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The Minimalist Baby - Page 2

post #21 of 32
4/21/10 at 9:49am
We had a very minimalist baby. Our goal was to try to see what exactly we needed for our son and what we didn't. So, we started out with the following:
1. Donated clothes from a neighbor who unexpectedly became the caregiver of her grandson (we ended up having to buy some things though like kimono shirts and snowsuits)
2. Diapers (some I made, some prefolds) and homemade diaper wipes (along with some disposables given to us)
3. 1 Wrap
4. Crib
5. Drop in bottle
6. Donated Breast pump
7. Donated bouncy chair

We ended up only really needing numbers 1-3. The crib was useful later on when we needed a safe place to put him when hauling furniture upstairs, but other than that, we didn't use it, though we use it now as a toddler bed. We bought a Becco baby carrier when he was older, but the wrap was fine until he was like 11 months old.
With our next kid, we want to have a moby basket for the newborn but I think that's it.
Oh we also had some pacifiers and a few toys but he didn't really play with the toys until he was older anyway.
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post #22 of 32
4/21/10 at 11:32am
My "baby" is 4 so hopefully memory will serve ok here....


My new native sling I bought off the TP here for $25 served me well. The downside, it was navy (great color though) and when it was hot, it absorbed the heat. So I sprang the $36 and bought a cream colored one. I also got a Moby wrap that I used all winter. The navy sling was sold for $10 on the TP (mainly to cover shipping) and the cream one was passed on to another MDC mama IRL. The moby also was sold here for $12.

CDs, I bought several FB diapers used and new for size small and xsmall (dd2 was a preemie) and sold them all back for the same exact I paid for them.
I bought meds new, several and it was about $300. She wore them literally for two years and I passed them onto another mama. I see them weekly and her tot is still wearing them. She wanted to give me $$ but I could not! They were so loved! So she promised to pass them again and she is since her sister is expecting again and her tot is learning her potty...

Clothing- depends on your baby's bowel habits IMHO and IME. My nephew was a baby who would have major explosions over boiling diapers. All the time.....LOL. Guess what, she had major laundry, she joked it was a second job. Also spit up. My DH always joked spit up and reflux is a laundry issue not a medical issue. But all fair, I know a few babies who it is a severe thing.

I am not a big stroller advocate and I hate those carseats that are used as carriers. Leave it in the car IMHO.. But we would carry our babies everywhere either in arms or sling/carrier etc. But yes, as the child gets older and heavier, strollers are good. Our best strollers were the ones we were given second hand by other parents who bought into the media hype of expensive gadgets == happy baby life etc.
post #23 of 32
4/21/10 at 12:08pm
I forgot how many clothing changes we go through in the newborn phase. I have a very abundant milk supply, and so basically every time she nurses she gets soaked. She we're changing outfits 3-4 times a day (about every other nursing session). I know as she gets older she'll adjust to my supply as my son did, but I'm glad I've got tons of newborn sleepers.
post #24 of 32
4/24/10 at 5:44pm
my essentials:
-several different types of carriers, though you could probably get away w/ just one. I like different ones under different circumstances - not simple, i know
- a swing - my kids napped in it
- diapers (and washing machine)
- burp cloths, though if you went w/ flats or pfs you could use them for diapers AND burp cloths...
- a couple receiving blankets
- a bjorn little potty (works for EC through potty self-sufficiency, great for long trips, also works for a puke bowl, easy to clean)
- a weeks worth of clothes in each size plus a few plain t-shirts/onesies for pajamas
-exersaucer or walker or some kind of self-contained play setup to get the baby off the floor while I make dinner (or use the bathroom or take a shower, whatever) hand the older kids are running around (none of my kids have been content to stay in a seat for more than a few minutes, but they like the exersaucer...)

I *think* that's all i feel like we'd need... but I have more than that, sooooo, I dunno. Those are the things i use, I guess. I really should ditch the rest, eh?
post #25 of 32
5/4/10 at 12:00am
with baby #3 on the way, i am still decluttering baby stuff.... this thread is perfect!! here are our essentials:

carseats...gotta have one in each car (we like convertables)
carrier...fleece pouch and woven wrap at first...ergo for later
diapers...prefolds/covers/cloth wipes
blankets...10 - 12 flannel or waffle weave cotton; 2 thicker quilted cotton
clothes...mountains of shirts, pants and gowns...cant' do wash every day
pump, glass bottles, lanolin...i gotta go back to work
bedrail and waterproof pads...we cosleep till around 2

also nice:
sturdy tote to use as diaper bag/purse
swing...someplace safe from the bigs (and my other 2 have liked the swing)

thats it folks...not that much, really.

ETA: bibs...lots of bibs. we have spitters. a friend took a dozen of my infant prefolds and serged them into bibs...love them!
post #26 of 32
5/4/10 at 2:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by abharrington View Post
a friend took a dozen of my infant prefolds and serged them into bibs...love them!
Wow, thats a great idea! How did she make the part that goes around the neck??
post #27 of 32
5/6/10 at 3:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan View Post
Wow, thats a great idea! How did she make the part that goes around the neck??
I'd just use a snap and make the part that goes around the neck about and inch and a half wide, serged around all egdes.

What a great idea! I need my prefolds for the other end, but I might pick up some cloth diapers at the thrift store for this. Great; as if I don't have enough to do!!!

