Congratulations! You’ve peed on a stick, gotten the double lines (or the “pregnant” word), and in about 8 months (give or take), you’re going to be passing from the “kid-free” life into the “parenthood” life.
What a trip!
If you’re a minimalist by nature or intentional choice or circumstances, coming into the realm of parenthood can feel overwhelming as you try to figure out what is essential for having a baby. I get it, I’ve walked that road, and I’d love to share some ideas for how to sort through ALL the options and help you figure out what you actually need to have a baby… minimalist style.
Our Minimalist Approach to Having a Baby: Circumstances
When my husband and I found out were were pregnant with our first baby over six years ago, we were a month and a half out from moving to a different continent (a different HEMISPHERE, mind you!) for what we thought would be an 18-month gig, and we planned to live that entire time in one bedroom of a shared house.
To say that we approached parenthood planning a minimalist baby set up is pretty accurate.
I think finding out you’re going to have a baby can throw you into a whirlpool of suggestions, ideas, lists, fears, “what if” scenarios, and really, total mental exhaustion! But I don’t think it has to.
You might not be in a place where you’re preparing to leave the country while you’re pregnant, maybe you actually have a house and a reliable income and a community around you that will be a support system, and if so, that’s awesome! So maybe you don’t NEED to be a minimalist, but I think you can still smooth the transition to parenthood with some intentionally minimalist planning in this area.
In this blog post, I’ll share the three guiding principles that my husband and I used to prepare for a baby, and how those principles have worked out for us along the way since having our first baby, our second baby, our third baby, and now expecting our fourth baby:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Guiding Principle #1: Prioritize what REALLY needs to happen first and focus on that FIRST.
For us, this was securing a midwife (ie: a medical care provider). Now, technically, we probably could have just gone without prenatal care and rocked up to the hospital here in our New Zealand town when I went into labor, but we weren’t really comfortable with that idea.
In New Zealand, the maternity model of care is that almost everyone finds a midwife to be their Lead Maternity Care provider, and then the midwife (LMC) will refer them to more specialized care if needed. From my understanding, the midwives are paid by the government, and they have hospital, birth center, and home birth rights (they can choose what they want to offer), and they will basically support the woman all the way through her pregnancy, birth, and the first 6 weeks postpartum.
Securing a midwife to provide medical oversight for our pregnancy was basically getting one of the biggest components of pregnancy responsibilities taken care of first. And in New Zealand, there is also a national shortage of midwives, so getting that taken care of ASAP was important. As it was, I still emailed over a dozen midwives before I finally reached someone who was not fully booked already for the due date month (January – national summer holiday month around here).
HOT TIP: Get your head around the medical costs of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
Another thing we wanted to find out right away was how much our insurance would cover of our prenatal costs and the birth itself. I know, this isn’t the fun, exciting part of expecting a baby, but it is necessary, and depending on the cost, it may inspire you to adhere to a minimalist baby set up!
Coming from the USA, having a baby is EXPENSIVE if you don’t have adequate insurance coverage, so one of the first things I did was call up our insurance coverage to ask what was available for me. (We were using Christian Healthcare Ministries in lieu of for-profit medical insurance at the time, so technically, it is an alternative to medical insurance, but you get the idea!) We did end up having to pay for all our prenatal appointments out of pocket, as well as a chunk of the birth, but fortunately, New Zealand maternity costs (even paying out of pocket) is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than US costs.
A couple other financial things I can think of that might be helpful to know right away is:
- What kind of maternity leave/paternity leave can you and your spouse expect?
- What kind of pay will you get during the maternity/paternity leave?
These sorts of BIG DEAL things are really helpful to have established as early as possible, so you know what the lay of the land looks like getting into pregnancy (so to speak) and you have some ideas of how to plan accordingly.
