You might have read my post about my “Minimalist Momma’s Must Haves”! And this is a continuation of what items I would skip, the second go around.
What do babies really need? A place to sleep, some cute clothes, and a few fun toys? Less is always more in my book. But there are some things that I reluctantly agree, came in handy.
Stuff We Wish We Skipped
Receiving Blankets I found these things to be useless. Before I had a baby I didn’t understand what the difference was between a “swaddle” and a “receiving blanket”. Swaddles are stretchy, breathable, and from my experience, a lot larger. A receiving blanket is thicker (warmer) but not stretchy enough to stay on your baby if you wrap them in it. And it’s too small to be a useful blanket.
Baby Swing This is the perfect example of how all babies are just different. For so many moms, this device was a life saver, and maybe the only way they could get their newborn to sleep. But I found it to be useful for such a short amount of time, I would rather just save the money and space. Also, the we had was designed so that the swinging stops after 30 min… and that will wake the baby up!! To turn it back on, you have to turn the knob that makes the LOUDEST clicking sound. WHY would they make it so loud? When they know parents are trying SO hard not to breathe, because it might wake the baby— why? (Perhaps other brands are better.)
Bottle Sterilizer I am sure there are a lot of moms out there, who wouldn’t want to live without a sterilizer. But I personally used mine about three times. I think that with a clean dish sponge, soap, and warm water, things are clean enough. There also have been some studies that show a little dirt can really do the body good, and build up those immune systems. And my pediatrician agrees!
Glad I Didn’t Buy
Burp Cloths I made my own for free! I was tossing out some of my husband’s t-shirts that he didn’t wear anymore and was like, hmmmm. And what do you know, you can cut the t-sirts into burp cloths, they are so soft, pack small, are absorbent, and free! And because of the material, they stay on your shoulder a lot better than other burp cloths.
Milk Warmer Do you know how fast a little bag of frozen breast milk will defrost in warm water? Fast! So if you have a bowl, or a beer glass, and some warm tap water, that is really all you need. Let the bag sit in the water for a few minutes, and you’re done!
Sit Me Up I was able to borrow one, but we hardly used it. I think it is to help your baby sit up before they can sit up on their own? I found that letting Amir sit and play with toys on the carpet gave him the core strength really quickly, he didn’t need to have pillows around him, or use this thing, to help him sit. As I said in my other post, the Bjorn Bouncer will work as far as being a containment device, as it will grow with them.
Less is More
Baby Clothes You will be doing laundry a LOT, so you don’t need to have 10 shirts, 10 pairs of pants, and 10 pajamas. Adults tend to wash cloths at the end of the week. But you will be doing laundry EVERY day. :) I found that if I had 10 onesies, I only used about 4 of my favorite ones, over and over.
Baby Bottles Because Amir primarily nursed, I also realized that I only needed one or two baby bottles… not all six that I thought I might need. If you plan on formula feeding, or will be pumping and bottle feeding, I am sure you would need more than 3.
Baby Shampoo I bought two bottles, and then was gifted another one. Our son is almost a year old and we are not even half way through the first bottle! Babies only need a tiny bit of soap for their baths, and you don’t need to use soap ever day, so a little will last you a long time.
The Reluctant Must Haves
A Chair You might be thinking, “What?”. But I don’t own one chair. I like to get down on the floor and eat, work, relax like a nomad. But, getting up and down off the floor at 3am while holding a newborn at your breast, and your stitches haven’t healed… a chair would come in REALLY handy. Thankfully after a week or so, my sister (also a mama) knew this! So she brought, her crazy floor sitting sister, a folding chair. So I don’t know about those really comfortable rocking chairs, but a chair, any chair… kinda good to have.
Video Monitor We live in an apartment, so it is pretty easy to hear what is going on, no matter what room you are in. I thought, “Ehh, what do we need a monitor for?”. Well, we got a video monitor, and I don’t know what I would do with out it!
Boppy Pillow/Lounger Not the kind that is used for breast feeding, but one that the baby can snuggle in when they are really small and sleeping all day. It also is a great photo prop! I find this thing totally useless after 3 months, but in the beginning we had it on the couch next to us, or on the floor as a cozy place for the baby to relax or nap.
Stroller This isn’t really a “must have”, but we do use it. I MUCH prefer to go the baby carrier rout! When I could bring my son into stores (pre COVID), I found it a million times easier to have him nestled to my body, and he loves it too. But I got a used stroller base that would fit my car seat, for just 20 bucks. And it is nice to have. Now that my son has outgrown his first carseat, we don’t use a stroller and we don’t plan on buying one. (But my mom tells me I am dead wrong! Haha.)
Pack-n-play These things are such an eye sore to me! But, it serves many purposes. It was what we used at night for Amir before we got a crib. You can take it to grandma and grandpa’s for the baby to nap in, and now I use it by the kitchen so I have a safe place for Amir to play while I wash dishes or cook. (We were not even going to get a crib, we were only going to use the pack-n-play as his crib. Because why have two things that serve the same purpose? But a friend had a beautiful crib that he was trying to get rid of, so we jumped at the opportunity.)