My second baby is now one year old. Where does the time even go? Over the past three years, I’ve raised two babies from infancy into toddlerhood, and I like to think I’m doing okay. Both kids are still alive and that’s all that really matters.
Everybody has that post where they go over the must have baby stuff and things they bought for baby and absolutely loved. I’m sure I will write that post one day, but for now, I’m reflecting on the many “must have” baby stuff I didn’t buy over the span of the last three years.
Do you really need it?
No. You don’t really need anything for baby more than diapers, clothing, food, and a safe space to sleep. The rest, it’s just stuff.
Baby stuff. Baby Items. Baby Products. Baby Things.
It’s all just stuff.
I like to think many of my parenting decisions are done because of my eco-conscious attitude, the reality is, I’m also cheap. But because I’m environmentally conscious I’d rather go without than by something cheap, plastic, and disposable. If I thought a baby product wasn’t open-ended enough to last past one phase of life, seldom did I buy it. I did buy a lot of stupid things I regret, but that’s why this post on the internet exists.
A few questions I always ask myself before buying baby things…
- Is this something that will work for my family?
- Is this something that will fit in my house?
- What is the environmental footprint of this object? Where did it come from? Longevity?
- Could I do without it?
- What would life look like without it?
- Would I rather have something else, or experience something else?
- Will this bring us joy?
10 Baby Items You Don’t Need
And by don’t need, I mean these are things that just didn’t work for my family. Think about your family when you make baby buying decisions. See the questions noted above.
- Infant Car Seat.
- Read why using a convertible from birth is the best choice for us.
- Change Table.
- Major Buyers Remorse because I hated going to another room to change a diaper. My house is my home, and I just do things where I want when I want. Eventually lifting a 20 pound 4 month old onto a change table was less than ideal. Trying to keep him from doing a gymnastic move off the change table was also not happening. The floor is the safest spot to change a wiggle monster.
- If you must, consider just getting a mat to put on a dresser or pre-existing counter.
- Infant Bath Tub
- No. Just No.
- I rarely bathe tiny infants, and if I do it’s a sponge bath on a towel, or they join me in the tub. I think bath time is a ridiculous bedtime routine. It doesn’t work for my family and this baby gizmo isn’t fitting in my bathroom.
- Bibs
- I don’t make droolers, so we never needed anything to keep clothes dry.
- And the bigs I did have didn’t keep shirts clean, so I just opt to change her shirt with every meal. Is that really any different than washing a bib with every meal?
- Baby Monitor.
- I only ever use one at my parent’s house because it’s massive and the kids have to sleep on a different floor. We have an audio-only and it works just fine.
- Plus this implies your children nap without. #dreambigmama.
- Infant Feeding Utensils
- I just use the tiny dessert spoon and fork and call it a day.
- No need for extra plastic stuff when you already have something that works just fine.
- Fancy Diaper Pails
- Sometimes, I use disposable diapers for a week (or maybe disposable inserts), and I never understood why you needed a Diaper Genie or similar contraption.
- Just put dirty diapers in the kitchen garbage and take out the kitchen garbage every night. I never experienced any unusual smells from this system.
- Baby Containment Devices: Exersaucers, Jumparoos, Bumbo’s
- All of these things cost more money than I wanted to spend.
- All of these things take up more space than I wanted to commit to my child.
- Best: Create a Yes Space for your baby and encourage independent play. Check out this article from Janet Lansbury and everything else on her site for some inspiration. I don’t love everything, but parenting is about finding the things that work for you.
- More than a week’s worth of Clothes.
- Scaling down my kid’s wardrobes has been one of the most rewarding things because it just limits the stuff situation.
- Receiving Blankets.
- I do not know what regular people do with receiving blankets. Personally, I use them for diapering, but apparently, these are something people use. I never owned them and I never thought “boy, I wish I had a receiving blanket right about now”
Do you really need it?
I’m sure there are millions of more things I never owned or needed in raising my children. I write this post mostly to inspire you to QUESTION what you think you need for baby.
Stop mindlessly creating registries with everything possible, and instead focus on what really matters – safe spaces for baby to develop and learn into a functioning human. They need warm, clean clothes, and a happy mother.
You do need support. Ask for the things you can’t order on Amazon: hot meals, a hot shower, an hour of sleep, and companionship.
I am expecting my first grandchild and I enjoyed this post. I had to laugh because the Diaper Genie was a new product on the scene when I had my oldest daughter (the one expecting) 21 years ago. I received from my registry list, it was a huge waste of space and money. If you take your trash out you don’t need it.