With four babies in our house, we have a colossal amount of baby gear. It’s not that we have four of everything, but we have everything one baby would need plus multiples of many items. George and I both like things tidy and organized and we pride ourselves in having a cozy home. Having enough baby gear to rival the nearest Children’s Courtyard would cramp our style; if we let it. After all, it is our home; we just happen to share it with our four babies and two fur babies. We’ve gone to great lengths to maintain some semblance of decor and normalcy for ourselves. We tend to become overstimulated by too much stuff, especially obnoxiously bright baby items that become eye sores. When registering for large items, I chose neutral colored swings and bouncy seats rather than the bold traditional ones. I prefer for those things to sort of blend in with the rest of our furniture rather than taking center stage. We started out with a few primary colored loaner items that I just could not handle so we promptly returned them. I’m sure our visitors would agree our home still resembles a home daycare center, but I think we do a decent job keeping things comfortable for adults too. We’ve found a few ways to cope with all the new gear inhabiting our home.
Before the babies arrival, George expanded a tiny linen closet to go underneath our stairs. It’s become a haven for baby toys and gear. During the day, I rotate the babies toys so that there’s never too much out at once and to keep things interesting and fresh for the babies.
This is the closet where baby toys find sanctuary. During naps, I store previously used ones in here and take out new ones for the next play session. The closet may be jam packed, but at least we don’t have to contend with ALL of the contents ALL day!
I LOVE baskets! Whenever I find a several of anything, I usually find a basket to contain them. Baskets keep things tidy and camoflauge unsightly clutter. Notice I actually have a basket for booger removal tools!
Here’s what you might see unfolding during a typical day at our house:
Here, we have three play mats out so everyone can bat and kick toys. I don’t like these out too much though because they seem to discourage rolling.
Here everyone except Rylin is trying tummy time. That chick still hates being on her tummy!
I find that the babies explore more and have more opportunities to roll and scoot if I spread out a variety of interesting toys on the quilt, but not too many. I don’t think it was coincidental that Mason began rolling when I left more space on the quilt.
We only have two saucers and babies take turns in them. There is no need for everyone to be in a saucer at once. I also stash several of our bouncers and small swings away so we never have more than a few out at once. I set up Boppy pillows at the end of play time for the next feed.
Below the television used to house fragile nick knacks and picture frames. When the babies came home, we replaced all of them with seagrass baskets. This allows us to store bibs, burp cloths, and toys without anyone seeing all that clutter. Also, when the babies are mobile all items in the baskets are safe for them.
After the babies go to bed, we put away all of the toys and roll up the quilt. I just love seeing our beautiful rug and cozying up on the couch with Sasha and Lily. When all of the baby clutter is stowed away for the night, Sasha and Lily dart around as if to say, “We’re free!” They romp around and bark at each other. Don’t get me wrong we love the babies and playing with them, but we also love having a den where we can retreat and unwind at the end of a the day where we don’t feel boxed in by baby gear.
Of course the large baby gear is still out, but see how nicely all of the toys tuck away into the baskets?
What would you do with baby gear multiplied by four?
hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 