Opinions/Experience on home set-up???

We just had our first homestudy visit. We have 2 twin beds in the room, but have not changed the bedding or paint color. We were told some people have an empty room, some people have the room ready, and some are only partially furnished. They just wanted us to identify the "space" we would be using for the child/childrens room. We were told it is good to have the child pick out the paint color, bedding, and help to decorate the room. We are adopt only.

I have a twin daybed, with trundle bed underneath, and toddler bed in one room. I'm also going to license my bedroom because in my state newborns and infants up to 1 year can stay in the bedroom with FP. This brings up a question of HOW MANY children do I want to be licensed to take in at once. I hear they are trying to limit it to 5 in our county, but might be less since I'm a single parent. And does that include other children in the home? To answer your question, maybe get a crib that converts to a toddler and full bed? Then run out and grab the mattress if you need one? I've seen them on Craigslist - 4 in 1 convertible cribs. I wouldn't stock up on anything unless it's very generic, and given your wide age range, that would be hard to cover all possibilities. Like socks and underwear...You'd need 7 different sizes practically!! Maybe get 3 or 4 different sizes? Jeans and white tshirts? See what your foster parent association has available. Ours has a closet you can go through and pick out things you need. Best of luck and enjoy your journey!

If you are also fostering (not just taking placements that have already been to court and are legally free and usually come with advanced warning) then you need to have a room set up. You might get a call at 2am, or you might get a call saying that someone is on the way to your house with a kid right now. The room needs to be set up already, you will have plenty of other things to panic about! A few things to remember: You will ALWAYS have to go to the store after a new placement. Don't even bother trying to have everything you need for each age, just focus on trying to have enough to make it through 24 hours without having to make an emergency trip to the store. Don't make the room overwhelming: Character bedding, tons of toys, pictures of cartoons on the wall, bright colors, busy rugs and cute lamps can make for a magazine worthy childs room, but could be super overwhelming for a child who as potentially never even had a bed before, let alone such an awesome bedroom. When we are setting up our empty bedroom waiting for new placements heres what we keep in the closet: (our age range is 3-5, so we stayed prepared for 2 to 7 lol) One gender neutral outfit in each size from 24m to 7/8. In our case this is jeans and a T shirt. A package of neutral socks in every other size from baby to shoe size 2/3. Underpants for girls and for boys in every other size. Pj's in every size from 24m to 7/8 (using sweat pants and a t shirt for PJs will give you an option for a second outfit if you need it) One small package of diapers in every size (we skip the bitty ones, but you will need them). We use Target diapers because they work well, are cheap and have the same print regardless of gender. White Cloud (wal mart brand) big kid pull-ups. They go to 100lbs and also have gender neutral packaging. An assortment of sweatshirts/light weight jackets in several sizes in that age range. We have a pair of super cheap black canvas slide on shoes (regularly available at wal mart, sears and kmart for $4-$5 a pair) in every size from baby size 4 (which is the smallest we have ever had a walking child) through kid size 2). Its a bit of an investment but its worth it because some kids will come with no shoes and will need some ASAP, others you might want to be able to get their shoe and clothing size and go to the store without them, and this way you can try on the right size at home and then go shopping. And thats it for clothes. Don't stockpile anything unless you have tons of storage space, but even if you do stockpile stick with universal stuff. Knitt pants and neutral t shirts, white onsies etc.. As far as toys go, get three smallish plastic tote boxes and make a box of toys for the 0-3 kids, 3-5 and 6+ and put them in the closet where you can get to them easily. Put a couple toys (like ONE doll, ONE truck, ONE puzzle ect..) a few stuffed toys and a few board books out in the room and leave the rest out of sight. Once your placement arrives you can get the right box of toys down (tho keep in mind older kids often don't get age appropriate toys or don't know how to play with toys and the "younger box" may be the most appropriate one.) Sometimes its better to introduce one new item at a time, rather than get the whole box out. And YES, you will need to have a crib and a twin bed set up. Are you only taking one placement at a time? Most kids who come into care will have siblings, so more than likely they will call you about siblings even if you say one, so be prepared for that. A crib that converts to a toddler bed could be really helpful for that situation.

