Help setting up montessori environment at home

[Buckingthetrend]

Would appreciate some thoughts on setting up a montessori environment at home. Love the idea of the floor bed and creating a nursery that is fit for the child, however this comes with challenges. My wife would like to use a rocker for late night feeds and is unsure if this would be appropriate or safe to have in the nursery. When setting up the child's room, I understand the room should only contain furniture for the child. So what have others done in this scenario when it comes to adult things such as a rocker, breast pump etc.

[sapphire_chan]

The floor bed is a bad idea for a newborn with a nursing mother. Save it for play time and put that baby right in bed next to his/her mama at night. Everyone will get more sleep, the baby will get more milk (and have more regulated temperature, breathing, and heartrate), and life will be far better all around.

[Drummer's Wife]

I agree with bringing baby to bed with you - it will make nursing much easier. Maria Montessori actually mentions co-sleeping in her work, or rather, the family bed and how it is what is ideal in many cultures. So, FWIW, co-sleeping is still Montessori . That all said, we did set up a floor bed before our first baby was born and she slept in it for naps sometimes.

While the nursery should focus on the child, it's certainly okay to have things that are not child-size. In my training, the prepared environment for an infant's room included a rocking chair or other comfy chair for nursing and it included a changing table or dresser with a pad on top. As far as safety of a rocking chair - both a traditional style and glider can be dangerous - but we never had an issue and I felt comfy for the short time it was in my babies room. I found that I preferred to have it in a more common area of th hosue, b/c I wasn't going to nurse in the bedroom every time, and if you have baby sleeping in your bed, then you really won't need a chair in the nursery. It's all a matter of preference, though. Breast pump - it's not really necessary unless mom is going to be away from baby, but if she needs/wants one, I wouldn't keep it in baby's room. The parts have to be cleaned/steralized, so mine seemed to live in the kitchen or on a closet shelf.

[sapphire_chan]

The rocking chair, and a convenient side table, would be helpful for observing when the baby is a bit older and enjoying playing alone. And for nursing down for a nap.