Choosing a child's name was easy compared to selecting The Perfect Lamp for that baby's first room, so here's a bit of advice, based on years of selling nursery lamps.

Overhead lighting's all very well and good for general room illumination, but the last thing you want, for a 2am feeding, a 4am diaper change, or to soothe a crying baby who's just waken from an afternoon nap, is a suddenly bright room...which is why we suggest a nursery have one, and preferably, two table lamps.

At the least, we recommend a small, sturdy lamp be placed near the changing table. The lamp should be tall enough so it spreads just enough light for you to see what you're doing and placed far enough away so the light won't be shining right in Baby's eyes. Space is probably limited, so the lamp doesn't need to be more than an accent light and certainly doesn't need to take more than a 60watt bulb.

We do understand, especially if this is a first child, that you've probably spent a lot of time, effort (and money!!) on the nursery. And we realize you'd like the lamps to match the colors, feel and theme you've so carefully planned, but we also want to remind you that the nursery, by its very nature, has a very short shelf life. At the risk of incurring Martha Stewart's ire, we don't feel that the lamp for the changing table area has to be purchased just for this specific use. Look around the house and see if you already have a small lamp you can use in the nursery for a while. (We don't, of course, recommend using the priceless figurine lamp left you by Aunt Tilly -- the last thing you need is to worry if a sudden movement topples and breaks the lamp!) And if you don't already own something you can use, think about buying a lamp that can be used someplace else in your home later on...NOT necessarily a baby lamp...perhaps a metal candlestick, if you tend to traditional or a simple silver column if you tend contemporary.

Depending on your space and your budget, the second table lamp we recommend in a nursery, is one that sits on a table or chest near the chair where Baby's fed. Again, this lamp should be tall enough so the light it spreads provides a comforting feel, and have a small enough base so it doesn't take up the entire table top. Unlike the changing table lamp, this lamp should take at LEAST a 60watt bulb, and preferably have a 3way socket, so it's able to light the entire room, without having to turn on any overhead lighting.

Again, we're not convinced that this lamp has to be one that's specifically purchased for the nursery. Though it's hard to believe while you're in the thick of it, Baby will soon be in a "Big Girl's Bed" and she'll probably want to have some say in her new digs...but that's the topic for our next article!