How We Plan on Staying as Minimalist as Possible With a Baby

During the first half of my pregnancy — and before I fully dive into the “nesting” phase — I’ve spent a lot of time carefully considering how we might be able to remain as minimalist as possible once we have a baby. And it has seemed like an impossible task, as I’m constantly bombarded with lists of “essential items” to register for, which includes a complicated gadget for each and every possible situation that may or may not arise. Not to mention, every person has their own opinion on what exactly constitutes as “essential,” anyway — and then I find out each of their babies posed a different preference altogether. So I’m stuck with a laundry list of items to register for or buy myself — and not a whole lot of space to store said stuff. In response, we are hoping to resist the urge to stockpile gear and remain as minimalist as possible when we have a baby.

However, I’m not so naive as to think we will do this perfectly or even adhere to some militaristic version of minimalism, void of fun and color (for the baby) or filled with stress or legalism (for us). I understand that we will likely fail in many areas — that’s inevitable. We’ll probably purchase something that we don’t end up using or we’ll buy too much of one size of clothing and not enough of another. Or to someone else with different priorities, we still may have too much!

But thankfully, none of that matters. What matters is that we adhere to the priorities that feel right to us — and that we are free to fail, to not get it “just right.” We should simply just strive to do our best, remaining committed to our overall values and some of our pre-baby minimalist practices as well as we can.

I may look back at this some day and cringe, with a whole new perspective on what it’s actually like to have a baby, since all of this is a hypothetical guessing game for now. But I may be surprised! One of the most common things I hear from experienced moms is “I never used ________” or some version of regret for buying so much. So I’m hoping I won’t feel I have “overdone it” in my cutting back — that erring on the side of less proved to be a good idea.

So, if you’re curious, here are some ways we are trying to stay as minimalist as possible when we have a baby!

Still Sharing a Car

Brandon and I have shared a car between the two of us since we moved to Nashville in 2017. While this isn’t feasible for everyone, it has been surprisingly doable in our current life stage, as we both work from home and live in a walkable neighborhood. We had planned on buying a second car when we have our first kid, but as it gets closer, we haven’t felt compelled to make that leap just yet. This may change when we have more scheduled outings and conflicting schedules, but for now — we will both still work from home and we still live in the same walkable neighborhood. And babies don’t really have a lot on their itinerary in the beginning!

Not Registering for Some Non-Essentials

Like I mentioned, there seems to be a never-ending list of “essential items” and everyone has a different opinion about what is considered essential. We’ve made the decision to skip some of the things that seem ancillary or simply excessive. I’ve clung to the idea that we didn’t use to have so many of these gadgets back in the day — and all the babies turned out just fine. (On the other hand, I do think newly developed items that make life more safe and comfortable for them are worth considering!) There are a number of items we are purposefully not registering for, including a wipe warmer, a Diaper Genie, a bottle warmer, a knee pad for the bathtub — things like that. We may change our minds once the baby is actually here (and the trash begins to reek of poopy diapers), at which point, we will simply go on Amazon and place an order!

Using Normal Things Instead of “Baby” Branded Items

Similarly, we are using a few normal things in place of buying items specifically branded for babies. Much like the wedding industry, things designed for babies can be marked up significantly, even though they are very similar to normal everyday items. For example, we aren’t getting a diaper bag because we have a brand new Jansport backpack I recently bought for transporting my laptop to my co-working space and coffee shops. So we’ve decided to use that for a diaper bag we can both use, and instead, buying a few inserts to make it practical for a baby, including a portable diaper changing pad and an insulated cooler for storing baby bottles and/or food containers. And during pregnancy, I’ve decided to skip the fancy stretch mark cream and instead moisturize with regular unscented lotion each night as my stomach grows.

Purposefully Buying Multi-Use Items

As we’ve built our registry, we’ve purposefully tried to consider how we can get the most long-term use out of a single item. It feels wasteful to buy something that will only be used for the first few months of the baby’s life or for one specific instance. For example, we plan on having the baby sleep in an UppaBaby bassinet for the first few months while he is sleeping in our room. A friend of mine said she actually had her baby sleep in the bassinet while it was attached to the stroller, so she could easily transport him around the house without disturbing him during naptime or when it was time to feed. We also registered for an electric swing, a pack n play, and a carrier that are designed to fit infants through toddlers, so we get more life out of them as opposed to just a few months. Not to mention, pretty much everything we are registering for is in a neutral color, so we can use it for a second baby if we have a girl next!

