One of my favorite parts of pregnancy is getting the nursery together. There is something so special about creating a space for your little one. I couldn’t wait to figure out a theme so I could shop for all the cute decor. But of course being pregnant for the first time…I didn’t realize there was much more to preparing a baby nursery then just the decor.

I knew that you needed a crib, dresser, and what not but I had no idea all the options there would be to choose from. It was overwhelming to say the least. Then of course you see the prices of everything you need and the anxiety starts to set in. I wanted my little man’s nursery to be Pinterest perfect but of course we were on a budget. 

It is possible to have both an adorable and affordable nursery. Below is a list I put together with all the nursery essentials you’ll need for functionality at a great price allowing a little extra room for all that cute decor you have your eyes on. 

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Crib: 

The most obvious item you’ll need for your baby’s nursery is a crib. But what is not so obvious is knowing exactly what you want out of a crib. There are so many different style of cribs and cribs that can be super pricey. I would recommend looking at all the different styles and figuring out what would work best for your family.

What we looked for in a crib: 

1) I wanted to make sure it met all the safety guidelines. 

2) I wanted a convertible crib so we wouldn’t have to purchase a toddler bed later down the road. This option made the most sense for us financially and for functionality. It’s also super convenient not having to worry about buying another bed and going through the hassle of selling/getting rid of the crib. 

3) My husband and I also decided we wanted a crib with a changing table attached to it. After spending a long time looking through all the options, we finally found the one.

We chose the Storkcraft Portofino Crib on Amazon which exceeded all expectations. It’s great quality and easy to assemble. It is a 4 in 1 crib which means it can be transferred from a crib to a toddler bed to a day bed or full bed. It has a changing table attached to it with three drawers for storage and three shelves on the side of the crib for more storage. It is the only place we change our son. Everything you need to change your baby is within arms reach. It’s wonderful. Also, the changing table is a decent size. We still change Luke on it who is 15 months now.

Crib Mattress:

With all the purchases adding up, my husband and I decided to wait a little before we purchased the mattress. I was planning on having Luke sleep in his bassinet in our room until he was about six months so there wasn’t a need for a mattress right away.

Even though it did drive me crazy not having one in the crib because I couldn’t use the cute crib sheets I bought, it did give us more time to do plenty of research. I wanted to have a great quality mattress that was free of chemicals. I also wanted it to be comfortable so Luke would sleep better. My husband and I looked everywhere, read all the reviews and did all the research.

We finally found a mattress that was affordable but more importantly met all of our wants. We relied heavily on the reviews from other parents and we were not disappointed. The mattress we bought was the Milliard Crib Mattress which can be found on Amazon.

Crib Sheets:

With a crib and a crib mattress comes crib sheets. This part is not as overwhelming and takes less research which is refreshing. I loved shopping for crib sheets. I knew I wanted to do a woodland theme for my little man. So the best place that had the most options was of course my favorite baby place–Amazon.

We bought this cute fox fitted crib sheet . Another great place to get some cute crib sheets is Target. I would recommend buying at least three crib sheets. We have been able to survive with three between spit ups and diaper leak throughs. 

Changing Pad & Changing Cover:

The crib we purchased actually came with a changing pad (BONUS) so we didn’t have to worry about that. But if you end up buying a crib without a changing table attached then you’ll need to purchase one.

We have our second boy due in June and we plan on having the changing table on top of the dresser this time around. Only because we won’t have as much room. We are going to get this one, Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad. I love that it has a strap and contoured walls for the baby’s safety. 

The changing cover we bought and love is the BlueSnail Plush Super Soft and Comfy Changing Pad Cover for Baby 2-Pack (red+Grey). The material is so soft and it fits snug to the changing pad. I bought a cheaper one before buying these and you can tell the difference in quality. It doesn’t fade after several washes which is nice (trust me…you’ll be washing the covers a lot). I recommend at least having three.

Diaper Pail:

This is a lifesaver and one of the best baby purchases we could have bought. We always changed Luke at his changing table in his room so it was convenient to have his diaper pail right next to the crib. Not having to worry about running the diaper out to the dumpster every time was easier and saves so much time.

