Nursing Cart Ideas and Must-Haves

Keeping baby supplies sorted and easy to find is a battle for new parents. You may have set up the perfect nursery for your little one, but you’ll often need to use baby things in other rooms. 

A nursing cart can help you stay organized anywhere in your home.

You might call it a nursing cart, breastfeeding cart, pumping cart, diaper cart, or breastfeeding station on wheels, but they can all have the same meaning. 

It’s a rolling cart that holds the baby essentials you use daily and it’s important to note that despite its name, anyone can benefit from this convenient setup—regardless of how you choose to nourish your little one.

You could dedicate a cart to feeding or diapering, but a combination can make early postpartum days easier for new moms, dads, and caregivers. Feeding your newborn and changing their diapers will take up a lot of your time. 

Each task goes smoothly when you don’t have to search for your breast pump or new diapers multiple times a day.

A nursing cart brings ease and convenience to baby care, but that doesn’t mean your home has to look like a hospital. There are many ways you can customize your nursing cart to fit your nursery theme or complement your home decor.

These nursing cart ideas will help you personalize this useful tool.

Nursing carts can be found in a variety of different colors. You could choose white for a crisp, clean look or a color that seems like it was made for your nursery decor.

Stay organized in style with labels that add personality to your nursing cart. On a metal cart, you can use dry-erase magnet labels or labels that clip onto the side of your cart or organization baskets.

A shelf liner or basket on each level of your nursing cart will keep your items from sliding around when you move the cart and make cleaning up spills easier—and why shouldn’t they have a pretty pattern?

The main advantage of a nursing cart is its mobility, allowing you to transport it from one place to another. However, you can still enhance the functionality and aesthetics of the space where the nursing cart will be stationed for the longest time. Consider adding shelves, baskets, or hooks to maximize its utility and keep everything organized.

Choose boxes, bins, and baskets to separate items on your cart. You could choose containers in a solid color for a neutral appearance in any room of your home or find patterns that identify mom’s and baby’s belongings.

An aesthetically pleasing nursing cart can be made of a material that matches other decor in your home. You can most commonly find rolling, utility carts made of metal, plastic, or wood .

There’s often a fine line between having everything you need and having an overwhelming amount of baby stuff. The postpartum period can be simplified with just enough essentials for the day.

Your nursing cart should be specific to your needs and your home. Here are some key components to take into consideration.

One of the best things about these rolling carts is their ability to hold a lot without taking up too much space. Check the cart’s dimensions before you buy and consider how much space it will take up in each room that you move it to.

Along with the overall size of the nursing cart, consider how much it can actually hold. You may prefer a three-tier or four-tier option depending on how you want to organize your supplies.

Consider how the cart is made and how that will hold up to daily use. If you plan to wheel your nursing cart from room to room daily, a sturdy, metal frame may be best. A plastic cart might be easiest to clean if you spill water or need to wipe up a squirt of diaper cream.

Check for a utility cart with wheel locks to prevent it from moving when you need it to stay in one spot. Consider the size as a safety factor as well. If you have a toddler, you may want a nursing cart that fits inside your pantry or small closet away from little hands.

A well-prepared nursing cart or postpartum cart can be a lifesaver for new parents and caregivers. It can save precious time in your day by easing the load of feeding and diaper changing.

A rolling cart stocked with mom and baby supplies offers benefits like:

There’s nothing worse than searching for your pumping supplies in the glow of a small nightlight when you’ve only had an hour of sleep. Keep it simple by keeping it all in one place. Organize each shelf of your postpartum cart with specific items so what you need is easy to grab.

Choosing a cart on wheels to hold your everyday essentials allows you to easily move everything to any room of your home. Roll your nursing cart into the kitchen to multi-task with your wearable breast pump and then wheel it into the living room to change your baby’s diaper before you head back to the nursery to lay your little one down for a nap.

When sitting, standing, or lying on the floor with your baby, you can easily grab and go from the nursing cart. This is also helpful to your partner and other caregivers who need easy access to feeding and diapering supplies while caring for your baby.

It doesn’t matter if you exclusively breastfeed , pump into bottles, or formula-feed your baby, a rolling cart is useful. Park your cart next to your nursery glider to sit comfortably while you feed your little one. It serves as a place to set down a bottle, quickly grab a burp cloth, and reach for a snack while your sleeping baby has you nap-trapped.

Tired parents need nighttime feedings to go smoothly so Mom, Dad, and baby can go back to bed. With your nursing cart nearby, you can expedite nighttime feedings and diaper changes to get more sleep.

Organize your feeding, diapering, and postpartum essentials to set up a useful nursing cart.

Your breastfeeding supplies are best kept on the top shelf of your nursing cart so you can easily grab things from a seated position.