Buying Many Items Secondhand

Y’all know I am a big fan of shopping secondhand, whether it’s buying furniture on Facebook Marketplace or sifting through clothing racks at a thrift store. I have done both for this baby — before I was even pregnant! I have collected more than 50 pieces of clothing from thrift stores already, and I don’t think I spent more than $100 total on everything, as each piece was $0.99–1.99. Thrifting baby and kids clothing makes so much sense, as they grow out of things so quickly, so it’s not worth investing hundreds and hundreds of dollars in their temporary wardrobe.

I’ve also received several free items from very generous friends and acquaintances, including a Dock-a-Tot, Boppy pillow, and an UppaBaby bassinet and infant car seat (with two bases)! Plus, I’ve purchased a few items on Facebook Marketplace, including the matching UppaBaby stroller to complete the travel system, and a crib that converts to a toddler bed. NOTE: Use your own discretion in this area, as it is not recommended to buy car seats and sleeping gear secondhand. In each of my instances, I was connected to the person in some way or another — or completely trusted their living arrangements were safe (which meant the crib was in a smoke-free environment and the car seat wasn’t in a car crash, etc.).

I’ve saved hundreds of dollars thanks to generously gifted items or buying things at a fraction of their original price. I mean…let’s just have a moment of silence for the complete Uppababy system I got for a total of $150.

Staying In our 1,200-Square-Foot House

The natural move for a growing family is often to…move, especially when they live in a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house. But we’ve long known that we will stay put in our house for several more years, even as we add a kid — even two kids — to our family. Our house was built in 1925 and the original footprint is actually a lot smaller than what it is now. I like to imagine all the families that lived in this house over the last 100 years. More than likely, there were several children and maybe even grandparents and other relatives all living under one small roof, without any problems. We’ve evolved to think we need a room for each person and for each activity, when there’s often plenty of room for multi-purpose and cohabitation. We plan on turning what is currently our guest room/Brandon’s office into the baby’s room — and an occasional guest room. We’re considering buying a convertible sofa that can turn into a guest bed on the rare occasion someone is staying with us, in which case, we’ll turn the sofa into a bed and the baby (or toddler) can just stay in our room. But most of the time, the couch will be used as a place to sit when we’re both spending time in the baby’s room together. And if we add a second baby to our family, we plan on having them share a room — even if it’s a boy and a girl. For the first couple of years, they won’t require privacy or their own personal space.

Waiting to Buy Some Things We Won’t Need for a While

As you can imagine, storage options are slim in our house. Our non-walk-in closets, tiny laundry room and 8-by-10-foot shed offer limited space for storing away unused items, which has helped us keep things pretty minimal over the last 4.5 years we’ve lived in this house. So as much as we can help it, we aren’t buying many things we’ll need further down the road, like toddler toys, a bunk bed, or tons of clothing they won’t fit into for a while. Not to mention, we’re trying to hold off on some of those bulkier items we don’t know if we’ll actually end up using at all. We can simply buy what we need as we need it — and sell or donate things we no longer need to make space for new things.

Using Furniture We Already Had

Much like avoiding all the baby branded items, we are trying our best to use some furniture we already have instead of investing in a whole new set. For example, we are keeping the tall wood dresser in the guest-room-turned-nursery instead of getting a shorter one with a diaper changing station on top. We’ve heard from multiple people that they rarely used that area for changing diapers and ended up doing it on the floor, on the couch, or on their bed instead. So instead, we are registered for a portable changing pad we can move throughout the house (and easily fold away when it’s not in use).

Not Having an Excessive Amount of Each Item

Just as important as deciding what to register for or buy is deciding how much of each thing to register for or buy. For the things you want a backup for (like crib sheets and mattress protectors), we are trying to stick to two of each item, as opposed to three or four. The chance of a disastrous night (with more than one accident) is very rare, and if it were to happen, we would just figure it out. We are also trying to minimize the clothing we have as much as possible, realizing he will probably wear the same rotation of plain old onesies, especially in the beginning. And when it comes time to play with toys, we are going to monitor the influx pretty heavily, making sure there’s not too much clutter, or hiding some away and rotating them periodically. But that’s a whole other bridge we’ll cross down the road!

Any Advice?

I’d love to hear how other families stayed minimal when introducing a baby into their family! Let me know if you have any tips or tricks up your sleeve — we’re currently accepting any and all minimal parenting advice.