New Baby - small house and minimalism

[BelfastNonBlonde]

Hi all - I am in my second trimester, bored in work, and starting to think about how we need to start planning for new baby.

Whilst there is so much out there, I am keen to keep our house with some semblance of space and order, to find ways to multi-use items as much as possible and also just to generally cut down on the amount of baby stuff. (They are only tiny little things after all!)

There is obviously therefore a lot of "nice to haves" but which are not essential.

We live in a small 2 bed house (the small room will be a nursery / general storage room). Our bedroom is small with not much space for a standalone crib / basinette in it.
I have invested in a Finnish Baby Box, however, so intend to use that for sleeping for the first few months.

I drive a fair bit so our lifestyle isn’t public-transport-only but I do walk to do errands and things.

Any tips / must haves / space savers etc. much appreciated.

Thanks

I think you'll pretty quickly get rid of the baby box to be honest. Has it arrived yet because surely that's not much smaller than a next2me crib? And less practical.

For the first few months you need very little. I'd recommend some kind of bouncer chair that's easily portable (so you can have it in the bathroom while you shower/kitchen while you cook etc. That and a changing table with underneath storage were all the equipment DS had until he was 15mos and I finally stopped cosleeping and moved him in to a bed.

Oh, and a sling. Couldn't have managed without a sling.

@DivGirl Thanks so much. BabyBox is ordered but it will also be handy for sleeping downstairs / in my mums etc. even if not good for long term in our room.

So a co-sleeper like next to me could last for over 12 months? Are they convertible into mini-crib types for babies more than a few months?

Gah! So much to consider, but at the same time I know there isnt really so long as you cover the basics... where to sleep / and somewhere secure for them to be put so I can do other normal adulting!

Just very easy to to wrapped up in all the various gizmos and gadgets out there - which I'm trying to avoid..

I don't think a changing table is needed - we just store a changing mat behind the sofa and have a wee basket with changing things at the ready. Plan to keep the pram in your car, it doesn't really need to come indoors! I wish I had known that when we had our utility room kitted out. A bouncer chair I agree is very handy, but you also get seeing chair things - good but take up much more space and not so readily moved. For when baby is older, you get jumping jack things that go over a door frame for baby to bounce in!

*swinging chairs, not seeing chairs!

We had a tutti Bambini crib which attached to the bed and could also be used as a travel cot as it folded flat. It lasted till about 6 months. Did all nappy changes on the floor, changing mats lived under armchairs/beds in between uses. Pram wheels lived in the car, pram top was used for downstairs naps.
TBH our smallish house weathered the baby stage very well, we are now overrun with toddler toys though!
Baby Bjorn bouncers are expensive new but last ages and easily fold flat for moving round the house as needed. I wish I'd got ours sooner.

Ds hated a sling, and we didn't bother with a changing table, just a box under the sofa downstairs with nappies and wipes and a change mat and the same upstairs.

A chair and play mat, ikea £10 high chair and that's about it for necessities (high chair not for a good 6 months mind)

A wrap can save on a pram. A stretchy one for the first few months to then be replaced by a woven one post 6 months. M

You might find that the hardest thing is dealing with all the things you’re given!

We used a mat instead a changing table and never bothered with a nursing chair.

I used a baby gym a lot, but a fabric one folds easily.

I cleared off my chest of drawers and put a changing mat on that. Doing some of the changes at a decent height does help the old back. Changing supplies were in two plastic crates, upstairs and down. We had a lie back springy chair and an ikea high chair and baby slept in a Moses basket that we carried up and down.

I think it gets worse when the get to 12 months or so and have a fleet of sit on and push along toys, gifted by loving relatives

You're right that babies don't need much stuff but do be prepared for an influx of clutter as baby gets older. My 5 year old just accumulates stuff and it's much harder to control than when they're tiny as they are
deeply attached to all the random junk....!! So just something to bear in mind for the future.

You don’t NEED a change table but I use ours multiple times a day, I like the height it’s at and whenever we go away my back hurts after a day or so of changes on the floor/bed. Ours has drawers underneath for storing nappies, wipes, muslins etc, we also keep all her sleeping bags, sheets and towels and so on in it so not wasted space. It’s from Ikea. I use reusable wipes so they live in tubs there, not sure I’d want a bucket of pooey wipes sitting in my living room tbh.

Next 2 me is unlikely to last a year. Even if they physically still fit in it, once they start pulling themselves up to sit, it’s no longer safe, they need a cot with high sides at that point. It will probably last til 6m. No reason you can’t just have a cot from the off, if there’s room for it in your room that is.

Pram can live in the car, ours does!

I’ve barely bought a single toy and yet the Finnish baby box I got (free from somewhere) is now overflowing with toys. People are generous!!

I’m not sure children are overly minimalist unfortunately, despite my thoughtful buying of toys through the ages so far, our house is over flowing with toys & teddies & books! Birthdays & Christmas and more appear from family & friends But I wouldn’t have it any other way.. I have some neat storage boxes and make my living room look presentable each evening! Life is different now we have a kid

As a young baby - changing mat, pram or sling (my daughter hated it 🤷🏼‍♀️), car seat obvs (isofix gives a lot more peace of mind), cot for 6 months plus, Moses basket for your bedroom 0-6 months or co-sleep if you feel comfortable .. you can easily move the Moses around the house & they are usually fairly small.. and a few toys, rattles, books with bright images. We found our video monitor invaluable as our daughter did a 4/5 hour stint of sleep from 6pm-10/11pm and we popped her down and went off to make dinner and watch a bit of TV as a couple. Tiny bit of precious couple time! She’s 2.5 now & we still use it! These days to see if she’s still in bed as she likes to get up & play with her toys when she’s supposed to be asleep!