• Breast pump: If you plan to bottle feed your breastmilk, you’ll need your manual or electric breast pump front and center. A passive breast milk collector to catch letdown from your opposite breast is also handy while breastfeeding.

• Pumping bra: For hands-free comfort pair your breast pump with a pumping bra.

• Nipple shields and cream: Nipples that are sore or cracked can benefit from using a nipple shield during breastfeeding or applying nipple cream directly afterward.

• Disposable or washable nursing pads: Nursing pads keep your bra and shirt from getting soaked during letdown and catch small leaks throughout the day.

• Burp cloths: You’ll need something to wipe up the inevitable leaks, drool, and spit-up messes.

• Nursing cover: Depending on where you take your nursing cart, you may feel more comfortable using a nursing cover while you breastfeed. Nursing covers can also help distracted babies focus on staying latched.

Bottle-feeding supplies should also find a spot on the top tier of your nursing cart either next to or in the place of breastfeeding supplies.

• Baby bottles: If you use formula to feed your little one, you can pre-fill baby bottles with the correct amount of water.

• Formula dispenser: A small formula dispenser can hold several separate amounts of pre-measured formula that are ready to be mixed in the bottle.

• Pacifiers : A pacifier might help your baby stay asleep after finishing a bottle.

Your middle-shelf supplies are also easy to reach while sitting and holding your baby, so keep the essentials just for you here.

• Snacks: Foods that are easy to eat one-handed like granola bars and snack-size bags of pretzels are perfect for new moms.

• Water bottle : Either refill a reusable water bottle often or keep a stash of disposable bottles of water.

• Hand sanitizer : For those moments when you need a little clean-up without getting up.

• Hair ties and lip balm: Two things you always need, but can never find. Tying your hair back will keep tiny hands from pulling it.

• Phone charger : If your baby prefers a nice, long contact nap after eating, it’s helpful to have a fully charged phone nearby so you can watch a video, schedule a grocery order, or send a text while you wait.

Diaper-changing supplies are fine on the bottom shelf of the cart. You’re likely not stuck in a chair when you’re trying to reach them. In fact, you might be sitting on the floor right next to the bottom shelf.

• Diapers : Keep plenty of disposable or cloth diapers for the many changes your baby will need.

• Wipes: Wet wipes are perfect for cleaning dirty bums, sticky hands, and the inevitable spit-up.

• Baby powder: To wick away moisture and keep your baby’s skin soft.

• Diaper rash cream: If a rash pops up, treat it right away with a healing cream or ointment.

• Changing pads: When you’re changing diapers outside of the nursery, you can keep the area safe from messes by first laying down a changing pad or mat.

• Clean clothes: Sometimes more than the diaper needs changed. A fresh onesie on the cart will come in handy.

While a diaper cart can be helpful to some new moms, it might not be for everyone. If you prefer one designated spot where all diaper changes happen, consider setting up a diaper changing station in the nursery or living room.

Nurture&’s dresser with changing topper creates a changing station with plenty of storage. If you’re concerned about size, you can opt for the smaller 4-drawer dresser to fit into any room.

An organized cart is a useful cart. You want to be able to see everything you have at a glance and be able to find what you need in the dark.

Follow these tips for keeping your nursing cart organized.

Not only should you categorize the shelves of your cart, but also have separate sections on each shelf. A small container for hair ties and a bigger bin for snacks will keep the cart tidy.

Label each level of the nursing cart and each bin. This helps you and anyone else caring for your baby to find things quickly. If everything is labeled your family and friends are more likely to notice when an item needs to be restocked.

When you get down to the last two or three diapers or you’re drinking your last bottle of water, make sure to restock right away. You may eventually catch onto a pattern of needing to restock once or twice a week and can add a reminder to your phone or calendar.

Store everything you use most often—maybe your water bottle, nursing pads, and burp cloths—at the same end of the cart so they’re easy to grab.

Wipe up spills as soon as possible, sweep up snack crumbs, and scrub any mysterious sticky spots to keep your cart clean.

No. A nursing cart isn’t necessary for caring for your baby, but it can be helpful. Any dedicated space to store your frequently used items will reduce the stress of the postpartum period and make feeding times go smoothly.

The best part of setting up your nursing cart is that you can personalize it to suit your specific needs. Consider keeping your breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, diapering, and postpartum essentials in your nursing cart.

A diaper caddy is a small bin or basket that holds diaper-changing items like diapers, wipes, rash cream, a changing pad, hand sanitizer, and a fresh onesie. It’s easy to carry from room to room, but there’s not much space for anything else.

A nursing cart is larger and can accommodate more than just diapering supplies. Your nursing cart is meant to support breastfeeding and healing your postpartum body. It can hold feeding supplies, diapering basics, and Mom’s comfort items.

Nurture& wants to help you prepare for a smooth transition into the postpartum period. Visit our online store to build a beautiful nursery for your little one and find more tips and advice in our Journal.