A Minimalist's Guide To Baby Products

Breaking down what you actually need for baby without having baby products take over your house

Things are not my thing.

Living in a small house for so long, I have really come to appreciate a minimalist and clutter free approach to keep my home feeling less overwhelming. We just don’t have the space! And keeping our things to a minimum has saved my sanity because small spaces become so cluttered so quickly (and luckily takes a lot less time to straighten up).

Enter baby and all of the things that babies need, or we’re told their need. Did I have a panic attack thinking about our home drowning in toys and baby gear? Yes, yes I indeed did. Does the baby gear take up a lot of room? You bet! But after 15 months of living in a 1 bedroom, 800sf house with a baby, now toddler, I can tell you that I have survived and it is manageable.

There are some things you need and will make your life easier, but there’s a lot that you can pass on that will just become clutter.

Despite what society tells you, babies are as expensive (and have as much stuff) as you allow them to be.

I’m so excited to take you through the list I’ve put together of items that have served us and our baby in the first year of life. Items that are worth your money and taking up space in your home. Things you will actually use, have a budget option or are worth the splurge.

I hope you enjoy this list coming from a mom who had no clue what she was doing, watched probably 100 baby hauls on YouTube, and has had to make things work with just a little space!

For Sleeping

The absolute bare minimum you need for baby are a safe place to sleep, a way to feed them and your love. When I would hear this it would always make me feel better about the amount of “stuff” my baby would need, but it also would give me anxiety about picking out the perfect bassinet for my daughter.

There are so many options. Like too many. And all those YouTube reviews I watched would come back to one of the most expensive ones…

Bassinets and Pack ‘n Plays

Before I dive into what I have and other options I would suggest, I want to scream from the roof tops for you to SEARCH SECONDHAND! Baby consignment fairs always have a huge selection of barely used bassinets. Look on Facebook Marketplace and in local children’s thrift stores. I firmly believe that a bassinet is not something you need to buy for top dollar brand new. In most cases your baby will only be sleeping in it for 2-6 months.

For our sleeping situation we settled on this Pack 'n Play with a bassinet and changing table insert from Graco. Because we weren’t sure when we’d be able to start construction on our home addition and when my daughter would have her own bedroom (lol still doesn’t have one) I really wanted something that would grow with her, wouldn’t take up a lot of room and would serve multiple purposes. 15 months later and this is still where she sleeps and where we change her diapers. This is on the pricier end, but we have gotten its full value out of it. No regrets, and we will be able to use it for our next baby as they grow.

A lot of the YouTube videos I watch raved about the HALO Swivel Sleeper for the ability to move the bassinet over your bed in the middle of the night. While I did not find getting out of bed and taking 2 steps an inconvenience, I can definitely see a Mom who has a lot of healing to do post-birth benefitting from this. It is definitely on the expensive side of the spectrum, but this feature may be worth it to you. Again, look on Facebook Marketplace or at a consignment sale to get a discounted price!

I also feel like a no-frills budget friendly bassinet like this one is a perfect option and will do exactly what you need it to do: give your baby a safe place to sleep.

I’m also going to throw in here that I LOVED these bassinet sheets. They are so soft and held up beautifully. I even purchased the Pack 'n Play sheets once my daughter out grew her bassinet, and we’re still using them!

Sleeping accessories

Here are a few other sleeping accessories that I found helpful and my baby enjoyed. Definitely not necessities but nice to have and I plan on using them again.

Sound Machines:

Hatch Sound Machine - This is a pricier sound machine with a built in light and lots of ways to customize it. I plan on buying a second one for our new baby
Budget Friendly Sound Machine - Here is a simpler option that includes a light
Baby Shusher - We used this in combination with our Hatch for the first few months of my daughters life. This one has a timer on it so it will not go all night

Swaddles and Sleepsacks:

HALO Sleepsack Swaddle - We really liked this swaddle/sleepsack option. You are able to velcro baby’s arms in to create a swaddle and then transition it to a sleepsack once they begin to roll
Nested Bean Zen Sack - This one is so soft and include a bean bag type weight in the middle of it to rest on your baby’s chest

Definitely check out your local children’s thrift store for some great swaddle and sleep sack options. I was able to find a few HALO ones for $10 each one time!

