Baby J's Montessori Room

So this is Baby J's Montessori room.  I only came to the Montessori method when L was around 12 months so she had your typical adult oriented nursery (crib, change table, pretty decorations which appeal to adults!).  I was super excited this time around to be able to fully apply the Montessori approach right from the beginning.  So here is the tour...

 

View from the door.  The room is not very big but seems a lot bigger because it has only the necessary items in it.  I love this room so much!  It just radiates a sense of calm and order as soon as you enter it.  It is my little sanctuary from the chaos of the rest of the house and sometimes if I need a break or to de-stress I'll come into this room. 

This is how the room is now for Baby J at 3 months but it will constantly evolve and change with his ongoing development.  For instance once he starts moving I will remove the rocking chair and we will do something about the baseboard heater (any suggestions on baby proofing this?)

We use the rocking chair for just settling Baby J or spending quite time singing. I nurse him in the living room or on his floor bed at night.   I love how he is able to look out the window at the trees and sky.  On the window shelf are toys he will be able to use when he is older.

The floor bed.  This is an essential part of a true Montessori room.  The floor bed gives the child the freedom to move and explore at will.  Baby J has just started to move a bit when he sleeps so I've put a thick folded blanket at the side of his bed so there is less of a drop to the carpet.  I researched a lot of Montessori rooms on line before creating this one and was torn on whether to have the mirror and mobile by the bed or to just leave them for the work area.  In the end I decided I would like to have them beside the bed so that Baby J could entertain and engage himself when he wakes up or before he goes to sleep.  I have made a work area for him in the living room where I hang the more vibrant mobiles. 

I decided to use an acrylic mirror for safety reasons as Baby J will be in his room unsupervised at times.  This was much lighter than a real mirror and easy to put up.

 

The shelves.  I asked my husband to make this simple shelf for the room.  It is just the right size so that when Baby J starts pulling himself up he can hold on to the top shelf.  On the top shelf is a wooden rainbow stacker which Baby J will use much later but it is still beautiful to look at.  A canvass painting that L actually did when she was two and an ABC book of art work.  I like to prop up this book for Baby J to look at when he is on his tummy.

 

The bottom shelf holds items that he is using right now or will be using very soon.   Starting from the left are wooden teething beads, a crocheted rattle with bells in it, a basket with a wooden ring teether, a cloth rattle and a knitted fish rattle.  At the moment while Baby J is not moving I have put several of these items in a basket and keep them by his work area for him to use which is in the living room.  It's not practical to spend all the time in this room when L is around all the time.  Once school starts up again for her we will change things up a bit.  The items on these shelves will also change as Baby J gets older.

 

The changing area.  I debated on whether to get a change table or not but in the end decided that with the state my back is in it would be a good idea.  We got this change table second hand and just painted it white.  I like how it is so solid and heavy and also the storage shelves which work perfectly for all of the cloth diapers.  At the moment we are lucky enough to have six months of diaper service which is amazing.  Above the change table are two pieces of artwork.  I decided it would be nice if these could be L's contribution to Baby J's room.  We keep changing them as he develops but I always get L to participate in making them.

The closet.  At the moment we keep the doors open for convenience but once the Baby J is moving we'll keep them closed.  There are two shelves for his clothes.  I wanted them both to be low enough for L to be able to reach them to help pick out clothes and also the bottom one is low enough for Baby J to access when he starts walking and dressing himself.  The blue organiser holds socks, bibs, hats, blankets and towels.  I will also change this up once Baby J is able to get his own cloths.  I will be able to put things in the bottom two cubicles for him to access.

On the floor is the trash can for wipes, the charcoal filter nappy bin and the laundry basket.  There is also a top shelf where we store toys and clothes that he will use when he gets older.  At the moment the closet is set up for my convenience but I love how it will easily adapt to his needs when the time comes.

 

So there you have it.  It seems so sparse and simple, especially when I show it to other people but that is the beauty of it.  Nothing that doesn't have a purpose.  So far I absolutely love it and can't wait until Baby J is mobile and able to explore the room himself.  Then we'll see if I still love it! Ha ha. 

Please leave a comment if you have any ideas of how to baby proof the heater or if there are any other things you can see that may be a hazard once he is moving.

Topponcino=life saver

I first saw the topponcino in the Michael Olaf catalogue and thought holy overkill!  It is a small pad that you are meant to hold the baby on and also for sleeping.  After reading this post on the very informative The Full Montessori blog I decided to make one before the baby was born.

