It can be very confusing to know where to start in preparing a Montessori-friendly home for your soon-to-be-born baby or newborn baby. There isn’t one specific blueprint you have to follow. I’ve prepared Montessori baby spaces for my now-adult children as babies and my now-4-year-old granddaughter, Zoey. I have a new Montessori baby space for my month-old granddaughter, Sophia (Zoey’s sister). Starting in March, Caleb, will also visit our Montessori baby space!
My Montessori Baby Spaces
My baby spaces have all had many features in common, but each has been a bit different. My Montessori baby space has evolved when I’ve had the resources to improve it. Each baby space has worked wonderfully. So don’t worry if you can’t have the “perfect” Montessori baby space.
Today, I’m sharing ideas for preparing a Montessori newborn baby space at home. I’m using the term “newborn” to mean birth to approximately 2 months old.
My now-adult children had Montessori baby rooms as well as a baby space in our living room for naps and playtime. Those spaces are shown in my posts “My Top 3 Natural Parenting Principles” and “How to Set Up Your Home for an Infant by Using Montessori Principles.” Zoey’s first baby space is shown in my post on “Preparing a Montessori Baby Space in Your Living Room.” Because Zoey and Sophia don’t live at my house, I don’t have a separate baby room for them.
I take care of Zoey (and now Zoey and Sophia) a few afternoons and evenings each week, so the living-room space is where Sophia will play (do her “work”) and take naps. To help them develop and improve the ability to concentrate, I follow the Montessori principle of not interrupting either Zoey or Sophia when they’re concentrating. For Sophia as a newborn, that means that I don’t interrupt her when she’s looking in her mirror, at a black-and-white picture, or at her Munari mobile. Also, I give her space to just enjoy looking around contentedly. We encourage Zoey to not interrupt Sophia’s work, too. Of course, I’m ready to hold Sophia or take care of her needs whenever she indicates that she needs my attention.
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Items Often Found in a Montessori Baby Room:
- a baby-proofed space that is safe for the baby to move and explore
- a floor bed
- a mobile above the floor bed
- a mirror attached to the wall or a horizontal mirror (Note: In Montessori infant programs, the mirror isn’t placed by the floor bed to differentiate the sleeping area from the play area. We co-slept when our children were babies, so we only had the horizontal mirror by the floor bed that doubled as a play mat and nap mat. With limited space for my grandbabies, I’ve had a similar setup. It’s worked well and hasn’t interfered with my babies’ or grandbabies’ sleeping, but you’ll have to decide which works best for your baby space and your baby.)
- low pictures on the walls
- low shelves
- child-sized furniture
- natural materials wherever possible (You can see some of my favorite choices for Montessori baby toys in my post “Best Toys for Kids: Montessori Baby and Toddler Toys.”)
- gate at the doorway so the door can be left open
For more resources and examples of Montessori baby rooms, see “How to Prepare a Montessori Baby Room.”
Preparing a Montessori Newborn Baby Space in Your Living Room
Montessori Newborn Baby Space in the Living Room
The items in our Montessori Newborn Baby Space:
- Floor Bed for Naps and Play
- Organic Cotton Topponcino
- Organic Cotton Topponcino Covers
- Horizontal Mirror (can stand up when toddler doesn’t need to be horizontal)
- Black and White Images for First 3 Weeks (I’ve used free printable images from Babystrology and Baby Artsy.)
- Black and White Contrast Animal Art Cards
- Munari Mobile for baby at approximately 3-6 weeks (I purchased the set of 4 mobiles.)
- Octahedron Mobile for baby at approximately 6 weeks-8 weeks (I have the mobile, but Sophia isn’t six weeks old yet.)
- Baby Gym Toys
- Lambskin (I researched them, and this one seemed the safest or definitely one of the safest. It isn’t for sleeping, though, only for play.)
- Crocheted Woolen Cloth Basket for books and pictures
- Baby books (See my “Montessori-Friendly Books for Babies {Gift Guide}” for some of my favorites.)
A Montessori baby space in the living room is obviously different from a complete Montessori baby room, although the spaces I’ve prepared have had many of the same items. I don’t have the usual low pictures on the walls because my living-room baby spaces have been in the middle of the room. Instead of wall pictures, I’ve added a sweet crocheted basket with black and white contrast animal art cards and a couple of baby books that I change periodically. I’ll add some prints of art masterpieces to the basket soon.
