10 Fun Things To Do When The Nesting Instinct Kicks In

The nesting instinct is a brilliant burst of energy that many mums-to-be experience near the end of pregnancy. Are you heavily pregnant and suddenly overcome by an urge to 'deep clean' stuff? Or are you experiencing a heightened interest in alphabetising the spice rack? Maybe you've found yourself cleaning the grouting in the bathroom with a toothbrush when you can't sleep at night? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then congrats, you are in the nesting phase. The bonus of the nesting phase is that you can funnel your new-found energy into preparing for the baba. Here're 10 Fun Things To Do When The Nesting Instinct Kicks In: 1. Go through all the hand-me-downs Getting cute hand-me-downs from generous friends and family is a really fun part of pregnancy. Folding up the little sleepsuits and impossibly small hats make the whole thing suddenly seem tangible. The baby clothes bag usually arrives all jumbled up; you might have some craic looking through it and then put it away – this is NOT the right approach, once the baby's out there's no time for rooting through a bottomless bin liner of clothes in every size from 0-24 months. Get the clothes organised by size, store the older baby stuff and thank yourself later. 2. Get painting Painting the nursery is one of the most enjoyable nesting activities. Or if your nesting instinct is manifesting in a slightly less active manner, you can have hours of fun picking the colours and then direct the sperm donor to paint the room while you oversee proceedings from the comfort of a chair. Here's some nursery inspo to get you started. 3. Spend an inordinate amount of time researching It's always good to funnel the nesting energy into something practical. We all spend nine months of pregnancy reading What To Expect, When You're Expecting, when what we should be doing is reading a book called something like Congratulations! It's Out. Now What? This book may not actually exist but reading up on birth, breastfeeding and beyond is a lot more useful in the long run than reading what size vegetable you're currently incubating on any given week. 4. Address and stamp the thank you cards This might sound a bit mad, but it's actually super handy. Conquering the thank you cards seems like an insurmountable task on top of sleep deprivation and caring for a newborn so get those envelopes ready in advance. 5. Make a mobile A DIY keepsake is a lovely thing to make when in extreme-nesting mode. Let's face it once the baby's out there'll be little time for crafting Pinterest-worthy gifts to bestow on them so do it while the crafting is still remotely feasible. Here're 5 Easy Homemade Mobile Projects to make for your little one. 6. Get cooking Stocking your freezer when in nesting mode is the greatest gift Pregnant You can give future (frazzled!) New Mum You so get cooking. 7. Get your podcasts in a row Podcasts are the new mum lifeline, listen during the often lonely night feeds or when you're out and about with the buggy. Here're some of our faves to download now before the baba makes her entrance and organisation and time for downloading podcasts goes out the window. The Mortified Podcast; 99% Invisible; Here's The Thing With Alec Baldwin; More Perfect; Róisín Meets...; Death Sex Money; Nerdette; All About Breastfeeding; The Cord: Your Birthing Year and Beyond. 8. Clean the car (when else are you going to do it?) Again if your nesting instinct doesn't extend to actually doing this yourself get the other half on it while you direct proceedings from a comfortable vantage point. 9. Sort out Christmas – Nesting Level: Advanced If you are really REALLY ambitious, you can get the Christmas presents or any upcoming birthday presents and cards bought and wrapped ahead of the baby's arrival. A bit of work now will allow you to feel majorly smug down the line when everyone else is panicking. 10. Sleeeeeeeeep Don't forget this essential! Again Future New Mum You will thank Pregnant You for putting in a few hours of rest during this exciting time. For your chance to win a Mamia Memory Box full of newborn essentials, check out our pregnancy section and sign-up here. For more information on the award-winning Mamia range, visit the Aldi website.