As a mum of three, and striving minimalist, people always ask me what my must have baby products are. Here is an in-conclusive list of what products I love when bringing a new baby home, specifically to make life easier!
1) A pram you LOVE!
If you are like me (and have lots of young kids or just love getting out and about) your pram will get used every day. If you try and skimp on the pram features you require I believe you will be cursing your pram every time you pull it in and out of your car (and trying to pull it down in a packed car park while you have a line up of cars waiting for you). See where in your "baby budget" you can save a little bit of money to spend a little bit extra on a pram you love. Look for one that:
- Fits into your car (with space for your shopping)
- You can lift in and out of your car (some weigh over 15kg)
- Pushes well (especially with one hand as your wrangle a toddler)
- Suits the terrain required (if you plan on walking/running with your pram some “strollers” wont suit)
I went with the baby jogger city select (https://babyjoggerstrollers.com.au/product/city-select/) as we knew we wanted kids close together (we were crazy) and I loved the big wheels for walking and all terrains. I also loved that the seats could face any direction and it would take a capsule. We just recently downsized to the baby jogger city tour lux and I love that too! As very small folding single pram as my babies have now turned into kids.
2) A baby carrier
I honestly could not have survived life without my baby carrier, especially for the second or third babies. They are worth their weight in gold! Mine got used around my house (with an unsettled baby whilst needing to cook, or actually achieve something in my day), grocery shopping, or any occasion (it was guaranteed to put my babies to sleep)!
Look for one that:
- Suits your climate(is light and cool if needed)
- You can put on quick and easy (test in scenarios of having a screaming baby or a toddler running around the shopping centre)
- Your partner will wear too
We chose the baby bjorn (https://www.babybjorn.com.au/baby-carriers/baby-carrier-original/) as it suited all of these things for us! I still to this day love it (and wish I could still use one).
3) Muslin Wraps
Baby muslin wraps
are a necessity of life. They honestly served so many roles, from a swaddle for sleep, to a breast feeding cover, to a pram blanket or cover, to a baby comforter. I have a collection of them, two for home for sleep time, one in the nappy bag (for a feeding cover, or pram cover, or pram blanket).
I obviously used our Savannah and Three organic baby wrap range (https://savannahandthree.com/collections/handmade-baby-wraps). Made from 100% organic sweet pea double gauze, they were light and airy for our central Qld climate, and totally pretty.
4) Clothing
Lets face it, a newborn (if your lucky) is always a sleep (or supposed to be). I am a stickler for the rules and would only dress my newborns in 100% cotton (it’s the best for the skin and doesn’t make them sweat). So all you need for probably the first 4 months of life is a stack of cute 100% cotton onsies (even in summer, think aircon in shops, cars etc). I found www.nextdirect.com to have the best range of cotton onsies (a lot sold in shops aren’t 100% cotton, even ones sold as pajamas), what’s even better is – they have free delivery!
5) Furniture
Here’s somewhere you can save some baby budget money. For baby number two we bought a second hand cot, and new baby mattress, and re-purposed an old chest of drawers for our nursery set. We (well let’s face it, he didn’t have much say, so I) chose the colour I wanted from the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint range (https://www.anniesloan.com/about-annie-sloan) and gave it new life (it is non-toxic and fully tested to be child and toy safe). It has become my favourite nursery set out of the two and we even got rid of our expensive nursery suite when we only needed one cot. What’s best about it is, we put a change pad on top of the drawers so once they are out of nappies, we just got rid of the change pad and you have a fully functional chest of drawers.
