A changing table isn’t something you absolutely need for your new baby but it sure is helpful. You can change the baby in the crib itself but that can take a toll on your lower back. Yes, a changing table is a nice thing to have but you don’t have to go out and pay that high-dollar price. You can find used dressers all day long and one of those can quickly become a nice changing table for the nursery.
A small dresser which isn’t too tall works well to make the changing table. A good height for the dresser is between 32 and 36 inches tall. Paint the dresser with a nursery theme or just stain it.
You’ll need a pad for the top of the changing table. If you can’t find one you can easily make one. Use two towels to make it and you’ll be able to wash the pad any time you want. Stack the two towels and sew around three sides. Slide a thick piece of quilt batting – or several pieces – into the cavity between the towels. Sew the side shut. Make a pattern of dots on the front of one towel and take a few stitches at each dot to secure the quilt batting inside. This will prevent it from wadding up when you launder it.
You don’t want the pad sliding around on the changing table and a good way to prevent that is to Velcro it. Use peel-n-stick Velcro across the top of the dresser and then use the opposing pieces on the underside of the towel pad. Two or three strips, going the length of the dresser and spaced evenly apart, will hold the pad nicely.
Most changing tables have a railing around the perimeter of the top so that the baby can’t roll out on the floor. You can easily make railings for the top of the dresser table, too. Purchase flat pieces of wood from a craft or lumber yard and use them to make the railings. If the rails aren’t the exact size of the dresser don’t worry about it. If there is a railing up, but a space between it, here and there, the baby still can’t roll off of it. Wood purchased at a lumber yard can usually be cut to size for free. Flat wood purchased from a craft store comes in packs of several same-size pieces to a bag, and are available in various sizes.
You can glue or nail the railing in place. Attach one flat wooden piece to the top of the dresser, on on side, then attach a wooden ball to each corner of that piece, and stack the next piece. Do this to stack as many pieces of wood and beads as you want. Do the same to the other sides.
If you get a really good deal on an old dresser, and turn it into a changing table, you’ll end up saving a small fortune over going out to purchase a changing table. The drawers of the new nursery table can hold diapers, wipes, powders and oils, clothing, booties, shoes and more. If you want, put it on casters so you can roll it out of the way when it’s not needed.
