Before your first baby arrives, you will, no doubt, want to buy all the fluffy, adorable bedding, cot bumpers, and cute baby stuff available. But if you want your baby to sleep through the night from an early age, spending some time planning the nursery to encourage this is worth doing before your baby arrives.

If you already have the nursery finished, and have a baby who doesn’t sleep well, you’ll find the following tips useful. Some simple adjustments may help to resolve the sleeping problems you’re faced with.

The most important thing your baby nursery needs is a safe place to sleep. Your baby will grow out of her crib or Moses basket quite quickly but it is still useful for helping a newborn become accustomed to sleeping outside of the womb. The Moses basket will help her to feel safe and secure.

It also helps with the transition into the cot. When you’re first ready to do this, put the Moses basket into the cot and put your baby to bed. Once she becomes used to this, you can transfer her from basket to cot and her surroundings will feel familiar.

It’s important your baby’s cot is safe. Cots with solid boards at the tops and bottom aren’t recommended. A cot with bars all the way around enables air to freely circulate while your baby is sleeping.

Choose a new, firm and clean mattress that fits well. A gap of more than 2.5cm between the side of the mattress and the cot is not safe.

You’ll need a lot less cot bedding than you think. Three or four fitted sheets for the Moses basket and the same again for the cot will be all you need. A baby blanket might be useful in the Moses basket but the safest and easiest option is a good quality sleeping bag.

The wonder fabric, bamboo, is perfect for baby bedding and sleeping bags because it has natural ant-bacterial properties. It also has smooth fibers making it silky soft and is without chemical additives.

A music player will help you use white noise or lullabies as part of your baby’s bedtime routine. These sounds will encourage your baby to relax and transition from awake to asleep.

Rhythmical sounds and white noise also help a baby to move between sleep cycles without fully waking. When in the womb, your baby was surrounded by sound so absolute silence is very disconcerting for her. Monotonous background noise helps babies to relax and feel safe.

Some babies will sleep anywhere, in any amount of light. Others won’t. Most babies sleep better in the dark simply because their bodies start to produce the sleep hormone that is stimulated by darkness. Your baby will sleep better at night if she gets good quality naps in the day. She is also less likely to wake early in the summer months if the sun isn’t streaming into her bedroom at 5am. So blackout blinds are highly recommended.

It is worth investing in these basic items for your nursery to get yourself off to a great start with your baby’s sleeping habits.

Looking to find the best advice on planning a baby nursery? Then visit Sleepytot.com for free advice on choosing a baby cot.