For Feeding

I breastfed and pumped for my baby once I went back to work for 7 months, and then we switched to formula. I go into depth on products I loved for breastfeeding here but will list a few of my favorites:

Nursing Gear

Nursing Pillows: The one item that I suggest having multiple of that I’ve never heard anyone suggest before are nursing pillows! I found it so much easier to keep one in each spot I nursed (on my couch and in my bed) than to bring it from room to room. I got a Boppy at my baby shower and had a friend give me a My Brest Friend pillow that was used. I personally preferred the My Brest Friend which is a little more expensive, but this is definitely something you can find at a thrift store or maybe have a friend you could borrow one from.
Milk Catcher: While you’re nursing your baby on one breast, putting a suctioning milk catcher on the other will not only keep you dry by catching any milk that leaks, but it can help you build up a freezer stash! I started doing this right from the beginning and was able to save probably 100oz of milk in my first month of breastfeeding. I used the Elvie Catch and loved it so much. Its a little bit more expensive than the Haakaa that is loved by many, but the Catch is breast shaped and fits in your bra which was super convenient and didn’t get in the way. This is something I’ll purchase for all of my close friends in the future.
Reusable Nursing Pads: I preferred these to the disposable ones. I think they’re extremely affordable. Just toss them in the wash and they’re as good as new!

Bottle Feeding

Bottles are very much a preference of the baby. Lucky for us my baby wasn’t too picky so we were able to use what we preferred as parents.

These were my go-to for all things bottles:

Philips Bottles: I ended up getting this as a free sample, and it became our favorite bottle. I plan on purchasing a set of these for our second baby.
Medela Bottles: I had a Medela breastpump (which I hated), but we loved their bottles! Super simple and really affordable. I’ll probably repurchase another set of these as well.
Bottle Brushes: Never did I ever think I would have such a preference for bottle brushes… But after not being able to purchase just the high end brushes I loved (they cam in a bottle set) I have fallen in love with these Amazon Brand brushes! Not only are they really high quality, but a pack of 3 is super affordable. I’ll be stocking up on these before baby comes.
Bottle Drying Rack: A lot of moms love this Grass Drying Mat, but for me not having a lot of counter space I knew this wouldn’t work for us. Instead I opted for this Space Saving Rack. Super affordable and had no complaints about it. I also really liked this Travel Drying Rack for when we needed extra drying space for pump parts or if I was away for the night and had to let my pump parts dry.

Out and About

Getting out of the house with baby can honestly be one of the most exhausting, but much needed things you do in the first few month of their life.

Here are a few essentials you’ll need and I found helpful to have the best success with outings:

Infant Car Seat: We honestly went with one of the cheaper end of the spectrum infant car seats. We were actually gifted a hand-me-down Graco Snugride but it expired when my daughter turned 10 months, and I ended up buying another one to get her to the end of her first year and to use for future babies. Target does a car seat sale every 6 months and thats when I bought our new one. But Amazon seems to have great prices on them regularly, especially with Black Friday and Prime Days.
Diaper Bag: We have a Diaper Bag Back Pack and a Small Back Pack that we use for quick outings. I honestly prefer the smaller back pack (I originally bought this to carry my pump around when I was at a bachelorette party) 90% of the time its the perfect size for what we need.
A Stroller: There is such a wide variety of stroller and stroller price ranges, this is something you’re going to need to spend some time researching to be honest. For us we ended up getting two strollers : a Mockingbird to keep in my car and a Jeep Jogging Stroller to use on our very rough dirt road. The Mocking bird converts into a double stroller which I’m excited to do for baby #2 and the jogging stroller is perfect for our unique house location. I will need to get a new stroller for our road for baby #2 because the jogging stroller does not convert into a double. I plan on getting this wagon stroller. I have been really happy with the Jeep brand overall. This has an insert for the infant car seat and will easily grow with our family.

Baby Wearing

Something I absolutely loved and made life so much easier was baby wearing. I miss it so much now that I barely do it with my toddler, and cannot wait for those days again with baby #2. You definitely do not need all of the options below! But, I wanted to list them all out so you can pick which is best for you.