Guiding Principle #2: Only acquire what you KNOW you will NEED in the first 2 months of your baby’s life
This is a minimalist baby set up approach that significantly can help you reduce the clutter and chaos of all the baby things – and if you’re someone who is visually overwhelmed easily by having STUFF around, or if you just live in a small, small space (we had a bedroom – literally our only out-of-site storage was our small clothes closet!), this is a really good way to go.
Conventional baby stuff tends to be… how shall I put this: obnoxious. It’s often bright colors, awkward sizes and shapes, and generally a real visual jumbo. I just can’t handle that kind of visual stimulation, and we certainly didn’t have the room for it, so we skipped all of it. I’m so glad we did!
What does this look like, though? Well, some things I did NOT have when we gave birth to our first daughter that I think many people will think they need but it really isn’t necessary was:
- Stroller (pram)
- Crib (cot)
- Car Seat for an older child (obviously, we did need something to bring the baby home in, but we just had an infant capsule)
- Clothes bigger than 3 months size
- Toys, gadgets or play equipment that would be for a child older than 3 months (such as bumbo, saucer, walker, bouncer-seat, high chair, baby gym, teethers, etc)
- Nursery (both the room itself for the baby, or the typically trappings that go in such a room, like a change table, dresser, rocking chair, cute decor, crib mobile, etc)
- baby bath stuff (bath seat, hooded towel, bathtub, etc)
For Example: Our Minimalist Baby Set Up
We had two shelves that held our baby stuff (in plastic bins that we got for a few bucks each), which we stocked with the following:
- Baby clothes: newborn, size 0-3 month, and 3 month sizes (shirts, pants, sweaters, socks, full body suits, stocking caps. We had about 5 outfits in newborn size, 10 in 0-3 months size, and 10 in 3 months size
- Newborn size diapering equipment (diapers and wipes and a travel change mat we could lay on the bed)
- Swaddle blankets which doubled as burp clothes. We had about 8.
- A travel bassinet for our baby to sleep in, with sheets for the mattress
- A nursing pillow (I wasn’t going to get this initially, but my sister talked me into it – I used it with my first baby until I got proficient at breast feeding and the baby was a bit bigger, but haven’t used one with the 2nd or 3rd)
- An infant car seat
- A baby carrier (actually, I had two – an Ergo carrier someone gave me with an infant insert, although mine was an older model than this which doesn’t allow the baby to face forward, as well as a Moby Wrap someone else gave me – I’ve kept both for all my babies because I like to have both options)
There is some additional stuff we acquired in those first 2 months (ie: some GOOD nursing bras, bamboobie breast pads, a baby sun hat, a baby bouncer seat, etc) which we didn’t have when the baby was born, but we only went and got them after we realized we did, in fact, want/need them.
By keeping to a minimalist baby set up, we made sure we only purchased and brought into our space what we truly wanted or needed. We didn’t have a lot of clutter around.
Guiding Principal #3: Don’t buy, borrow! (and if you can’t borrow, buy second hand)
Really, I can’t emphasize this enough: babies CAN cost you a TON of money – clothes, blankets, car seats, strollers, crib, etc, etc, etc. But they truly don’t have to.
A newborn’s physical needs are actually pretty minimal:
- they need a source of food (I breastfed my babies – if you plan to bottle feed, you will need to go ahead and buy some things in this category!)
- they need to stay warm/have their temperature regulated
- they need a safe way to ride in a car (unless you only use public transportation, in which case I guess you just baby wear?!)
- they need something to catch or clean their poop and pee, and
- they need a safe place to sleep.
HOW you meet these needs is up to you, and if you don’t have a huge budget or a huge space, you can do this cheaply and minimally.
How to get a minimalist baby clothing set up:
If you walk into a resale place that has kids’ clothes or if you know ANYONE who has had a baby in the recent past, you will likely find a source for at least a good amount of used clothing. Particularly in the sizes for kids under a year, they grow SO fast these clothes never get worn out with one kid’s use.
