Five things your baby DOESN’T need

Simplified parenting.

Back in 2018 I had a 5-year-old, 2-year-old, and a newborn and we were strapped for cash, as they say. At the time we were living at my aunt’s house sharing two bedrooms between the five of us in my family. My husband and I in one room and the kids in the other. Thankfully this option was available to us while we saved up for our home but space was tight. We had the desire to have lots of children and God was surely blessing us with them, quickly.

I started to worry about what would happen if we had another baby soon, how would we keep up with the needs of the children we already have? Then one day I heard a mom on a podcast mention that her baby slept in a pack-n-play because they couldn’t afford a crib. At first, I gave a hufff of pride knowing I could never do that to one of children. They deserve to sleep in a nice cushy crib made of 100% oak wood made by hand with blood, sweat, and tears involved. And then, after further reflection, I had to admit that was a great idea.

After excepting that logic that a baby really doesn’t need much, I started to wonder what else my children didn’t actually need but was a part of our material culture. How many more children could parents “afford” if we just let go of the mindset of stuff.

So, I’ll tell you about the 5 things I believe babies don’t need so that maybe you’ll reconsider the cost of having more of them! 😉

A crib- Your baby doesn’t NEED a crib. A safe place to sleep could be a pack-n-play. The baby really doesn’t care what their bed is made of or what it looks like. Raising a child doesn’t need to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. First, and foremost, it needs to be practical and in your budget.
Toys- Your baby doesn’t need the latest learning toy that will guarantee your baby will be the next Einstein. More likely your baby will become over stimulated from the sounds and colors or you’ll never use it. As they grow, they’ll probably dump everything out and then go tear out all of your pots and pans. A small basket of open-ended toys like blocks or animals would be just fine. Get them outside as soon as possible and play with them. That’s what they really want.
Bath gear-Your baby just needs a clean brand of soap. I like to use Bend Soap Co.’s goats milk soap bars for hair and body for my whole family, including the babies. Your baby doesn’t need the giant plastic bathtub. You can shower with your baby or fill your tub with a couple inches of water and wash them off real quick using your hand or a regular washcloth and then wrapping them in a regular towel.
An outfit for every day of the month- Your baby only needs a couple of nice outfits, a pack of onesies, and a handful of sleepers. If you have a washing machine this is enough to get through every age until they can start helping with the laundry process. Obviously, your five-year-old won’t need sleepers but the general goal for me is that my kids have six or seven outfits that they can mix and match.
Their own room-There is nothing wrong with your children sharing a bedroom. There can absolutely be a boy room and a girl room, and the baby can sleep in mom and dad’s room until they start sleeping through the night if you’re concerned about the baby waking up the other children. We don’t need huge houses with four or five bedrooms and three bathrooms and a drained bank account living off of Mastercard. If you can comfortably afford a smaller three-bedroom house (enough room for a parent’s room, boy room, and girl room) that’s plenty of space to raise a family. Don’t let the Jones’s trick you into having things you don’t need.

There are so many other things your babies don’t need but I hope you can see that with just these few examples you can afford a lot more kids than you think or just take the stress off of your shoulders if you’re ever wondering if they have “enough”.

The Millennial Mom