Nesting

Nesting is all part of your pregnancy experience.

Have you noticed that you have suddenly whipped yourself into a cleaning and organising frenzy? Well, that means you’re nesting and if you just can’t find enough to do you’re probably getting very close to giving birth.

Nesting is a common pregnancy symptom that is actually very useful. What a nice change, a pregnancy symptom we actually like! Nesting usually begins in your fifth month of pregnancy as you start to prepare your baby’s “nest”. However, some mothers experience it earlier, others later and there are even those who completely skip it, if you’re one of those mothers don’t feel guilty. Remember, everyone’s pregnancy is a unique experience.

As labour approaches, your desire to clean and organise becomes even stronger and you will probably find yourself cleaning and organising things that have already been cleaned and organised. For this reason, nesting is often referred to as a pre-labour ritual and we’re not only talking about human mothers either. Nesting is a popular activity throughout the animal kingdom.

The causes of nesting have been narrowed down to an evolutionary development that programmes us to create a safe and healthy home for our babies to grow in and to our crazy pregnancy hormones that send us on an emotional rollercoaster. Along this emotional rollercoaster, as you may already know, we feel excitement, worry and stress, which all motivate us to get clean and organised.

Nesting is completely safe as long as you nest carefully. So we recommend taking advantage of your nesting instinct and completing everything on your pre-birth to do list. You may not be alone either, men can experience nesting too! Have you noticed your partner working on his car, landscaping the garden or even organising his home office or man’s den? If yes, there’s a good chance he’s jumped on the nesting train.