Gear Advice > Do I Really Need all this Gear?

Do I Really Need all this Gear?

Your eyes look a little glazed over, your palms a little sweaty, and there's horror written all over your face. You must have just come from your first trip to the nearest baby superstore, am I correct? Those endless floor to ceiling rows of baby gear are hypnotizing and the packaging all screams that each item is going to make your life so much easier it's hard to imagine that you could raise a child without buying at least one of every item. Don't despair though, you don't even need a fraction of what is offered to you. Whether you are restricted by budget, a small home, or whether you just don't want all that clutter around, we'll pare baby gear down to help you figure out what you really need. The key in simplifying baby gear is to make sure that everything has at least more than one purpose.

The Sleeping Situation
Just the vast array of options in gear for your baby to sleep in is enough to cause a headache. Before you start to shop, think about what your ideal sleeping arrangement is going to be for your newborn. Do you want to co-sleep, or have the baby in it's own bed, but in your room, or do you want it in it's own room from day one? One of the more common scenarios is to have the baby sleep in a bassinette in your room for the first couple of months. Instead of buying a bulky bassinette, why not use a Moses Basket that you can turn into a storage basket afterwards? Or use the bassinette feature in a pack n' play? If you plan on co-sleeping or having the baby sleep in it's crib as soon as you get home from the hospital, then you don't need any gear at all.

Baby Holding Recepticals
The first time I walked out of my local baby-mart with my mom, she commented to me, "It's like humans are evolving to not have arms anymore, with all the stuff made to hold your baby for you." It's true. There are more contraptions to hold your newborn than you can imagine. While I'd like to say that in an ideal world we'd all be able to sit around and just hold and admire our babies, the fact is that if some of those miraculous inventions weren't around, I'd never have gotten a shower, checked e-mail, or made dinner that first year. I'd recommend at least one swing or bouncy chair. Find something that is portable enough that you can easily carry it from the bathroom to the living room. Do you need all the fancy songs and mobiles that are attached? If you like, but we found that keeping the batteries out and swinging the mobile from time to time kept my baby quite happy.

Diapering
As with everything, diapering can be as involved as you let it get. Simplified down to the basics, you could easily set up a pretty bag or basket filled with wipes a few diapers and a blanket to change your baby on in your most used rooms. Then just toss the dirty diaper into your common household trash, or bring the cloth ones straight to the laundry room. No need for a changing table, wipe warmer, changing pad, diaper genie etc.

Toys, Toys and more Toys
This is the category that can easily get out of hand. Relatives love giving toys and parents are easily suckered into the latest and cutest things on the market. One of my biggest surprises in motherhood so far, is how completely uninterested my baby was in toys for the first few months. He was fascinated however in the black and white polka dot print on his swing though. Until a newborns eyes gain focus and distance, toys are rather unnecessary. At about that three month mark is when you will notice their interest in toys, and even then, a small basket filled with colorful rattles will hold their attention for months.

Having a baby doesn't mean that your house is resigned to being cluttered with baby gear. It's a matter of thinking about what you really need and then making sure that those items can do double duty in terms of function. Also, make sure to check out your local consignment stores or the baby section of your favorite online classifieds to buy used items when you can. Chances are you can find all the items you need for half the cost and in perfectly good condition. Shopping for your baby should be fun, not overwhelming. To make things even simpler, check out our simplified baby gear page.