I made it out of thin foam and my mom sewed a cover for the foam and also a washable cover.

For a tutorial see this post.

For the first two months after Baby J came home we both slept in his room.  I had a mattress next to his floor bed.  At night I would put him on the topponcino to feed him on my mattress and when he was done just slide him on the topponcino back onto his bed.  This enabled me to not wake him as the warmth and consistency of his surface never changed.  It worked like a dream!

Now that I've moved out of his room he still sleeps on the topponcino and if he has a hard time settling I just hold and rock him on it and the transition into bed is so much easier.
I would now say this is an essential piece of equipment for any new parent!  So easy to make and inexpensive but a life saver.

Octahedron mobile

This is the second mobile to in the Montessori series.  It is supporsed to be introduced between 5 and 8 weeks.  Baby J has two "work" areas in the house.  One in his bedroom and one in our living room.  This mobile is in our living room tied to the light fixture. I have to say this was my favourite mobile to make, probably because it's the easiest!  There is a full tutorial over at Little Red Farm.  Instead of using metalic paper I used Dollar Store gift bags which were way more economical.

As for Baby J he's not really that into this mobile.  He likes to lie with his head turned to the side all of the time so misses the mobile all together!  It's much better in his bedroom where the Munari mobile is because he can look at it in the mirror beside his bed with his head turned.  Maybe as he gets a little older he will be more inclined to look up.

Update  a week later and little Baby J is totally digging this mobile.  I lay him under it in the evening when the sun is shining on it and he just watches and smiles.  He loves it and I love watching him!

Baby Art

When deciding how to decorate the nursery I really wanted to include L.  One of the first things we made were these little black and white paintings hanging above baby J's change table.  I am amazed at how attracted he is to them.  He will stare at them the whole time he is being changed and sometimes I will have to wait until he is done studying them before I pick him up.  They are just little canvases from the Dollar store and I plan on changing them every few months or so.

 L also painted this little canvas matching the colours of the nursery.  She really enjoyed being part of the decorating process.

 One of baby J's first mobiles.  I really love the black and white baby art cards from Wee Gallery but couldn't bring myself to actually fork out the money to buy them plus the mobile so I just got my own black sharpie and some white card stock and totally copied the pictures from the website.  I bought some alligator clips and made up my own little mobile.  I have put baby J under them in his Moses basket.

Infant Puzzle Ball and other bits....

After a long break I'm hopefully finally back.  I'm finally starting to feel human again after two weeks of solid coughing.  Poor L is on spring break and I've been completely useless.

Anyhow here is my first "baby stuff" post.  How exciting.  First off I have to mention one of my new favourite blogs.  Little Red Farm has been such a wealth of information and inspiration with tons of tutorials.  If you have an infant or toddler be sure to check it out.

The first baby project my mom and I made were these Montessori infant puzzle balls.  Not only are they cool to look at but have little hand holds for the baby to grasp.  We used the tutorials from Little Red Farm and The Secret of Childhood.

I have to say I do not sew and would never have attempted these without the help of my mother but they are fun to make and the results are stunning.

We also made this little ribbon blanket.  The ribbons are all different textures and the blanket is made out of lovely soft fleece.  So super easy to make.  I cut out all the ribbon pieces and two squares of material and then my mom sewed it all together. 

With some left over fabric we made this much smaller little rattle for the baby to be able to grasp before the puzzle balls.  It is so light and perfect for a tiny hand to grasp.  I also put a bell in one end.

Montessori Beginnings

Well things are going to be changing around here big time very soon.  Not just this blog but our family too!!

We are expecting our second child in early May!!  L is sooo excited to be a big sister and I am over the moon.  This is one of the main reasons my blogging has been sporadic at best. 

I didn't really find the Montessori method until L was about 12 months old so we missed out on all of the early infant Montessori.  I'm so excited to be able to start right from the beginning with this next one and hence the blog name change back to the original Montessori Beginnings.

We are going to set up our new baby's room in the Montessori design with a floor bed, mirror, mobiles and more.  From now on I will be not only posting about the things L and I do together but also about my preparations for the new baby.

I've found some fabulous blogs to help me with my preparations that I will be mentioning and linking to in some upcomming posts. 

Stay tuned to see if L is going to have a little brother or sister....