How to set up a space for a child under 3 years old

I've prepared an important text for you — I especially recommend it to mothers of children under three. As promised, we're delving deeper into early childhood, including in the context of a child's room and what it should be like. And we'll start from "zero."

Advertising relentlessly shows us beautiful, adorable nursery interiors in the media. But I'll be honest: it's just a marketing ploy. A separate nursery is not needed for a child at this age — they only need their mother.

From the first days of life, a baby's sense of smell is dominant, more developed in these months than ever. They find their mother by scent — more precisely, by the smell of breast milk. And when they don't feel her nearby, they start to get nervous, feel defenseless; at night, this feeling intensifies many times over. Therefore, when we put the baby to bed and leave for another room, they wake up crying desperately — not because they're hungry or something hurts, but because their mother isn't there. This is a completely normal instinct. That's why it's worth spending the night with the baby in the same room — at least until they're one, and I recommend until they're three.

This means that the mother's room, where she will live with the baby, needs to have a convenient interior. (The father, of course, can also be there — although with a very demanding job, many fathers go to sleep in another room during this time to get enough rest.)

How to arrange a space for a child under 3 years old

1. Crib on wheels. It's convenient to move it around the room and roll it up to your bed. In the first few days, the baby eats every three hours, and I personally found it convenient to take him out of the crib next to me for feeding.
2. Rocking chair. A truly indispensable item for the period up to one year: you feed the baby and rock them at the same time. And when they have a tummy ache or are teething, a rocking chair is a lifesaver — carrying a baby in your arms for hours is very difficult.
3. Chest of drawers for baby clothes. You can manage with a couple of shelves in the wardrobe or make some space in your own dresser.
4. No changing table. All procedures — diaper changes, washing, creams, and powders — I strongly advise moving to the bathroom and setting up a space there.
5. Lighting with a dimmer. Definitely a sconce, table lamp, or floor lamp next to the rocking chair, crib, and your bed. It's great if the lamps have a brightness regulator.
6. Walls. Don't overthink it: if the room already has wallpaper or paint, the main thing is that the colors are not too harsh. And if you decide to refresh the room, choose green or soft blue shades — they are good for sleep.
7. Rugs. It's best to remove them at first, and then, after making sure the child isn't allergic, put them back — so the baby can crawl on them.
8. Playpen. A playpen with various toys is convenient for crawling. My children had playpens, and I managed perfectly: I placed the playpen next to my desk and periodically changed the toys. The children even fell asleep in it.

Separately — about tactile development. From six months, textured mats in the playpen are very useful for a child: something like a patchwork quilt, but sewn not from smooth cotton, but from fabrics of different textures — corduroy, silk, velvet, matting, wool, cotton, you can look for "bubbly" fabric. You can sew it yourself or order it from a seamstress. At this age, the baby's tactile sensations are actively developing; they need to touch different textures with their palms — this forms neural connections, and the development largely depends on the number of these connections.

I also bought walkers and jumpers for my children (I attached them to the doorframe) — from 8-9 months, you can gradually experiment with these. It's good to let the baby change activities: first crawling in the playpen, then jumping in the jumper, then walking in the walker. The more energy they expend during the day, the better they sleep and develop.