If you are also fostering (not just taking placements that have already been to court and are legally free and usually come with advanced warning) then you need to have a room set up. You might get a call at 2am, or you might get a call saying that someone is on the way to your house with a kid right now. The room needs to be set up already, you will have plenty of other things to panic about! A few things to remember: You will ALWAYS have to go to the store after a new placement. Don't even bother trying to have everything you need for each age, just focus on trying to have enough to make it through 24 hours without having to make an emergency trip to the store. Don't make the room overwhelming: Character bedding, tons of toys, pictures of cartoons on the wall, bright colors, busy rugs and cute lamps can make for a magazine worthy childs room, but could be super overwhelming for a child who as potentially never even had a bed before, let alone such an awesome bedroom. When we are setting up our empty bedroom waiting for new placements heres what we keep in the closet: (our age range is 3-5, so we stayed prepared for 2 to 7 lol) One gender neutral outfit in each size from 24m to 7/8. In our case this is jeans and a T shirt. A package of neutral socks in every other size from baby to shoe size 2/3. Underpants for girls and for boys in every other size. Pj's in every size from 24m to 7/8 (using sweat pants and a t shirt for PJs will give you an option for a second outfit if you need it) One small package of diapers in every size (we skip the bitty ones, but you will need them). We use Target diapers because they work well, are cheap and have the same print regardless of gender. White Cloud (wal mart brand) big kid pull-ups. They go to 100lbs and also have gender neutral packaging. An assortment of sweatshirts/light weight jackets in several sizes in that age range. We have a pair of super cheap black canvas slide on shoes (regularly available at wal mart, sears and kmart for $4-$5 a pair) in every size from baby size 4 (which is the smallest we have ever had a walking child) through kid size 2). Its a bit of an investment but its worth it because some kids will come with no shoes and will need some ASAP, others you might want to be able to get their shoe and clothing size and go to the store without them, and this way you can try on the right size at home and then go shopping. And thats it for clothes. Don't stockpile anything unless you have tons of storage space, but even if you do stockpile stick with universal stuff. Knitt pants and neutral t shirts, white onsies etc.. As far as toys go, get three smallish plastic tote boxes and make a box of toys for the 0-3 kids, 3-5 and 6+ and put them in the closet where you can get to them easily. Put a couple toys (like ONE doll, ONE truck, ONE puzzle ect..) a few stuffed toys and a few board books out in the room and leave the rest out of sight. Once your placement arrives you can get the right box of toys down (tho keep in mind older kids often don't get age appropriate toys or don't know how to play with toys and the "younger box" may be the most appropriate one.) Sometimes its better to introduce one new item at a time, rather than get the whole box out. And YES, you will need to have a crib and a twin bed set up. Are you only taking one placement at a time? Most kids who come into care will have siblings, so more than likely they will call you about siblings even if you say one, so be prepared for that. A crib that converts to a toddler bed could be really helpful for that situation.

I'd be careful about buying a used crib. My old county was fine with it but our new agency would not have been. Apparently safety standards for cribs changed last year and my agency requires the crib to have been manufactured in 2013 or newer and to have a certificate of safety according to the new terms from the manufacture. So because of this we had to buy a brand new crib and would not have been allowed to use my daughter old one or one from craigslist. However as with probably everything, talk to your county because they might be fine with a used one as long as it's not a drop side

Our age range is 0-2. We have no children and not likely to every have our own children. So I did the whole nursery thing. I did it up just like I would have for my own baby. I love it! :love: Our crib converts to toddler and full size. We also have a guest room that has a full size bed in it. If necessary I will get the side rail things for it. My husband didn't want me to go all out since we didn't know for sure if we would get licensed. But I just felt it was the right thing to do. I'm glad I did, because we got 2 calls before we were even licensed! :banana: Neither came to us :(, but I'm glad I didn't need to rush around trying to get ready in the couple days that we were in limbo. We just got officially licensed last Wednesday and don't have a placement yet, but again, I'm ready for a child and don't need to worry about what I'll need. I have everything you can think of! :arrow: Including clothes for newborn up to 2t for both genders. Good luck!

I would find out what your area accepts before buying the bed. Call your licenser to find out if you are allowed bunk beds or trundle beds. They are ok for some areas and another county (30 minutes always) could be different. I have trundle beds, bassinet, and a crib that turns into a toddler bed.

Your questions are actually excellent questions for the first walk through. Every place has different rules. We were only taking babies and we didn't have to have anything set up as long as we could get it on short notice. We had a queen size bed in the room and it was obviously a guest room. We were licensed for two babies and all we had to show was 1 crib still in the box. I bought a couple of outfits in each size and gender and am pretty sure I never used them. I would figure out how fast you can get a crib and car seats (if you are in a big city with a Walmart or a Target) you should be just fine with whatever the minimum the county requires. Especially if you are likely moving before you get licensed.

We have a large age range and we are not allowed day or trundle beds in our area. Since we did not know if we were getting boys or girls, I did the rooms in a base of lime green and then added pink accents for girls and blue/orange accents for boys. The bathrooms have lime green toothbrush holders, towels etc. and it is easy to add other colors. I got really inexpensive bedcovers at Steinmart. Also, I swapped our nice coffee table for a cheap one from Ikea and I am really glad I did because now I don't stress over them ruining it. Ikea has some inexpensive options for children and infants.One thing I would recommend: We didn't have a lot of toys but I went to Goodwill and bought a cheap bike and scooter ($10/each) and they use the outside toys constantly. I am looking for more outside toys, great exercise.

We have a large age range and we are not allowed day or trundle beds in our area. Since we did not know if we were getting boys or girls, I did the rooms in a base of lime green and then added pink accents for girls and blue/orange accents for boys. The bathrooms have lime green toothbrush holders, towels etc. and it is easy to add other colors. I got really inexpensive bedcovers at Steinmart. Also, I swapped our nice coffee table for a cheap one from Ikea and I am really glad I did because now I don't stress over them ruining it. Ikea has some inexpensive options for children and infants. One thing I would recommend: We didn't have a lot of toys but I went to Goodwill and bought a cheap bike and scooter ($10/each) and they use the outside toys constantly. I am looking for more outside toys, great exercise.