I really hate having a lot of stuff sitting around my house. So I totally get it when new parents want to create a minimalist baby registry.
After all, I’m a firm believer that babies don’t need much of anything to be healthy and happy. But when you’re creating a baby registry, it can be easy to go a little nuts.
There are so many adorable and useful-looking products to buy for babies!
You really don’t need most of them – especially if you’re willing to sacrifice a little convenience for the sake of simplicity.
But it can be tough to resist the marketing coming at you. So many companies are determined to get new parents to buy stuff!
But if you don’t want to have your home overflowing with baby stuff, here are some simple, minimalist tips to keep in mind when you create your baby registry.
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First: Get your minimalist baby registry in order
If you find items on this list that you think you might want but aren’t ready to commit to purchasing just yet, never fear! Just throw it on your Amazon Baby Registry and you can come back to it whenever.
You’ll get a completion discount on most things on your registry as you get close to your due date. And who knows, a generous relative might buy that ridiculously expensive jogging stroller you’ve been coveting!
Skip the Clothes on a Minimalist Baby Registry
People love buying baby clothes. Everyone and their mother will buy an outfit for your baby.
Even if you register for zero articles of baby clothing, you will be drowning in adorable baby outfits. Particularly the newborn to 6 months sizes, so definitely avoid those at the very least.
It could be smart to register for sizes 9 months and beyond, just consider what season it will be when your baby gets to that size!
And remember, there are oodles of baby clothes already floating around that you can easily pick up second hand on the miniscule chance that you don’t receive enough clothes.
And if you have minimalist friends who’ve already had babies, they will probably be more than happy to pass on clothes that their kids have outgrown!
Look For Items That Will Grow With Your Baby
If you want to keep “stuff” to a minimum in your home, look for items that your baby can use for a long time. Technically, you can skip the infant car seat and go straight to a convertible seat if you really want to cut down on clutter. If you buy a Graco 4ever seat, they’ll be able to use it for up to 10 years!
You can also buy cribs that convert into twin or full size beds, so you won’t have a crib to store or get rid of after a year or two.
Consider What You Might Be Able to Borrow
Sometimes there are baby products that are truly useful to have around, like a swing, an exersaucer or a bassinet. But things like that take up a lot of space and are difficult to store. And you only use them for a short time before your baby grows out of them!
I like to borrow (or purchased used) as many of these items as I can, because it’s much easier to get rid of stuff that you didn’t receive as a gift from someone and that you didn’t pay a lot of money for.
So definitely skip the large items on your minimalist baby registry!
Don’t Add Toys to Your Minimalist Baby Registry
Babies love playing with everything but their toys. Seriously, if you put a toy and another random object in front of a baby, they will choose the random object every time.
There’s basically no point in buying baby toys.
Not to mention, toys are right up there with clothes in terms of how much people love to buy them for babies, so you’ll probably wind up with a bunch anyway!
Put Beautiful Things on Your Baby Registry
If you absolutely must buy things that are new, I suggest finding baby stuff that is more pleasant to look at. Most things for babies are very loudly colored and made of cheap plastic.
You might have to search a little harder, but go for wooden whenever you can! I personally love this wooden baby gym. It even folds up for storage!
It’s so much more pleasant to have baby things around when they don’t clash so horribly with your home decor. Plus, wooden toys are better for babies anyway!
My Favorite Minimalist Baby Registry Items
Having said that, there are some products that are fantastic and can make life as a mom a whole lot easier. They are totally worth the space they take up!
1. MAM Newborn Pacifiers
I have a love hate relationship with pacifiers. It’s nice to have something shove into a baby’s mouth when they get fussy.
But when they’re dependent on them for sleep, that’s when it gets frustrating. I spent a lot of nights leaning over the side of the crib holding a pacifier in my newborn’s mouth so she would sleep.
Then I read somewhere that MAM pacifiers were great for newborns because they’re smaller and lighter than most other pacifiers. I was desperate, so I ran off to the store right away to grab a couple.
It worked like a charm! She was only a few weeks old at the time, and she was able to keep the MAM in her mouth the whole car ride home. That had never happened before!
