Nursery (room)
– Historical Development of Nurseries:
– European nurseries historically had few decorations and were kept away from visitors’ sight.
– An 1842 article emphasized the importance of ventilation and discouraged using shaded rooms for nurseries.
– Authors in the 1870s advocated for visual stimulation in nurseries for children’s development.
– Colorful wallpapers started appearing in nurseries as a result of the push for interactive environments.
– In Edwardian times, nurseries for the wealthy included a suite of rooms with bathroom facilities.
– Nursery Decor and Design:
– Concerns about the impact of ornamentation on children’s development led to debates on nursery decor.
– Suggestions in the 1900s included using colorful pictures instead of bright colors in the night nursery.
– Hygiene was a concern, leading to recommendations for wood panels or washable paint on nursery walls.
– Recommendations for nursery design included spacious, well-sunlit rooms with medical supplies.
– Modern nurseries typically include a crib, changing table, rocking chair, and baby care items.
– Evolution of Nursery Function:
– A nursery is usually the smallest bedroom in a house until the child is older.
– Jane Ellen Panton emphasized spacious, well-lit rooms for children’s comfort and health.
– Nurseries can serve as a child’s bedroom into their teenage years or until a younger sibling is born.
– Fictional portrayals of nurseries are common in literature and films.
– Historical sources like Edwards (2023) and Panton (1890) provide insights into nursery practices.
– Nursery Suite in Edwardian Times:
– For the wealthy and mid-tier classes, a nursery suite included a night nursery and a day nursery.
– The suite also had bathroom facilities and possibly a small kitchen.
– The nurse and nursemaid slept in the nursery suite to be close to the children.
– The night nursery was where children slept, while the day nursery was for eating and playing.
– The Edwardian nursery suite was a self-contained space for childcare and children’s activities.
– Practical Elements in a Nursery:
– A modern nursery typically contains a cradle or crib, a changing table, and a rocking chair.
– Various baby care items like baby powder and medicine are essential in a nursery.
– Nurseries are designed to cater to the needs of infants and toddlers.
– Practicality and functionality are key considerations in nursery design.
– Fictional representations of nurseries in popular culture influence real-life nursery design trends.
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (March 2012) |
A nursery is a bedroom within a house or other dwelling set aside for an infant or toddler.
Historically, European nurseries had little decorations and were away from visitors' sight. An article in the 1842 British Cyclopedia of Domestic Medicine and Surgery instructed the readers to never use a shaded room for a nursery and stressed the importance of ventilation. The author, Thomas Andrew, also suggested using two rooms for the nursery to move between them during the cleaning. He neither encourages nor warns against adding colourful objects into the nursery, simply mentioning that they catch children's attention.
Starting from 1870s, authors such as Mary Eliza Haweis started advocating for a more interactive approach: they stressed the importance of visual stimulation for children's development. As a result, colourful patterned wallpapers appeared on the market. The author of a 1900 article on nursery décor was concerned with the idea that spartan conditions with little ornamentation have a positive impact on children's development, suggesting putting colourful pictures on the walls instead. At the same time, he warned against the excessive use of very bright colours in the night nursery where the child slept. Hermann Muthesius suggested covering the nursery walls with wood panels or washable paint, for hygenic reasons.
In Edwardian times, for the wealthy and mid-tier classes, a nursery was a suite of rooms at the top of a house, including the night nursery, where the children slept, and a day nursery, where they ate and played, or a combination thereof. The nursery suite would include some bathroom facilities and possibly a small kitchen. The nurse (nanny) and nursemaid (assistant) slept in the suite too, to be within earshot of the sleeping children.
A nursery is generally designated for the smallest bedroom in the house, as a baby requires very little space until at least walking age. In 1890, Jane Ellen Panton discouraged organising a nursery in "any small and out-of-the-way chamber", proposing instead to prioritise children's comfort and health by selecting a spacious and well-sunlit room. She highlighted the importance of decorations, suggesting a blue colour palette, simpler furniture and pictures. Patton also wrote that a nursery should contain some medical supplies so that the nurse can tend to the child's ailment before the doctor arrives.
The nursery can remain the bedroom of the child into their teenage years, or until a younger sibling is born, and the parents decide to move the older child into another larger bedroom.
A typical modern nursery contains a cradle or a crib (or similar type of bed), a table or platform for the purpose of changing diapers (also known as a changing table), a rocking chair, as well as various items required for the care of the child (such as baby powder and medicine).
Fictional portrayals of nurseries abound, for example in the writings of Kipling and E. Nesbit, in the 1964 live-action and animated films Mary Poppins and Peter Pan.