Creating a Montessori Nursery

Most mom friends of mine were excited to set up the perfect nursery for their firstborn child. It’s a natural part of the nesting phase before welcoming a new baby. I was no different, but the nursery I created looked nothing like the nurseries of my friends. One of Maria Montessori's key concepts was the importance of having child-sized furniture at a child’s level. A traditional nursery is set up largely for the convenience of the adult, while a Montessori nursery is truly set up for the child.

The floor bed: I have already shared a post about the most striking difference between a Montessori nursery and a traditional nursery--the lack of a crib! We have a mattress right on the floor which Calvin was able to get in and out of on his own soon after he began crawling.

The changing area: No changing table in a Montessori nursery! Ideally, the changing area should be in the bathroom so that the baby associates toileting with the bathroom from early on, but we have absolutely tiny bathrooms in our house, so this wasn’t possible for us. Our changing was done on a changing mat that we kept in Calvin’s closet and put on his floor bed for diaper changes. Once crawling he could crawl onto the changing mat himself, and he even began crawling to his closet and getting the changing mat himself when he needed his diaper changed. Now that he is walking, all diaper changes are done standing in the bathroom.

Toys: No toy box, no overwhelming shelving full of every toy he owns. Calvin’s toy/work shelf displays 6-8 different toys which I rotate out every few weeks.

Play area: Instead of a brightly colored play mat, which there are hundreds of (some of them are really cute, some of them are obnoxious), I opted for a plain white foam mat. Actually, I am super picky and couldn’t even find what I wanted, so I went to a furniture upholstery store and bought a 3’x4’ piece of high-density foam, and my mom sewed me a plain white cover (along with a waterproof cover to put underneath). Right next to the mat is a large mirror at floor level with a pull up bar, which Calvin began using to pull up on around the same time he began crawling.

Book display: A few books, rotated every few weeks, are placed on a bookshelf or in a basket with their covers showing instead of several books on a normal bookshelf with their bindings showing. Fewer choices is less overwhelming for the child, and for Calvin it is easier for him to put books away on this bookshelf as opposed to the normal bookshelf we have for him in the living room.

Art: Of course I wanted cute art in my baby’s nursery! Hung at eye level, of course. But whose eyes? Calvin’s eyes! I hung artwork very low, because again, it is not for the adult, it is for the child. Obviously this meant I didn’t want to put the art in frames with glass. I chose to laminate a few prints and attach them to the wall with Command strips. Once Calvin discovered how Command strips work, his art became a fun work of pulling things off the wall. He actually went a month or two without art on his walls because I got tired of constantly putting it back on the wall. Luckily he has lost interest in this activity, so most of the time he has art on his walls now.

I have a confession, though. Our art is totally not Montessori. I hung classic Winnie the Pooh prints in the room, which, for reasons I will explain in another post, is definitely not a choice Maria would have made. Rather than cartoons and talking animals, a couple more “Montessori” choices would be real or realistic pictures of animals or art by famous artists. I did redeem myself somewhat and have Van Gogh in Calvin’s play area in the living room and in his dining area. Of course I joke, there is no Montessori police, and we all take what works for us and leave what does not. I just wanted to be honest that my Montessori nursery is not 100% Montessori.

The other item that I went back and forth on was the nursing chair. I knew I wanted one in the nursery initially when I was nursing Calvin 24/7, but I originally thought that I would move it out of his room once he started crawling so all the furniture would truly be his furniture, not mine. But he was still nursing at night so much when he started crawling. Then he would start sleeping through the night, only to start teething or get sick and start nursing at night again. At this point he isn’t nursing at night much anymore (knock on wood), but I plan on moving him to a different room soon anyway. Stay tuned for our Montessori toddler bedroom, currently in the works!

Any Montessori room should be gender-neutral and simple. I absolutely love bright colors, but I very intentionally do not have bright colored walls and artwork all over my son’s room. These things detract from a child’s concentration and can create an atmosphere of chaos rather than the peaceful space I want to create for my child. This doesn’t mean there cannot be any color! A few pops of color can add beautiful interest to the room, but it just should not be overwhelming.

I have done my best to provide my son with a nursery that aids in his development. As he grows, I change things to better suit his needs. Preparing the environment really is a never-ending process of following the child!