Congratulations, you're the expectant parent of a beautiful newborn child. You're experiencing one of the most exciting times in your life, and most couples in love agree that the family isn't complete without children in their lives. But there is much planning ahead.

One of the most important aspects of planning for the arrival of your child is designing the nursery - complete with a sturdy crib, infant bedding, nursery decor, and accessories. Most first time parents I know love this part of the family building process. The choices can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, but with proper advance planning, the reward will be well worth the effort. It's important to make sure your child's nursery is playful, functional, and comfortable.

As you can imagine, the baby nursery bedding you choose is very important since the crib and bedding is the focal point of the entire nursery. This being the case, you may want to start the planning of the nursery by choosing the bedding first and foremost. Since your child will spend upwards of 70% of his/her first year sleeping, you definitely don't want to skimp on quality for the bedding. Safety is a very important consideration when it comes to baby bedding as some manufacturers use chemical coatings of all different types to preserve the fabric after washing, as well as, preventing wrinkles. Some children when exposed to these chemicals can develop respiratory health issues such as allergies or skin rashes. So the infant bedding fabric and the manufacturing process is of utmost importance. The saying "you get what you pay for" rings very true in this case.

Look for baby crib bedding with neutral backgrounds accented with cool colors, such as blues, pinks, greens, and purples. Too many bold colors will overstimulate your child in his or her early years. Most bedding sets include a comforter, sheets, bumper and dust ruffle. You may also be interested in bedding set accessories, such as a dec pillow, jersey blanket, table lamp, mobile, valance, or even wall art and stickers. All of these additional items are sure to complete your baby nursery very nicely.

Don't have time to drive around endlessly looking for infant bedding or research brands? You're in luck because there are several online retailers that provide affordable, yet beautiful and functional bedding sets for less than most major local retailers. Most online baby bedding retailers offer crisp, clear, large images of their products, so you can take your time looking at all the sets and get a really good idea of what to expect. And there aren't really any sizing issues that come into play, such as when you're buying clothes for instance.

If you'd like brand suggestions, look for the well known, affordable designers such as Banana Fish, Cotton Monkey, Glenna Jean, Migi, or Skip Hop. All of these designers are very popular, use quality fabrics such as 100% cotton, or organic cotton with 385 thread count, and are sure to brighten up your baby nursery.