The printable black and white animal art cards were a bonus with the four Montessori mobiles I purchased as a set from Bella’s Casa on Etsy. The cards are lovely, and I taught Zoey to show them to Sophia and use the first period of the three-period lesson. She’ll hold up the panda, for example, and say: “Panda. This is a panda.” It’s very sweet and helps Zoey feel her work as a big sister is important.
I found a natural baby mattress for Sophia, so I’ve changed to that from the twin-sized cotton futon I used with Zoey. It works well and gives space in the room for a baby gym, too.
Enjoying Our Family’s Special Christmas Present
The topponcino is a wonderful Montessori aid for newborns, especially important if your baby has an older sibling. You can read more about it in my post on “Welcoming a New Baby into our Montessori Family.”
Black and White Images Are Perfect for the Newborn Changing Area (3 Weeks Old)
I use the floor bed as Sophia’s nap and play area with the topponcino or changing area using the changing mat from her diaper bag.
Enjoying Her Montessori Munari Mobile (1 Month Old)
I added the Munari mobile at around 3 weeks. I have a wooden mobile holder, although I’ll probably change to a plant hook in the ceiling. I’ve experimented with different heights for the mobile, although Sophia enjoys it at a variety of heights. Mobiles need to be at different heights as the baby gets older, so I think a ceiling hook will work best.
Enjoying Her Baby Gym (1 Month Old)
Sophia already loves her baby gym. I love that there are a great variety of baby gym toys available to grow with the baby.
Changing the Baby Space as Baby Grows
I babyproof the entire room and close doors or use gates at stairs to keep the baby safe. I try to make as large of a babysafe space available for the baby as possible. I don’t use playpens, so I have to be sure the entire area is safe for the time when the baby is mobile.
Our house has an open floor plan with combined dining room, kitchen, and living room. Once babies are mobile, our Montessori baby space has three accessible areas:
- our living room with floor mat and mirror for play and naps and a shelves for toys, practical life activities, and sensory materials
- our kitchen, which is babyproofed and has all cabinets locked except for a cabinet that belongs to the babies
- our dining room, which includes Zoey’s weaning table and chair (soon to be Sophia and Caleb’s weaning table and chair)
We all love the new baby space. It’s very adaptable. I’ll be observing Sophia (and then Caleb) to see when changes need to be made.
Updates:
Here’s the Montessori newborn baby space in my daughter and son-in-law’s home for my grandson, Caleb:
We Love the Montessori Newborn Baby Space in Our Living Room from ChrissyChitwood.com
How to Use Montessori Mobiles to Encourage a Newborn Baby’s Development and Delight
Preparing a Montessori Baby Space with Shelves at Home
How to Prepare Montessori Homeschool Spaces for Babies through First Graders
How to Prepare a Montessori Space in Your Living Room for Toddlers Through Early Elementary
PREPARING MONTESSORI SPACES IN YOUR HOME
See “How to Create a Montessori-Friendly Home” for ideas for a number of levels. Here are some of my main home environment posts here:
- How to Prepare a Montessori Baby Room at Home (roundup post)
- How to Prepare a Montessori Toddler Environment at Home (roundup post)
- Preparing a Montessori Newborn Baby Space at Home
- How to Use Montessori Mobiles to Encourage a Newborn Baby’s Development and Delight
- Preparing a Montessori Baby Space with Shelves at Home
- Preparing a Montessori Baby Space in Your Living Room
- Preparing a Montessori Baby-Toddler Space at Home
- Preparing Montessori Toddler Spaces at Home (includes my Montessori toilet learning setup)
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 2 Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 2½ Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 3 Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 3½ Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 4 Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 4½ Year Old
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a 5 Year Old
- How to Prepare Themed Montessori Shelves
- How to Prepare a Montessori Home Environment for Afterschooling
- Create an Attractive Home Environment from Montessori at Home!
- How to Set Up a Montessori Homeschool Classroom
- How to Prepare Montessori Homeschool Spaces for Babies through First Graders
- How to Prepare a Montessori Space in Your Living Room for Toddlers Through Early Elementary
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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My goodness — the sweet, sweet picture of the two sisters cuddling — my heart is melting. You must be so very proud 🙂 Love this post!
Question, what if baby rolls or scooches off the floor bed, but isn’t mobile enough to put himself back in to bed? Do we let them cry and fall back asleep on the floor then hope they don’t do it again? Or do we really need to get up in the middle of the night to put them back on the bed and hope they don’t turn it into a game each night to get mommy or daddy’s attention?