6 Baby Items You Don’t Need
When I was creating my registry with my first baby I was scouring the web reading what other people put on their list, watching videos of the must-haves, and if you’ve ever watched one of those it can be so overwhelming! I’m so glad I found a few resources beforehand that put into perspective what *normal infant behavior was and things to keep in mind for health purposes. Here is a list of common baby items that I DIDN’T buy or have on my registry.
1.BASSINET // CRIB
The first thing I didn’t buy was a crib or a bassinet. I’m sure so many people are thinking whattttt? This was one of the things I went back and forth with so many times! One of the things I started realizing is that there are a lot of transitions that babies CAN go through like bottle > sippy cup > straw up > open cup, and the same with sleep; bassinet > crib > toddler bed > regular bed. I’m trying to minimize as many of those transitions as possible simply to make things easier. Once I decided that we would bed share and then he would use a floor bed it was an easy decision to ditch the crib and bassinet. Now there are a lot of other things that go along with no crib like a fully baby-proof room, but it still felt like the right decision for us. Now three years later I’m so happy that we didn’t spend money on a crib and instead spent the money on a twin frame that is designed to be a floor bed that he’ll have for most of his young life.
Another factor that played into this decision was with Ace, we just truly didn’t have to space to have a bassinet in the room. It was also so hard for me to justify spending money on a product that gets such limited use.
2. MONITOR
The house that we were in when Ace was born is pretty small. I would also be sleeping with him the majority of the time there was no need for a monitor and I didn’t feel the need to watch him on a video monitor. I liked the idea of limiting the amount of EMFs that we are exposed to as well.
*update*
I did end up buying the VTech audio-only monitor when Ace was about 1.5 years old, so we could shut his bedroom door and it was nice just to be able to step outside or shut our bedroom door as well and still be able to hear him.
3. BABY LOTION/SOAPS/DIAPER CREAMS
I feel like this is one of the areas where marketing has done such an incredible job of telling us the products we need for our babies to be clean, BUT I don’t think it’s necessary at all. Most skin care products (even adults) contain so much junk that it can be more harmful to our skin. The only soap I use on my own body is Alevia. With the kids, I don’t use soap at all unless Ace has mud heavily caked on his body 🙂 He also hates having his hair wet/washed so that rarely happens, and when it does I also just use the Alevia body wash. Marcella is 3 weeks old and still hasn’t had her first proper bath. I just wipe her down with a warm cloth, but I will likely tackle a bath in the next week.
For lotion for the kids, I just use coconut oil or 100% shea butter. Only one ingredient and no synthetic ingredients or fragrances.
With Ace, we never really ran into any issues with diaper rash. I would just use coconut oil on him after the bath and if I felt like he was getting a rash or irritation then we would just spend some time outside and diaper-free to just let the area get some fresh air and sunshine.
4. NURSERY DECORATION
For most first-time parents I feel like there is a heavy emphasis (once again, great job marketing teams 👏🏼) on getting the nursery set up before the baby comes, which to me is so ironic because typically the baby isn’t even in their room for the first several months. I wish there was more emphasis on spending time preparing and educating yourself about birthing options and preparing for postpartum versus spending hours looking up what color to paint the walls…Now I’m just here offering a different perspective than what I feel is the cultural norm. If you love decorating and that’s what excites you then go for it! But if you’re already stressed about birth and postpartum, spend your time preparing for that, and don’t worry about that nursery decor!
5. DIAPER BAG
If you haven’t caught on by now the baby industry is loaded with products that aren’t super necessary, but they know parents are super vulnerable to spending that $$. I’m not saying a diaper bag isn’t necessary, BUT what I am saying is you don’t need to go out and buy some fancy bag that costs hundreds of dollars. I had a backpack that was an old camera bag that worked perfectly as a diaper bag!
6. BATHTUB
As I’ve mentioned we lived in a small house when Ace was born and we still live in a small house. I’m always looking to declutter and decide if XYZ products are worth storing. A big bulky bathtub was not on the list for me. When Ace was really small I just had him in the bath with me and then as he got a little older I would just put an inch or two of water and lay a towel down under his head for comfort and let him kick, splash, and move around as he wanted.