You may be able to borrow a bin of clothes from a friend (I’ve done this twice!) and source most of your baby’s wardrobe that way. Or you may be able to hit up a second hand shop and spend less than $50 and outfit your child easily for the first 6 months of their life (I do this to supplement what I get given or what I borrow from friends). It truly seems almost irresponsible to me now (after having sourced most of my clothes for my kids second hand) to buy new clothing for babies. Everyone has to clothe their baby, so there are a LOT of clothes in circulation out there. Just find a source!
How to get a minimalist baby blanket set up:
Ask around, many people will give you used ones or make you a new blanket or two from soft flannel or cotton fabric. Otherwise, second hand stores frequently have baby blankets available. You don’t need a theme, and you don’t need a certain print. Your child will not care. They just need to be warm! I was given many blankets – and I’ve since passed many of them on to other people or sent them to the Opp Shop!
How to acquire a car seat as a minimalist:
We had a friend with a baby 8 months older than ours that has some tall genetics, so right about the time our friend was moving her baby out of her infant capsule, our baby was born. She loaned it to us… and then when they had their second baby, it was also 8 months older than our second baby, so we did the loan again! And then the carseat expired, so for our third baby, I borrowed from a different friend who was holding on to her capsule waiting for another pregnancy.
Borrowing (or renting!) an infant car seat can be a good option for a minimalist baby set because nobody usually keeps their kids in it for super long, but many people want to keep it around for future kids… Sometimes they’re willing for you to “store” it while you use it so it cuts down on the clutter in their own storage space!
It’s not recommended to buy your car seats second hand due to expiry dates or not knowing what conditions the car seat endured, so borrowing from someone you know who has bought their car seat is probably the way to go on this one.
Budget-friendly minimalist diaper set up:
You can choose disposable or cloth (or elimination communication, but I don’t have any experience with that, so I’ll let you find another source for information for that plan!). We use disposables for the first couple of weeks – it’s just easier when we’re in the sleep-deprived newborn haze! – but then we switch to cloth during the day.
I sourced my cloth waterproof Thirsties Duo-Wrap covers second hand for the smallest size. In my experience, many people will buy a cloth diaper set up when they have a new baby (or before) and then not hardly use it, so there’s often cloth diapering equipment that’s really only gently used especially in that newborn to 6 month size. (For size 2 of the Thirsties duo wrap, I’ve needed to buy more of them new… but you won’t need that size until the baby is at least 4-6 months usually). And then I found used, old-fashioned flat diapers at second hand stores. You can use almost any kind of absorbent material (cotton or bamboo tend to be ideal) to wrap around the baby’s bum, so I prioritized getting the better covers and just winged it a bit on the inner absorbent material. A couple of plastic “snappi’s” will secure most kinds of fabric, regardless of their shape.
Disposables are, of course, super easy. But I feel better about myself as a human and consumer on this planet when I use at least partial cloth (and I also feel like, especially having subsequent kids, it’s been much cheaper overall).
UPDATE: when I was pregnant with my third baby, I found a bulk lot of Totsbots EasyFit diapers used on FB Marketplace. I have used these diapers with a Thirsties Duo Wrap cover as my cloth diapering set up for this baby, and I LOVE them. I’m planning to use them with my fourth as well. If you’re interested in getting a simple, disposable-style-like cloth diaper, I highly recommend this system!
Minimalist Baby Sleep Set Up Ideas:
We borrowed the travel bassinet from a friend whose baby was too big for it at the time. Shortly after we switched to an infant sleep hammock (bought used). We didn’t actually buy a (used) crib for our first child until her first birthday. She loved the hammock, and that’s what we used until then. With our other kids, we’ve needed to transfer them to a crib at about 4 months (once they start rolling over).
I got rid of our crib after our second baby moved out of it, and I bought a co-sleeper port-a-cot (mine is similar to the one in the link). It has been really versatile for us, and I think I’m about ready to commit to using it exclusively with our fourth baby. You could also use a cardboard box (maybe with some non-stick drawer liners under it) or a large, flat basket too. It just needs to be a flat, firm surface that is free of suffocating risks and outside dangers.
