My husband and I have been trying to be more minimalistic since we moved to California and have a small two bedroom apartment. With a baby, it’s been especially challenging! We try to not buy too many unnecessary things, and use things we already own, but it’s hard to know what we will need. My husband thought it would be interesting to see how much baby stuff we have and put it all in the crib, and here is what we ended up with:
On the left is the Tripp Trapp chair, and on the right is the Babybjorn organic bouncer. The main things not pictured are our Orbit car seat and babyjogger stroller. I also have prefolds and a few toys and blankets in my car and at my dad’s house. Oh, and I forgot to include the Moby wrap because I was wearing it! It feels weird not to have it on nowadays!
Here are more specifics about our stuff (click for larger picture):
If we were more minimalistic, there are a bunch of things we could have done without:
- The changing pad (I change him on the bed 90% of the time anyway)
- The manual breast pump (I had no idea beforehand, but hand expressing is just as fast and more comfortable for me)
- The bouncer
- As many books (but they were all gifts…)
- We could have used a couple fewer diaper covers since the sizes overlapped
- Obviously we didn’t need the compostable diapers! But they were nice to have during some long car rides and events
- We could have probably gotten a smaller umbrella stroller instead of the city mini
Some things I’m really glad we bought even though I was unsure at the time:
- Two baby carriers (I wear the Moby most of the day, and the Beco sometimes so that I can wear the baby on my back while cooking. My stepmom wore the baby in it today, since everyone is scared of tying the Moby)
- This wool wash works amazingly well at getting out newborn poop stains from wool covers as well as clothes and our bedsheets (yikes). I just used soap or shampoo at first, but that left stains on my wool covers that I can’t get out now.
- I’m in love with our wood high chair which is so easy to clean, and conveniently adjustable
- I also use the potty every day. I wish I had found a more eco-friendly version in recycled plastic though