How to Prepare Your Home for a Baby

If you have a baby on the way, or hope to soon, you’re probably excited, nervous, and nearing your limit for the number of things you can expect while expecting. The list of tasks for new parents runs long. As you go, that list probably starts looking more like a list of lists of tasks, feeling endless.  

But like any parent, you are determined to bring your child into the best situation possible given your unique circumstances. When preparing your home for a baby, there are (more than) a few things you’ll want to consider.  

Yes, those considerations are likely to turn into more tasks, but you and your baby may be happier, and safer, for them. In this article, we will share some useful tips to help you prepare your home for a baby.

Is Your Current Home Built for a Growing Family?

Before you start assembling the crib, it may be worth stepping back and asking if your current home is ready for what’s ahead—not just in the near future, but beyond that, too. A growing family comes with new routines, needs, and, of course, a whole lot more stuff. As you start to prepare your home for a baby, consider some of the following: 

• Safety: Do your stairs need gates? Are there sharp corners or slippery floors to worry about? Are there unfinished areas of your home that could be dangerous for a crawling baby?  

• Storage Space: Your baby may be small, but they leave a large footprint around the house. Think strollers, swings, and toys. Eventually, they may need space for clothes, bikes, and backpacks, too. Are your closets, garage, and living spaces up to the task? 

• Room to Grow: If you’re layout is already feeling cozy, it may not have much flexibility to accommodate your baby for long. You’ll need to determine whether you have enough bedrooms for the next few years and enough quiet space for feeding, changing, and personal sanity maintenance. 

• Neighborhood: This may be a consideration for a little further down the line, but think about where your kid is growing up, too. Is this a good school district? Is it a safe area? Is your support system nearby? What about parks, libraries, and other community resources?   

These are a few good places to start before preparing your home for a baby. Once you’ve given your home a good, holistic look, you can start getting into the bigger projects.

Setting Up the Nursery

Setting up your baby’s nursery can be an exciting home remodeling project for new parents. It’s fun to imagine the memories you’ll make in that special space. But what do you need most for your baby’s nursery? Broadly speaking, the baby needs a place to sleep, be fed, be changed, and to store clothes and other items.  

As you start designing the nursery, though, make sure you keep yourselves in mind, too. You’ll be spending a lot of time in that room, and for the first few years, you’ll have a much stronger opinion about it than your baby will.  

Build a space that’s safe, serene, and enjoyable for all of you. Pick a pleasant color scheme, one that will be easy on the eyes during the many early mornings and late nights.  Pick a comfortable chair for feeding. When you decide on furniture, make sure it will work well for your body, too. You’ll want to be able to comfortably use that changing table.

Pre-Baby Home Maintenance Check List

Once your baby arrives, you may struggle to find the time and energy to take care of some of these maintenance tasks in your home. So, it may be wise to make time and set aside funds to do these things now:  

• Check that your HVAC system is functioning properly or if it needs repairs or replacement.  

• Make sure your home doesn’t have any glaring plumbing issues.  

• Test your water quality.  

• Check your ventilation.  

• Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.  

This list is not exhaustive, but it is a good place to start when preparing your home for a baby.

Baby Proofing Tasks

Parents may also want to consider some of the following baby proofing projects to ensure their home is as safe as possible: 

• Make sure outlets are covered.  

• Anchor heavy furniture, like bookshelves or dressers, to the wall.  

• Install cabinet and drawer locks.  

• Upgrade flooring if your current flooring is slippery. If you have old carpet, consider checking underneath for mold.  

• Install baby gates at the top and bottom of your stairs if you have them.  

• Add non-slip mats to your bathrooms and soft-close toilet lids.  

• Consider purchasing home safety features such as video doorbells or security systems.

Financing Home Renovations for New Parents

You may be looking at all of these maintenance and baby proofing tasks and asking yourself how you can afford all of that. Well, you may be able to cut costs by DIY-ing some of these projects. Others may require professional servicing or installation.  

Of course, you may find that you don’t need to implement certain suggestions here, too. Remember, these are just suggestions, after all. If you are considering spending on these projects, though, you may be able to do so without taking on high interest credit card debt. 

Personal loans, like the SMART Loan, can offer eligible borrowers an alternative financing option that is less likely to carry the high interest rates of a credit card. These funds can be used to knock out your home renovations before the baby arrives.  

If you’ve been building equity in your home for some time, you can also consider taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to finance your pre-baby home projects.  

Know, however, that if you can’t afford to make every home improvement under the sun, that’s okay. Focus on those you can take care of ahead of the baby’s arrival!

What If You Just Need More Space?

Perhaps you’re looking around your house today and realizing that it may not cut it for long, or maybe you’re realizing that your current neighborhood isn’t right for your growing family. If you have the resources available, and the energy to match, it may be worth looking for a new home.  

Now, I understand if the thought of taking on the homebuying process while preparing for a child seems daunting. It can certainly be a stressful thing to tack onto an already emotionally taxing time. But if that does seem like the right step for your family, be sure to work with a loan officer who’s ready and willing to listen and answer your toughest questions. 

Just like the rest of your family planning journey, the more you know, the better prepared you’ll be and the smoother the homebuying process will seem.

Final Thoughts

We’d be remiss if we didn’t offer you our congratulations on taking this exciting step for your family. Few decisions carry the weight, joy, stress, excitement, hope, and potential that comes with welcoming a new baby into your life. That you’re stepping into this journey is well worth a celebration.  

With so much to think about over these coming months, we hope that we’ve made preparing your home for your baby a bit less overwhelming. Keep in mind, our loan officers are only a call, email, or text away should you want help with financing your next steps.