The one we purchased (Munchkin Step Diaper Pail Powered by Arm & Hammer) kept the smell out really well (even when Luke started solids and had WAY stinkier poops). It also holds a decent amount of diapers. It doesn’t take up much space and it doesn’t look bad either.

Hamper:

I feel like this is a nursery essential that can be overlooked. I say this because we completely overlooked it. It was finally after the constant change of clothes drenched in spit up and drool that I realized it’d be really nice to have a hamper next to the changing table. So we finally purchased one. BEST DECISION EVER. So nice to just toss the dirty clothes in the hamper and move on…until laundry day that is.

Dresser:

You’ll definitely need this for your nursery to store all those adorable baby clothes you’ll have. I would recommend buying a six drawer dresser. It’s amazing how many clothes we ended up getting. So having the space was really nice. We wanted the dresser to match the crib to create a cohesive look.

Rocker:

I knew I always wanted to have a rocker in the nursery. What I didn’t know is how expensive rockers can be. After a ton of research, I found a rocker that was not only affordable but cute as well.

Luke did not like it when he was a newborn but around six months or so, he loved me rocking with him in it. Now we use it all the time to snuggle and read books to him. I can’t imagine not having it. The rocker we have is, Windsor Glider and Ottoman. It’s comfortable, not too big, and the quality is great. They have a ton of color options as well to go with any nursery theme.

Noise Machine:

This is a definite must have. White noise was one of the only things that really helped with Luke’s sleep. White noise reminds baby’s of the womb so it naturally comforts them. When Luke was around six months or so, he began to recognize the noise machine as a sleeping cue. This helped him learn to self soothe because he knew that when it was on then it was time for sleep.

We bought this noise machine which we love. It attaches to the crib so Luke can turn it on during the middle of the night to soothe him back to sleep. It also plays music and lights up as well.

Humidifier:

This is an item we overlooked and unfortunately didn’t buy until Luke was sick. I wish we would have had it before because my husband had to frantically run to the store to buy one for Luke. He was so congested and it was affecting his sleep. So we were desperate to have one. I would definitely recommend stocking up on one before your baby gets sick. It’s already stressful taking care of a sick baby that adding this extra step will make it more stressful.

Blanket Basket:

You will probably be getting a lot of blankets for your little one. And if you don’t have a space for them, they will end up everywhere. A blanket basket is not only a cute decoration piece for your baby’s nursery but it’s great for organizing. We set ours right next to the rocking chair. It’s perfect!

Baby Monitor:

Having a baby monitory in the nursery was definitely an essential for me. I am a super paranoid first time mom so I loved being able to watch my son at all times. Especially during the newborn stage. I was able to have a peace of mind and simultaneously get things done around the house while Luke napped.

The webcam baby monitor we have attaches to the crib. It has night mode, audio, and recording features. You can even talk to baby on it. We have never really had any connectivity issues. When we do have issues, we just reboot it and it works just fine. It’s a super easy set up. You use your mobile device and has great security features. And bonus, it can be used as security cameras once the boys are older.

Closet Organization Tools:

Having a baby means having a lot of stuff so organization tools for the closet will be your best friend. The closet is great to hide away diapers, wipes, etc. Our closet in Luke’s nursery is small so we really wanted to maximize the space by adding some functional organization tools.

What we implemented in the closet:

Baby Hangers: I loved being able to hang up clothes that just didn’t fold right like outfits with cute hoodies, overalls, flannels, etc. I organized the clothes in sizes so I didn’t have to sort through all the months.

Cube Organizer: We bought a block shelving unit that had six cubbies and bought storage baskets for each of them. It offered more storage for clothes we didn’t need right away, toys, and whatever else you could put out of site. It works well and is something we will do for our second little boy.

Storage Bins: We bought our bins off of Amazon. They can be pretty pricey at stores. hey are a pack of six. They are pretty sturdy and do the job just fine. They are supper affordable as well which is a mom win in my book.

I hope this list gives you the most functional, efficient, and affordable baby nursery. For mamas who have been there and done that, what nursery essentials could you have not lived without? Comment and share below.