Just make sure you get the newborn variety, and not the ones made for older babies.
2. A good diaper bag
No matter how minimalist you try to be with a baby, you’re still going to need something to carry around a few basic baby essentials in.
To avoid having your diaper bag turn into clutter in the near future, choose one that you like and you would continue to use yourself even after the baby doesn’t need it any more.
I recommend getting a backpack style bag. It’s a lot easier to be able to carry a diaper bag around on your back that it is to balance it on your shoulder all the time.
This is the one that I got for myself.
3. Swaddles
Sleep is worth a lot.
If I had to pick one baby item to recommend to new parents (even minimalist ones!), it would be this. Babies love to be swaddled, but trying to figure out how to properly origami wrap a child at 2 in the morning is beyond frustrating.
I love the Halo Sleepsacks, but Woombies are also awesome if you want to skip the wrapping part altogether.
4. A white noise machine
A white noise machine was a lifesaver for us when it came to baby’s sleep. Both of our girls were (and still are) super light sleepers, so having some white noise going on to block out sounds of the rest of the world helped them to sleep a lot better.
White noise is also great for babies because they were used to quite a lot of noise in your womb before they were born, so it can be hard for them to sleep in total silence!
5. Proper nursing gear
Some women are really great at breastfeeding in public without a cover. They can discreetly whip out a boob like nobody’s business and most people around them don’t even realize that the baby isn’t just sleeping.
(If that’s you, then you might find these nursing tanks useful!
I was never good at that, and I was always terrified of accidentally exposing myself. A nursing cover just makes me more comfortable.
I only had a blanket to use with my first baby, but then with my second I discovered these nursing covers that go all the way around and provide 360 degree coverage. I didn’t have to worry about wearing two shirts or try to get the baby latched on with one hand while I held the blanket up with the other.
They also double as car seat covers, so you can confidently purchase one or two of these and know it’ll get a lot of use.You will definitely need a breastfeeding pillow when you have a new baby
6. A Boppy pillow
A Boppy is marketed as a breastfeeding pillow, but they’re so useful for so many different purposes that it definitely deserves a spot on your minimalist baby registry.
You can use the Boppy for…
- Awesome support while breastfeeding
- Sitting on after you give birth when your nether regions are tender
- A makeshift baby holder (just don’t leave them unsupervised!)
- Tummy time for baby
- Supported sitting for babies who tend to topple over
7. A Haakaa
A lot of women have a serious oversupply of milk for a few weeks until their bodies adjust to the baby’s needs.
What happens is this: you’ll be nursing the baby on one side, and the other side will start to leak everywhere. It’s a colossal waste of precious milk and makes a giant mess.
A haakaa solves that problem. You just attach it to the breast that you aren’t nursing on, and then it collects all of the milk that leaks out on that side. It saves you the mess, and helps your build up your milk stash with almost no extra work!
8. A baby carrier
A baby carrier is a no-brainer for parents putting together a minimalist baby registry.
If you invest in a good one, you could get away with skipping the bulky stroller and just plan to wear the baby everywhere you go!
If you live in a small house that’s difficult to baby proof, sometimes the easiest thing is to throw the baby in the carrier where they can sit safe and snug.
There’s also evidence that there are a lot of ways that babies benefit from babywearing.
9. A Graco 4EVER Carseat
You obviously need a car seat, but the Graco 4EVER seat is particularly amazing. I love it because it’s the only car seat your kid will ever need.
You can put your newborn in it in the rear-facing position, and it adjusts all the way to a backless booster that you can use until your child is big enough to not need a booster at all. It’s a little pricey, but you won’t have to buy new seats as your baby grows.
The only disadvantage is that you can’t take it out easily to carry the baby around in when they’re small, so you might want to consider getting an infant seat that clicks in and out of its base for the first few months.
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Melinda worked with children for years in a professional setting before becoming a full-time stay at home mom. She currently has three young children, and enjoys sharing tips and ideas about parenting and how to manage a home with excellence. She’s been featured on Heathline and Her View From Home.
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