Changing table on dresser

[Anonymous]

We live in a small 2 bedroom condo and there's only room in the baby's room for a dresser, crib and glider; I wasn't planning on buying a separate change table. My mom is in town and is driving me nuts by saying that it's going to be very had to change the baby on top of the dresser. She want to know where will I put the diapers, wipes, creams, etc, in a place where the baby won't kick them off? Who has BTDT and how did you set up your change table on top of your dresser? Do you have a shelving unit set up next to it? Or did you just put diapers in the top drawer?

(I'm really not seeing what the big deal is here, but I'm having trouble explaining what my game plan is to my mom so she'll get off my back!)

For reference, we have the IKEA hemnes 8 drawer dresser, and I was going to buy the Keekaroo changing pad.

[Anonymous]

We put a changing pad on top of the dresser. We kept diapers, wipes, and creams in the top drawer of the dresser. Super easy. You could also hang a wall shelf near or above the dresser for those items.

[Anonymous]

Diapers and stuff in top drawer. Or skip changing pad on top of dresser, put diapers and stuff in bottom drawer and change baby on a mat on the floor. It's safer and you can use the top of the dresser as another useful surface.

[Anonymous]

Your mom is wrong. Top of dresser is fine.

[Anonymous]

We bought a dresser that came with a changer top. We also have no too for a changing table. It's basically a few planks of wood put together to make three rectangles - a big one for the baby and a changing pad and two smaller ones for diapers and wipes. It's really not that special. We have some diaper stuff in the top drawer.

I don't have a baby yet, so I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard from other people that you end up changing diapers in so many places that having a changing table doesn't make or break you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your mom is wrong. Top of dresser is fine.

+1. Gently remind your mother that it's been YEARS since she's done this.

[Anonymous]

For our first, we just used a portable changing pad. We had a little basket/bag that had everything and changed on the bed, couch, floor, wherever.
We moved into a larger place for #2 and have the Hemnes dresser and a traditional changing pad on top. We have diapers and creams in one of the top small drawers.

[Anonymous]

I had a dresser with a basic changing pad on top. I put diapers in the top drawer and creams and wipes on the top next to the changing pad. It was quite some time before she was old enough (or big enough) to get near those. And I had the wipes in the OXO holder (not warmer), which is weighted down.

I would not have been able to change a baby on the floor. The few times I've done, it kills my back.

Fwiw, the actual changing tables where there are open shelves (can) become an issue when the baby starts to be mobile and grab stuff off them.

+3 to your mother being wrong on this one. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diapers and stuff in top drawer. Or skip changing pad on top of dresser, put diapers and stuff in bottom drawer and change baby on a mat on the floor. It's safer and you can use the top of the dresser as another useful surface.

Yep, this third option is what we did w/ first 2 and are planning to do again. I actually just got a basket that had different sections in it and filled it with wipes, diapers, cream and a changing pad tucked in. And it's easy to pick up and move, although that's not such a big deal with one-story living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your mom is wrong. Top of dresser is fine.

+1. Gently remind your mother that it's been YEARS since she's done this.

LOL because know-it-all grandmas LOVE to be reminded how old they are and how little they remember. I wouldn't take this route, OP. If your mom is like mine (and she is) it will result in a lecture on how many more years of experience she has than you.

Show her that there is room for a changing pad and some low baskets on top of the dresser. You can hang stuff on walls or store it in drawers if not. A newborn can barely move, you have time to figure out the perfect placement of everything. The baby is not kicking anything outside the range of a changing pad until well into the toddler stage.

[Anonymous]

Top of dresser is fine if it's a low one. That's the setup I have for dd. it's wide enough for a changing pad and a stash of wipes, cream and diapers.

With ds, the room was really small and we had a tall dresser. I almost skipped a changing table, but got one at the last minute. Bought the smallest footprint one I could find, and we put it at the end of the crib. I'm just too old to change diapers on the floor - the table worked for me in that situation. Do what works for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We put a changing pad on top of the dresser. We kept diapers, wipes, and creams in the top drawer of the dresser. Super easy. You could also hang a wall shelf near or above the dresser for those items.

We are doing something similar. Dresser is long enough to have a basket with diapers, wipes, etc on top with changing pad. Put a tall plastic rolling storage thing I had from college in her closet that holds all the extras for restocking.

[Anonymous]

We just threw a changing pad on the dresser and put a shelf nearby. Each day I'd stack roughly enough diapers for the day on the shelf (it helped us to know how much the baby was eating) and there was a little basket of ass ointments and wipes in there also.

[Anonymous]

Changing pad on top of dresser, diapers and whatnot in the top drawer.

[Anonymous]

We did this, and bought a small size non-stick rug pad (like for a door mat size), cut it to fit and it prevented the changing pad from slipping. We had a tiny nursery and I never would have gotten a changing table.