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies. Definitely appreciate children are not "minimalist" by nature - but just keen to not over clutter unnecessarily.

We got a pup earlier this year and she already seems to be accumulating belongings faster than us!

I will look into the Moses basket for our room I think - as it could be portable for downstairs sleeping also, and then just a cot from 6 months on I guess!

Thanks for the swing / rocker suggestions - also very helpful! We have a space in our living room that could hold a decent dresser / changing table so that might be a good shout for extra storage also.

Yes - totally appreciate there will also be an influx of gifts and toys - but we'll just have to manage that (Gumtree) when we come to it...

Our dogs favourite toy is an old milk carton - so hopefully they can just share ;)

I bought a tutti Bambino crib but barely used it (apart from for storage) as baby ended up sleeping in our bed...
He slept a tiny bit in the baby box in living room when very small - it's now his toy storage box.
For nappy changes we just used an IKEA changing mat that we put on the bed to start with - although we stopped bothering and just use towels/nothing now (only backfired once or twice...)
You really don't need much stuff!

My baby loves to play with milk cartons, so they will definitely be able to share!

I had a Tutti Bambini Cozee bedside crib where my DD slept for the first 6 months in our room. It folded down easily and fit in a carry case so we could take it on holiday with us. It fit her until she was about 8 months so was handy to use at grandparents' houses for naps.

Invest in a good sling/wrap and get one that will grow with the baby so it will last longer.

We have a changing table but found this SO much more convenient for changes as it doesn't hurt your back bending over. I'd recommend a nappy disposal bin though I know that not everyone classes them as essential. It has been incredibly useful for us!

A bouncer chair you can fold down or store easily is a good idea so you can move it around the house and put baby down. We had one of the baby play mats with arches of toys but I wouldn't bother with that if we have another child. It was huge and difficult to clean and she outgrew it within a matter of months. Much better to put a blanket/quilt down with one of those wooden foldable toy frames you can get quite cheaply on eBay - I also think they look nicer!

Unless a really good deal comes up that you can't miss I would honestly hold off with the baby gear until it's clear that you'll need it. I bought a cot that ds was never in.
Some things that we never used; baby bath (he just came in deep bath with me), nursing chair, changing table, infant stage car seat (used cybex sirona from day 1), bouncers, swing, any sort of expressing or sterilising equipment, special baby food makers, nappy bins.

An option for a cot is the chicco lullago, it's the same size as the next to me but zips down to floor level so can be used til much older. We had the 1st version as a bedside cot which was great, waterproof mattress thicker than most foldable cots.

@theruffles, @Beseen19
Thanks both - excellent suggestions - and yes, totally get waiting to buy something until we've decided its definitely needed.. Will be putting that plan in action!

Kids are so different DD was in a Moses basket for ages, DS never slept in the bloody thing - preferred the cot. We (just) had space to put the big cot next to our bed with the mattress on the highest setting (but bars in place) so you can stroke without moving from bed.

My back hated co sleeping when I gave in to it - knowing baby was in bed meant I never moved, so I was seized solid in the morning.

You will need to be very controlling with gifts from relatives to be remotely minimalist once toys start being played with. Even the crappest broken plastic toys become the most precious thing ever to a 3/4 year old and they have ridiculous memories too.

My must have list:
Cot
Sling
Car seat (isofix prevents tears when you're so tired you can't think straight let alone get seat belt tensions right - it took me about an hour of unsuccessful googling to notice that a strap was placed on a not solid bar of plastic and was therefore removable the first time DS exploded his nappy all over the car seat!)
Lots of babygros and vests
Sleeping bags/grosnugs
When you get to the point of socks, get thousands of them. They are tiny and many babies can remove them well before they can roll. Sock ons were utterly useless - one went with the sock on the second use!
Turn TV cabinet into storage for child junk so it can go away and you get an adult room back. Kallax is ideal. Initially good for nappies, spare clothes and Muslims, plus the inevitable soft toy gifts!

We were in 1 bed flat. I would suggest turning down most hand me downs if you get offered them as you need loads of space to store stuff until your baby grows into it, just buy the size you need off eBay and re-ebay as they outgrow. I bought more pricey baby gear (mostly second hand) because it folded flat and was easier to move around - the baby Bjorn bouncer fit under our coffee table, the baby Bjorn folding high chair which is £££ But you can resell for almost what you paid. Check out the website Minimalist Mom which has a guide to what you will need and lots of good ideas. Slings are good, umbrella folding buggies from
6 months - you can buy a rack to hang them off the back of the door, next to me was great for first few months, then sold it for £10 less than I paid and Co-slept, then moved onto an Ikea cot that converts into a toddler bed up to age 3/4), floor mat for changing although I agree it is hell on your back, just had a box full of nappies, wipes etc out.