It’s almost like pregnancy is too much time to prepare for our kids. We plan colours for the nursery, we have showers, we read books, and then we get ALL THE THINGS we think we’ll need to make sure the pooping, crying, sleeping, eating machine is happy.
Let me tell you, you don’t need most of it. It might seem hard to believe, but babies are actually not very fussy and don’t require much.
Seriously. They grow so fast, you’ll barely have time to get them in each of their outfits more than a couple of times. The gadgety things are almost more complicated than necessary.
WHAT YOU DO NEED
A solid stroller, crib, and baby carrier should be all that you really spend your time sourcing.
It can be easier than that if you register your newborn for a Baby Box.
Inspired by Scandinavian countries, the Baby Box has made its way to North America in recent years and thanks to TELUS, the Baby Box program has been expanded across Canada.
It’s a free simple box filled a firm Health Canada approved mattress as well as baby basics. The box is meant to be used as a basinet for the first few months of your child’s life. (Having babies sleep in boxes like this has helped Finland have one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world.)
The other part of the Baby Box program is a series of courses to help you along your parenting journey. As you complete the online courses about things like sleep safety, you’re rewarded with different things from Baby Box.
Along with the Baby Box, you can download the TELUS Baby Health app to help you keep track of all the things about baby’s growth. The most surprising thing about being a parent was how we were asked to keep track of poop, pee, sleep, and eating over the first few weeks. A good working plumbing system is the sign of a healthy baby, and the TELUS Baby Health app helps you keep track of all those baby things you need to remember in one easy place.
It has a growth tracker, emergency contacts, personalized articles as your baby grows, developmental milestone markers, as well as a place for you keep track of allergies, immunizations, and medications.
Also, for every account registered on the TELUS Baby Health app, the company will donate $5 to Make-A-Wish Canada until November 2018, up to a maximum of $10,000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-v5d60WgcQ
It’s simple to get started. It really is.I don’t know what’s more proof than a baby in a box to show how little you actually need to get going.
Spend the nesting months reading some books and enjoying time with your spouse, once the baby comes all hell will break loose and you’ll need all the pent up rest you can muster.
WHAT YOU DON’T NEED
The cute outfits, blankets, onesies etc will all be showered upon you by proud friends and relatives. You don’t really need to go out and buy much, let all the well-wishers do that for you! Seriously, let them spend the money on these things. They want to help out, let them get all those things!
Diaper Genies are basically a litter box for your kid’s bedroom. It’s so easy to roll out the mess, wrap up a diaper, and toss it out. You don’t need them hanging out inside.
We kept wipes in the top drawer of our change table, not in the fridge. They’re room temperature, just like everything else in the house – including your baby’s butt. Do you pre-warm your toilet paper? Wipe Warmers are silly. You can add Peepee Teepees to this list of frivolous inventions. If you’ve got a sprayer, use a cloth.
Now diaper bags might go down to personal preference, but we found them pointless. My wife got a fancy one from her soccer friends as a gift, but we barely used it. We preferred a small backpack with a couple changes of clothes, some ziploc bags with wipes and cloths, and a spare bottle. Much more compact and easy for both of us to use than some oversized purse-like diaper bag.
Shoes are cute, but guess what? They don’t need them! Until kids can walk, they don’t need shoes. They’re just window dressing. Keep ‘em in socks until they start to stand. Until then, they’re usually bundled in blankets in the stroller or you’re at home and nobody will know the difference.
YOU GOT THIS!
The first six months are pretty easy. All they do is eat, sleep, poop and cry. You don’t need to be smothering them in gadgets and videos and blankets and stuffies.
They’re babies. All they need is a full belly, a clean diaper and a good snuggle.
You’ll do just fine.
This post is sponsored by TELUS