Actually, I'll wait to see if this babe is a spitter-upper or not. Only our eldest was so we haven't had bibs since he was an infant.
post #28 of 32
5/6/10 at 3:56am
I think our babies have become more and more minimalist each time.

Right now, I have nearly my ideal amount of clothing- 2 days worth (one day being deposited in the washing bucket and one drying for the next day- we hand wash now ).

No toys. We live in the wilderness beside a mountain, on a farm with livestock and this baby has four siblings and two parents and neighbours on property to engage him/her. We've had very few toys since I decluttered them (all gifts) with ds1 six years ago; he didn't care for toys at all as an infant. I am generous with our 'real household stuff' for exploration.

I will likely acquire another bouncy seat. My babies are heavy and our bouncers don't last through more than one baby. We put ds3 into one and it just slowly bent to the floor after a week of use. We didn't replace it actually; he spent lots of time on the couch next to me (when not in-arms) and barricaded in with cushions).

Like pps, my dc are amazingly aware of babies on the floor, but if I have to leave the room and prefer to take a minute by myself to do that, I like having a device to keep baby safe. I was chronically ill (much worse after my 2 c/s with first two babies) with my first four babies, and bouncers saved me from more pain than I already had, and provided a little bit of rest from all-day in-arms carrying/breastfeeding.

At night, when the newbie would finally be asleep on me for a while, I would transfer him to the bouncer so I could stretch and relax and still have baby next to me and comfortably sleeping. Then when I wanted to sleep, I'd take baby with me to bed. It was handy. I have not before been physically able to baby-wear, but I am hoping this time, being healthy for the first time in my life, I will. If I'm not yet ready, the baby will be in-arms like all the others, and bounced late at night before bed (unless the bouncer just flops). The rigid ones don't work for us (too upright and hard-feeling), so we have to buy the really bouncy ones that don't seem to tolerate heavy babies for very long.

I have three dozen prefolds and I have had to purchase a set of thirty wash cloths with each new baby because by the time the next one has arrived, the old ones are threadbare and become fabric toy stuffing or really dirty job cloths.

We still have receiving blankets from ds1, nearly 7 yrs ago. I use them a lot with newbies. I fold one for under the baby on the bed, use them for pp bleeding tucked into my undies, for underneath baby when changing (which we do on the floor), for sopping up wet stuff that inevitaby seeps, flows or squirts out of baby (or me ), drying after bathing baby, wrapping in cool weather, covering in car seat, etc.... They are like giant shop towels for newborn infant and pp mama care. I love them.

That's it for us. I carry diapers and change of clothing in a cloth bag when we're out, along with my wallet and water to drink and wash baby, respectively. Baby will mostly just make do with what we have and that's not much.
post #29 of 32
5/7/10 at 9:04am
We are preparing for our third and I am looking forward to reducing the amount of clothes and blankets this babe has. We had so many, never bought by us, that it was just overwhelming. I think we are going to focus on acquiring while we need. Rather than guessing what we need in advance. I find that we end up needing so much less that way. Of course you don't get the sales, but I could still get the grandmas to purchase stuff.

My mom will be living with us at the time, in a small 2.5 bedroom apartment. So I'm busy cleaning out and really questioning what we need.

I also found that baby toys were just not as needed the second time around because baby/small toddler could just play with safe older toys, such as blocks and larger cars. So I will be getting rid of even more toys.

I'm enjoying this conversation.
post #30 of 32
5/8/10 at 8:34pm
i'm enjoying it as well!! i think in some ways, its easier to declutter as you go along baby-wise. with #3 i feel like i can let go of a lot of the excessive clothes gifted to us and i won't anticipate so many coming inthis time. i am excited to pass them on to someone else who needs and can use them. i'm tempted to go thru all the clothes tonight...but part of me says wait another month until we know if its a boy or girl...then i can be more aggressive in what i declutter, yk.

i also agree we have moved from the buy-in-advance mentality to the wait-and-see-what-we-actually-need mentality...it is making this pregnancy so much less stressful.

i just can't decide what to do about the pack n play and bassinet. dd occasionally slept in the bassinet for naps as a newborn...ds never did. the pack n play was given to use used and has only been used by my babysitter for her son when she would come over. BUT we also got rid of our crib about a year ago...and i'm wondering if its a good idea to have SOME sort of designated baby sleep space? ds coslept with us from birth till 11 months then moved to a twin...so i don't anticipate this baby ever needing a baby sleep space, so to speak...but also not sure if it would be prudent to keep it. still thinkin on that one.
post #31 of 32
5/8/10 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PreggieUBA2C View Post
I think our babies have become more and more minimalist each time.

I will likely acquire another bouncy seat. My babies are heavy and our bouncers don't last through more than one baby. We put ds3 into one and it just slowly bent to the floor after a week of use. We didn't replace it actually; he spent lots of time on the couch next to me (when not in-arms) and barricaded in with cushions).

what is the difference in bouncy seats? the more bouncy vs stiff/upright? is there a certain brand you look for? we didnt' use one for either of the first 2 bt they also didnt' love the swing...and i'd love to replace the swing with a bouncy seat. but i want one that is super bouncy...so it really responds to babies kicks and movements...not a vibrating music playing one. thanks!
post #32 of 32
4/19/12 at 9:36pm

*Bump* - I realize this thread is 2 years old but I just read through it and there are some great lists and ideas here. It is refreshing to see this back to basics approach to baby stuff, when it is so trendy nowadays to buy every product out there. Maybe another mom will see it and benefit like I have.