's easy to go overboard and spend money on more than what you need. As a parent, you want to give your child everything and then some. There are just some products that are not worthwhile because they are not the most functional or efficient.

If you want to minimize waste or have a limited budget, here are 4 things you can skip in your nursery.

On a related note, if you want everything in a designer nursery, but not for the designer price, here are 11 nursery ideas on a budget.

1. Floating Bookshelves

While I'm a big advocate for using kid height bookshelves so your child can easily take the books off and put them back on, I'm not a fan of floating bookshelves.

Just to clarify, I'm defining floating bookshelves as those floating shelves that are waist high and above on an adult - the ones only adults have access to.

Every time a book is read, it has to be pulled down by an adult before it can be read.

While having floating bookshelves might be a great space saver (and look clean and tidy), it doesn't help to raise a reader.

Get the kids' size bookshelves for your nursery or another part of the house (if space is an issue). You can always make a space for books in a side table's storage area. 2. Wipes warmer

This is an entirely unnecessary product.

I've used cold wipes for my daughter since she was born. Sure - it might be a little bit uncomfortalbe for your baby, but she never cried and very quickly adapted and got used to it. She didn't know any differently. As a parent, I think it's good for babies to learn how to adapt - that's how real life is. They need to learn the skill of adaptation.

I know some parents are adamant about wipe warmers because a cold wipe can often trigger an instant pee or poo. You can easily get around this by using the cold wipe and then quickly covering the pee and poo area with the old diaper to see if any excess pee or poo is in their system. You can then wait 5 seconds and if nothing comes out, in my experience, you should be fine with continuing to clean your baby up and put on the new diaper.

3. Lots of stuffed animals and dolls

1 or 2, maybe up to 5 I can understand because it's an opportunity to teach your child what that stuffed animal represents. For example, say you have a stuffed giraffe, you can teach your baby where the giraffe lives, its distinguishing characteristics, the noises it makes etc.

Once you go beyond 5, your child will likely not appreciate it. There will be a favorite and maybe a second stuffed animal they play with often, but I doubt the other 3 will get a lot of playtime.

These stuffed animals could easily be given to children who will actually use them.

4. All new things

Baby things are extremely expensive. While you want to get some things new like a crib and mattress for safety reasons, you don't need to buy everything in your nursery new.

Not only does this come with a hefty price tag that will burn your budget, it's just unnecessary. There are many things you can buy used in excellent condition ecause babies grow out of things quickly - sometimes before they can even use the item!

For example, I've purchased many used baby clothes that still have tags on them.