Nursery checklist UK

What does a UK baby actually need in a nursery?

One safe sleep space: a firm flat mattress that fits, in a cot, cot-bed or Moses basket kept clear, in your room at first. A place to change nappies. Somewhere to put a week of sleepsuits. That is the room. A theme, a matching mobile and a chandelier are not a checklist. Paint can wait until they sleep there.

Retailer “nursery checklists” are furniture catalogues. The Lullaby Trust page is the brief: firm, flat, clear, on the back, in your room, not too hot (checked 13 August 2026). A spare room can be storage and a changing corner until six months. See cot mattress and Moses vs next-to-me.

Source: The Lullaby Trust — Safer sleep advice (checked 13 Aug 2026).

Do you need a dedicated nursery before the baby arrives?

No. You need a sleep space in your room. Decorating a spare room is optional and it can wait. Buying bumpers to “finish” an empty room is how skip-list items arrive. If you enjoy painting, paint. Do not let a mural decide a mattress. The car seat still comes first if you drive.

US sites sell the nursery as a personality. UK safer-sleep advice sells an empty cot. Those are not the same product. When to buy puts this room after sleep research and the seat. A tape measure and a mattress size beat a shopping list of shelves.

What nursery furniture should you skip?

Bumpers, pillows, duvets, nests, padded headboards inside the cot, and anything that turns the sleep space into a sofa. A changing table is optional. Drop-side cots are a skip even second-hand. A nursing chair is comfort if your back needs it, not a newborn essential. Walkers never belong in this room.

• Cot bumpers and nests — they fight a clear cot.
• Quilts, pillows and soft toys in the sleep space.
• Furniture that only works if you leave the baby unattended on a high surface.
• A matching “nursery in a box” that includes a bumper and a pillow.

A chest of drawers with a changing mat on top can be fine if you never walk away. The floor is lower. Skip-finder keeps the house no in one list. Cot-bed is optional conversion, not a theme upgrade.

Are blackout blinds and night lights nursery essentials?

No. They are comfort for adults doing nights. A dim lamp helps a 3 a.m. change. A blazing night light and a busy mobile over the cot are extra. Blackout can help a shift worker; it is not a safer-sleep device. Skip anything sold as a medical sleep gadget.

Room temperature still matters more than a gadget. About 16–20°C is the Lullaby Trust range to try. Use the TOG calculator after you can measure the room. A monitor is extra information, not a cot product — see the monitors guide if you cannot hear through the walls.

Can nursery furniture be second-hand?

Frames and drawers from a known home, stable and complete, can be. Mattresses you cannot inspect usually cannot. Drop-side mechanisms stay a skip. Measure the mattress gap on a used cot the same way you would on a new one. Free bumpers are still bumpers.

Same rules as second-hand kit. A beautiful vintage cot is not automatically a legal or practical sleep space. If the slats look wide enough to trap, walk away. Buy the mattress new if the foam has a life you cannot see.

Compare cot mattresses at John Lewis*