Stuff you may want to wait on until after 3 months:
I truly believe a minimalist baby set up should include planning to borrow from friends or checking second hand shops or facebook marketplace for used strollers, cribs, high chairs, and more big-item toys (if you want them) when you do eventually need them. Strollers, though, are often not useable for the first 3 months unless they lay down absolutely flat or have an infant car seat attachment. Cribs aren’t really necessary until the baby rolls and/or needs more space at night. Even so, it may not be convenient to have a full size crib until the baby moves into their own room (recommended later than you might think!). High chairs aren’t needed until the baby is ready to eat solids (generally recommended at 6 months), and things like walkers, saucers, etc, won’t be needed until the baby hits certain developmental milestones.
It just isn’t necessary to get stuff brand new – even if you plan to have a bunch of kids. I know that’s often a temptation for parents (“I’m going to get this $500 nice stroller with my first baby so I can use it for all my subsequent babies, too…” “I’m going to get this car seat system so I can use it with all my kids…”), I personally recommend borrowing or getting USED stuff to start off with, so you can trial them and know what you want to invest your money into when you’re ready to purchase something nice.
Eventually… a stroller:
We got a $30 old, used jogging stroller from the Opp Shop when our first was 4 months old, and we used it for a year before researching and finding the ideal compact stroller we finally invested in. We got it (used) for $150. That $30 was $30 well spent because when we decided we’d had enough of it, we knew EXACTLY what our ideal specifications were for a stroller – we wouldn’t have known them if we’d gone out stroller shopper when we were pregnant because we hadn’t actually lived with a baby and used a stroller yet at that point.
Also, that first stroller we had tended to “travel” to the left when you pushed it, so you HAD to use two hands to push it, and it took about 18 steps to fold it down – both gave us very specific things that we did NOT want to deal with in a new stroller!
I also found I much preferred to wear my babies for the first couple months of life rather than using a stroller, so with our first two babies, we never needed a stroller that had an infant adaptation. Our Baby Jogger City Tour (the original version, not the 2nd or subsequent version) stroller is suited for babies 3 months and older, and honestly, those first three months we were either not out walking too much, or our babies were tucked into their Moby Wrap or Ergo carrier on either me or my husband whenever we were out and about. No stroller needed.
UPDATE: with our third baby, I did use an infant capsule with a stroller that it could click onto – that was nice because I had two other kids who wanted to be outside moving around. But that wasn’t until 4.5 years into parenthood for me!
How to approach getting set up for a baby as a minimalist:
1 – First thing first: get your medical providers and insurance and finances in order at the beginning of pregnancy (ie: strollers and car seat shopping can definitely wait!)
2 – Only get what you KNOW you will truly need to bring the baby home and get through the first 2-3 months. You can add more as you need it.
3 – Borrow (or receive as gifts!) if at all possible. If that isn’t possible, buy cheap secondhand. Truly, everything you NEED is available this way. Paying full price for baby items is rarely, rarely needed.
OK, now it’s your turn:
If you’ve had kids, let me know in the comments what you think you NEEDED for your first baby. Did you have it when your baby was born? Did you have more than what you needed when your baby was born? If so, how much of what you had did you eventually use?
And if you haven’t had kids yet, what have you noticed from your friends/family that have had kids: do they tend to have a surplus of baby STUFF around? How does that make you feel when you think about having kids and that happening at your house?
Do you think you need to have a bunch of stuff to be prepared for a baby? Or is my strategy of minimal stuff to start off with and only getting what you need when you need it from there something you resonate with?
And if you want some ideas for how to prepare for a smooth postpartum down the road, check out my posts here and here on how I fine-tuned my postpartum experience with our third baby.
Let me know! I’d love to hear your perspective on this one 🙂
Leave a Reply