5 Baby Products for the Minimalist Mom
I only had 3 of my 5 daughters as infants, but the youngest 3 are all within 20 months of each other. I had babies up to my eyeballs for a while there.
I lived in a 2 bedroom condo at first, and then moved into my current 3 bedroom home a month before my 5th daughter came home from the hospital. I had to be a minimalist with raising my kids in smaller homes, and I wanted to share my absolute 5 must haves with one of them being a substitute for a recalled product.
1. Boppy Pillow
I absolutely loved my Boppy pillows because Nora had some feeding/sensory issues right away. She came to me at a month old, and she was only eating about 8 oz a day according to the case worker. She dribbled out of her mouth as she sucked, and she took absolutely forever to eat. Long story short, she preferred to be prop fed in the Boppy. I know, I know. Don’t prop feed babies. Everyone told me that, and some even tried to hold her while feeding her. NAS babies are unique though. This kid would refuse to eat if she were being held. I was always watching her and burping her every 1-3 oz at a time. We used it for introducing tummy time (she was very reluctant and screamed the whole time) and as a support for when they were learning to sit up and play.
2. Sit-Me-Up
This novel invention was only used by my last two babies, but man oh man! I loved this contraption. I am a huge fan of it. I prefer this over the Bumbo seat because they can’t arch their backs and fall out of it. I didn’t have one with the tray, but I wish I would have.
3. The Rock-n-Play **Recalled**
So the beloved Rock-n-Play was recalled just a couple of weeks after my youngest stop using it, and I have to say it made me sad because I used it a lot. So my substitute for it, based off my observations, would be the Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker. I don’t remember seeing those until Spring 2019, but I would definitely use that.
So I used a bassinet with Nora, and it worked for like a week, but I used a mini crib for Mia and Lucy for the majority of their first year, actually. I think mini cribs are more useful long term. Mia and Lucy also never had to struggle with transitioning into a crib because they never slept in anything else. They were both NICU babies, and they were used to being swaddled and left to sleep. So that’s exactly what I did. I always laid them down to sleep for some of their naps and every night. I keep my mini crib folded up under my bed because it’s also easier to set up than a pack’n’play.
This single stroller is so versatile and compact! It’s my favorite by far. It can adjust to an incline position easily, and the seat can face forwards or backwards. I love the coverage the shade gives, and the basket is just the right size. The structure and frame of the stroller is sturdy, but it folds up compactly! I have used this stroller with my children as young as 3 months and as old as 6. The weight limit is 50 lbs.
What are your baby must haves?
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