You've spent countless hours preparing your nursery for the arrival of your baby. Now, in no time at all, you are starting to realize that your little baby is quickly outgrowing all of those baby decorations and toys. In as little as a year, your baby goes from a sweet innocent dependent ball of joy to a walking talking busy-body that can get into anything. It is becoming quickly apparent that you will soon need to upgrade that baby room to a toddler room.

Bookshelves With Ladder

Safety is the first thing to keep in mind. Toddlers can get into anything. Even things that you know they can not get into may be a hazard. They can quickly progress from a child that can climb a foot to one that you catch on top of your refrigerator. Keep the progression of exploratory behaviors in mind. This is a healthy developmental step and they do need to learn how high is too high, but make sure that if they do climb, they will not be seriously injured.

Bookshelves With Ladder

Dressers and bookcases should be anchored to the wall. Drawers and shelves make an easy ladder for toddlers to climb or even crawl up. Nothing dangerous or tempting should be kept on top of a dresser or out of reach on bookshelves. Even if you have the drawers on your dresser latched shut, remember that toddlers are strong and do not have much weight to lift. They can easily climb drawer pulls and handles with just their little fingers and toes. Another problem with dressers and bookcases is that they take up valuable play space.

An alternative to even having a dresser and shelves taking up space in your toddler room is to create a closet that takes the place of a bulky dresser. You can easily install a small lock on a closet door to keep a curious toddler out. Simply buy planks of wood and cut them to the depth and width of the closet. It is a good idea to leave space at the bottom for bulkier items or a laundry basket. If you want your toddler to learn to dress themselves, then install the hanging bar down low. Invest in some cute children's wood hangers and keep their hanging clothes near the bottom.

Shelves above the hanging bar are very useful for keeping stacks of t-shirts, pants and shorts. Inexpensive baskets that hang from the shelves make wonderful drawers for socks and underwear. Higher shelves can be used for other things that you need to keep near, such as diapers, blankets, a first aid kit or even a fire extinguisher. Toys with small parts that require adult supervision can also be kept high up in a locked closet. By implementing these inexpensive ideas, you can create space, a safe place, for your toddler to climb and play.

Nursery to Toddler Room

Bookshelves With Ladder