Actual baby essentials?

@lisboneu I see where I said that LOL whew! No. Let me clarify, I’m almost halfway done with my pregnancy. More power to the moms of ten but that’s not me. Lmao
 
@bbfantastic I've come to realize with the more kids we have the less we actually need for a baby. Crib, car seat, probably a stroller, bouncy chair, clothes (we never need as many as we bought for the first few kids), diapers, possibly bottles, receiving blankets, a few swaddle blankets.
 
@bbfantastic Bottle prep machine, simple press of a button and a bottle at the correct temperature is ready. I had 1 child without one and 2 children with one and I cannot recommend them enough.
 
@bbfantastic With my third, I had a pack n play, bouncer, car seat, and carrier. My husband and I took turns toting him around. He also slept with us. We didn’t bother with a crib or changing table. We didn’t use a stroller until he became a toddler and was too heavy to carry. We bought a cheap little umbrella stroller at that point. I kept his clothes in a neat little organizer that I found at Target. He still uses it for his clothes 7 years later. I think it really depends on how you want to approach your parenting.

We have infant twins and have not taken a minimalist approach with them. Two swings, two bouncers, two cribs, changing my table, dresser, two activity centers, a pack n play with twin bassinets, one mini crib, tons of toys and blankets, etc. It has been the only way we can survive with our sanity. I always recommend registering for baby gifts with each pregnancy.

Friends and family (even co-workers) tend to find joy with buying for baby and it is so nice to receive some essentials. With this last pregnancy, my co-workers pitched in to get us a double stroller and the twin pack n play. Those were big ticket items that saved us some major bucks and got good use.
 
@bbfantastic Same thing literally happened to me. #5 totally unexpected, on birth control. Next minute pregnant. I had NOTHING! Absolutely nothing. I got by with a second hand crib but a new mattress, a new car seat, and a second hand buggy.
 
@bbfantastic All I really needed for baby was a crib, a swing, a stroller, a car seat, high chair, baby carrier, safety gate/latches and then clothes / supplies.

Dirty diapers just went in a plastic grocery bag, tied up and tossed in trash (which was emptied every day anyway) - so no need for buckets/diaper genies/etc.

Repurposed a slightly used backpack for a diaper bag.

Baby shared space with sibs who were always ready to inform me if baby was crying so no need for a monitor.

Not even sure what other gizmos are there now, but I do remember with my first couple, I never even really needed half the stuff we got.
 
@gloria_ Sorry for wall of text: Having baby #3 without room for a nursery for him has caused us to pare down to essentials. He’s 2.5 months and so far this list is accurate for small babies. ROOM/CLOTHES: We use a bassinet but are about to build his crib in our room since he’s gigantor. We have a changing pad on our dresser, diapers, creams and a stack of burp cloths. Only MUST special clothing items are swaddles and wearable blankets when bigger. No monitor now since I can hear him anywhere in the house. I may set one up when he’s bigger and naps longer. No diaper genie, just toss poops in trash directly since it’s changed frequently. TOYS: we have a floor play mat for tummy time and I caved and bought a bouncer this time to have somewhere to put him down, when he’s slightly bigger I’ll setup the oball jumper thing I saved with the attached toys. I have a few small toys for him to grab on the play mat or in the car seat but babies don’t seem to play with baby toys in my experience. FEEDING: if you’re nursing you have boobs and are good. I love some kind of nursing pillow for support. I got a hakaa thing to catch letdown and setup a small stash of milk in the freezer that way but have yet to actually pump. My insurance covered a pump so I have it for when I start leaving him for longer stretches eventually and literally use the sample bottles I got from like target and Amazon registries the few times my husband has fed him. I bought a milk warmer that we could have done without and a pack of bottles I may return since he almost never uses them. We use vitamin d drops and probiotics and our dude is super gassy so gas drops. SAFETY: you have the car seat covered, a mirror to see baby is helpful, we got a car seat cover for the first time with all this covid stuff. Eventually you’ll need baby proofing stuff but that can wait a bit. TRANSPORT: use a backpack purse I had and some ziplocks inside organizing stuff. I may eventually buy a real diaper bag but we go out so infrequently it’s not necessary. We have a stroller and an ergo 360 which are musts. MISC: got a few different pacifier brands, he’s not a big fan of pacis but there is one kind he will take when all else fails. That’s all I can think of, happy to share specific brand recommendations if you’re interested just message me.
 
@bbfantastic I had a pack n play with the bassinet on it for sleep. A carrier (an ergo and a moby wrap), a bouncy seat, and an exersaucer, eventually a high chair... I had a few of those cotton muslin blankets and a swaddler. Baby monitor. Double stroller (or single depending on ages of other kids). Diaper bag.

I bought most of these second hand.
 
@bbfantastic I’ll add that anything new that you hadnt heard of with any of the 4 others, is definitely not needed (looking at you Snoo). Have a look at old photos of the newborn/baby time with the older girls and remember what you actually used.

Likely friends and family will happily gift plenty of clothes, especially if its a boy this time, so just buy a few basics.

You got this!
 
@bbfantastic dad holding our 4th (circa 6 weeks) in a sling here, I think we "need" 4-5 sets of clothing (first week or two the baby were just wrapped in a blanket), would skip the pram for just a sling I think..
We use clothdiapers and wash them every 5-6 days, one diaper per 2-3 hours in that timespan.
toys are as you know not something thats needed for the first months.

start simple, add what you are missing later
 
@bbfantastic Few outfits, car seat and a pram 🤷‍♀️ then no doubt you will have things passed along as they grow!
The best thing about a big family is less clothes because you’re washing at least a load a day anyway 😂😂
 
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