Minimalist Baby Essentials
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Since I am prepping a few things for baby number three, I thought I would share an updated list of minimalist baby essentials. Having two babies so close together has given me a good idea of what works for our family + I have some new favorites that I wanted to share!
I like to keep things as minimal as possible, but the goal is to make life easy. If owning less of something makes your life more difficult, feel no shame in making purchases that help during those crazy newborn days.
First list is the absolute essentials - the second is additions that I’ve found extremely helpful but not essential if you want to be extremely minimalist.
Minimalist Baby Essentials
Wardrobe
These are the basics I like to have on hand regardless of the season. For a winter baby, you will also need to add a few cozy sweaters, hats, and mittens.
Pajamas
We love Burts Bees and L’oved Baby pjs. My babies live in them about 90% of the time so I always liked to have about 8-10 in the newborn days. I’m particular about only purchasing 100% cotton when possible so the fabric breathes well and they don’t overheat while sleeping.
Booties + Socks
These fleece booties are great because they snap and actually stay on! I also loved this set of socks for Rosie to layer underneath since she was a winter baby, but we got away with just one pair of booties for Jude as a spring baby.
Wrapover Onesies
Onesies that button on the side are soo much easier to dress them in and great for inevitable diaper explosions! I always grab a set of short-sleeved and long-sleeved ones from H&M: about five of each!
Pants
I also love to have a set of these pants from H&M to mix and match easily with onesies. If you have a spring baby you probably need just a handful - for a baby in the colder months, having warmer knits and extra pairs to layer is nice.
Sleep
Blanket
One heavy blanket is always good to have around. Jude has a great one from Little Unicorn that’s just the right size and weight.
Swaddles
Good swaddles are so multi-functional: a nursing cover, a carseat cover, makeshift burp cloth. Max & Moose swaddles are my favorite; I like to have 3-4 high quality swaddles to wash often and they have held up so well.
The Ollie Swaddle
If you decide to swaddle, my favorite swaddle is the Ollie Swaddle! I like that you can easily transition your baby to one arm out when they start to show signs of rolling + the fabric is great at regulating their temperature. I like to have two on hand: one to use, one for backup.
Crib
I skip the bassinet phase and use this Mini Crib next to our bed. After a lot of research, I found that the weight capacity for most bassinets is pretty low. Most are also unsafe to use once the baby shows signs of rolling over and my babies start at four months. It’s such a short time to invest a large chunk of money. I like that the mini crib can grow with them a little bit longer.
Crib Sheets
I always have just two crib sheets: one in use, one for the wash!
Diapering
Changing Mat
We love to use our Gathre Micro Mat as a wipeable changing pad.
Diapers + Wipes
We currently like All Good Diapers and any fragrance-free wipe that is inexpensive.
Diaper Cream
We just use Desitin after trying a lot of natural products that never worked.
Feeding
Just a few things I like to have on hand in the beginning; I try to exclusively breastfeed my babies as long as I can.
Burp Cloths
Love these muslin burp cloths from Amazon. They are cute and actually absorbent.
Breast Pump + Breastfeeding Supplies
This one is for both mama + baby: Medela Pump. Even if you plan on breastfeeding, having a pump on hand can help with sooo many emergencies and situations you never thought would come up. Always good to have it on hand instead of without. I also used the Hakkaa with Rosie and loved it. Reusable breast-pads and Earth Mama Nipple Balm are also essential in those early days.
First Aid + Misc.
Your hospital may provide you with most of these!
Pacifiers
I like to have just two pacifiers - one for home and one as a backup that is always stored in the diaper bag for when we are out and about.
Travel Gear
Carseat + Stroller
Our Baby Jogger City Mini is an amazing stroller. We bought the set so you can easily clip baby’s car seat onto the stroller and not have to take them out of their seat or wake them up when out and about.
Diaper Backpack
I invested in a used Fawn Design diaper bag because I quickly learned that a backpack is much easier to use than an over the shoulder bag. It’s on the larger side, but the pockets and details are so well designed. A great investment if you are planning on having multiple little ones.
Non-Essentials, But Definitely Nice to Have!
Additions that I love and used a ton with both babies.
Baby Rocker
Something to put your baby in so you can take a shower or make dinner is soo nice! You will want to put them down eventually and it is great to have something other than their crib. I love a rocker that I can easily move from room to room to keep an eye on them. We invested in the Charlie Crane Paris Rocker and love the quality.
Baby Carrier
I personally lovee the Solly Baby Wrap for those newborn days! There is a bit of a learning curve at first, but it is well worth it! They have tons of great tutorials on their Instagram page and you can even shoot them an email with photos if you are having trouble getting the fit right. I wore mine so often that I loved having two: one to wear, one for the wash.
Monitor
Having a baby monitor helped ease a lot of my postpartum anxiety. Some families go without it, but I still love using it to easily check on them at night.
Boppy Pillow
I found the Boppy Pillow to be really useful for nursing. You can definitely just use regular pillows, but it is nice to have something specifically designed to help with nursing. It's also great to prop your baby up if you have just fed them and can also be used to give them a safe place to fall while learning to sit up.
Sound Machine
Both of my babies slept better with white noise. We used a white noise track on our phone for Jude, but we purchased the Hatch Baby Sound Machine with Rosie. It is really convenient and I enjoyed the low light for nighttime feedings.
BathTub Insert
This bathtub insert was really nice for baths. I’m not sure if it's just me, but giving newborns a bath is always intimidating and this insert is really helpful. It has a hook so it can be hung in the bathtub to easily dry and doesn’t get moldy.
Diaper Caddy
This diaper caddy is something I found with Rosie that made my life so functional. Instead of having random things thrown throughout the house, I kept all our essentials (diapers, wipes, diaper cream, burp cloths) in this caddy and carried it from room to room. Game changer for keeping things tidy!
Hope that was helpful! Everyone’s definition of minimal is different but I feel like we’ve found a great collection of items for our family that is pretty simple.
Chloe Rey