Structured carriers: I loved this very Budget Friendly Carrier over this Highly Recommended Pricey Carrier. The Ergo Baby just did not fit me well as a petite person. I used the structured carrier while on walks or out at events with baby where I knew I would be standing up for a while.
Baby Wraps: I put the baby wrap on for the first time probably 2 weeks into my baby’s life and oh my gosh I felt like I got my life back. It allowed me to move around while baby slept. Get things done. Calm a baby who did not like being put down. I felt sane again. I used this Budget Friendly Wrap that I actually got off of facebook marketplace. It was great! However, a little hot for the summer months and extremely long. This time around I may splurge for a new one with light weight fabric for the summer months.
Ring Sling: This is a baby carrier that I have not tried but very interested in getting one for baby #2. Here are a couple options I’m looking at Splurge Ring Sling, Budget Ring Sling

For the house

Something that I think gets overlooked and purchased on a whim because your child is all of a sudden mobile are baby gates!

This is something I suggest planning out, buying ahead of time, and not going for the cheapest option. You will want something sturdy, durrable and will hold up for many years.

We have had this one for almost 5 years now and I couldn’t be happier with it! We have this one between an opening that steps down.

I also bought this one to go across our slider opening (we have one of those magnetic screen doors), so this has been nice to allow us to leave the door open but still make sure my daughter cannot get outside.

Pick 2 of the following. You don’t need all 4 of these!

I really do not think you need all of these things. You will find that your baby maybe even hates one of them. These are those big items that can take up a lot of room, so if you don’t have the space, don’t feel like you need all of the things!

Bouncer: People swear by the BabyBjorn, but it’s incredibly expensive. Here is a great dupe! I did not have a bouncer with my first, but I did find a BabyBjorn at a thrift store for $20 when she was a little too big for one. So I’m excited to try it out for baby #2!

Rocker: I loved this rocker for my first, and she liked it too! We kept it on our kitchen table so she was out of reach from the dog and could be at eye level with us. Here’s more affordable option with a similar aesthetic.

Swing: There are so many baby swings out there, and I found it hard to pick one because they all had mixed reviews. Plus your baby may hate swinging one way compared to the other. We had this swing. My baby would last maybe 15 minutes in it so it wasn’t a huge staple in our house, but I loved how light weight it was and how it could swing in both directions. This swing is a favorite, but large. And this one folds up to be space saving.

Lounger: This baby container is constantly in the news for being recalled because of people letting their babies sleep in them unsupervised. Please do not do that. This is one of those things that your baby may use a ton for the first few months and then you wont need it anymore. Dock-a-tot and Snuggle Me are two popular brands that are pretty expensive, but beautiful. I opted for this one because of the affordability. My baby loved it until she started sitting. It was a great place to put her when I needed to put her down for a, have floor time with the play gym over it, or have tummy time. I’m excited to use this again!

Toys

Now we have reached the final section of this article, and probably the category I was most afraid of as a first time mom not wanting her house to be exploding with toys.

Let me start off by saying that it is true what you’ll hear a lot of people say - kids do not need a ton of toys! Seriously, one of my daughters favorite thing to play with is an empty Advil bottle…

But, I do want to share with you toys that I have found to be worth taking up space in our house!

Newborn: You really do not need a ton of toys for a newborn. I think we had a little basket of 5 or 6 items for the first few months that we rotated through. Some of these I had no clue how great they were until we started using them!

Stroller toys: not only do these not take up a lot of room, but we got a ton of use out of them and they’re really cheap. They all have different shapes, textures and features, your baby wont get bored of them. Some are great for teething and the “in the mouth” phase too. Sloth, Avocado, Llama
Tummy Time Mirror with high contrast images: this was another space saving toy that provided a lot of entertainment for a long time for my daughter. You can also hang it on the back of a seat in the car to keep them entertained!
Play Gym: THIS was probably the best $30 I’ve ever spent. We had bought this wooden play gym for my daughter, which she did love and use. But this one she still continues to use the piano on at 15 months. Its colorful and obnoxious looking, but the babies love it! There are so many different brands and styles you can get, I’m sure they’re all great. But I would highly recommend buying something like this!
Teething toys: All babies love to explore with their mouth. Here are a few toys we got a lot of value out of! Teether with rattle, Teething Hippo

4+ Months:

Activity Center: We loved This Activity Center. It made a perfect gift idea for Christmas!. She started using it at 5 months, and once she was moving around and didn’t want to be contained anymore, we turned it into a table. Excited to be able to get even more use out of this with our next baby.
Walker: this Sit-to-Stand walker is such a classic! My friend actually found one for free on the side of the road for us. We used this for months before my daughter was even using it as a walker. She loved all the songs and button on it. We also ended up getting this beautiful wooden shopping cart that she loves putting her stuffed animals and random toys in to truck around the house.