limiting all the STUFF

Erica - posted on 12/12/2011

There are lots of sites where you can resell or give away all that STUFF. storkbrokers.com, swapbabygoods.com, oodle.com

Tammy - posted on 08/31/2011

I am all for eliminating as much un needed "stuff" as possible. Start with what is cute but not necessarily needed or even healthy for your baby, plastic toys, synthetics, try this website for ideas. http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/e...

Erica - posted on 06/23/2011

One of my favorite things we have gotten was the Peg-Perego Tatamia highchair even though baby boy is only 7 weeks old. It converts from a highchair to a manual swing or to a toddler chair so it will be with us for several years. And its on wheels that lock! so it only moves when you want it too. So far it is great for when I am doing stuff in the kitchen. I can put him in it in the swing mode, talk to him, make faces at him, show him what i'm doing and he can see me which keeps him content. I like the idea of "wearing" him but not in the kitchen around hot stuff and possible burns, so this is perfect.

Crib - My mom-in-law is still worried that we haven't boughten one!! I keep explaining there is no reason to spend the $$ right now on something that won't get used for months. We'll get one when he outgrows his bassinet (which is currently next to my side of the bed).

Clothes - OMG! The amount of clothes we've received! and he only wears clothes if we go somewhere so I've already taken some to the kid's consignment store. Now if I could just convince MIL to stop it with the clothes!! ;-)

Dawn - posted on 04/27/2011

I live in a small apartment and have a 16 month old and am pregnant with my second :-) I also have a 5 year old step-daughter who stays with us every other weekend, so I reduce a LOT! I learned quickly when I had my daughter that she didn't care for half of the toys and things that people gave her. I have about two baskets (one in her room and one in a corner in the living room) that I keep her toys in now. When #2 comes, we'll have less room than before, so I definitely plan to eliminate as much as possible. For instance, I'd do without a walker and probably a bouncer. They take up a lot of room and my daughter didn't even use them. With baby boy, I have one of those bouncy things that fits in the doorway that I can remove when it's not in use. If there's something you think you want, I'd say buy it from a consignment store and then if you find that the baby doesn't use it, sell it right back :-)

CC - posted on 02/23/2009

I totally agree. Anytime we had toys around, my daughter would automatically want to play with the telephone or a wooden spoon from the kitchen. They certainly don't need all the "bells and whistles" they are constantly being bombarded with stimuli, our homes don't need to feed into that too.

Sarah - posted on 02/05/2009

Very true - I think babies need half of what we get for them -maybe less if you are a co-sleeping baby-wearing, cloth diapering, nursing mom like myself. It takes  a little planning, but you can really cut down on the amount of waste and plastic that go along with little ones. Go simple wooden toys, over the multitude of cheap, loud cluttering toys.Convenience is not to be underestimated, but most of us can go without the extra soothers and baby gyms. You are a good judge of your family's needs -so if the item seems silly or redundant, you may not need it. For the new baby stage in life, do they really need a crib, bassinet, stroller, soother, bouncy seat, entertainment seat, Bumbo seat (sorry Bumbo) and special car seat/infant carrier, all these things used to hold and pacify? No, probably they do not, and, food for thought, do all those things create a distance between our babies and ourselves? I advise using slings, BTW! One example of unnecessary excess, you can buy one convertible (may be called adjustable) car seat that lasts from the raer-facing infant stage up through to booster age, or you can buy 3 seperate items, infant seat, baby seat, and booster seat. We are a profit driven market, after all, so there is glut of useless baby stuff loading the shelves. Craigslist and hand-me-downs are great resources, although be mindful of recalls and the item's condition- eg., car seats shouldn't really be re-used unless you can verify that they have never been in a crash. Great topic! There are many reasons to cut down on baby clutter, Attachment Parenting, saving $$, even health benefits - lead in toys, and some health professionals are theorizing that too many noisy stimulus such as the noisy bright plastic toys may be a factor in the rising autism rates -who knows?

Shannon - posted on 01/29/2009

The swing was awesome - for 7 months, the bath worked - for 4 months. It is unreal what we received. The best gift was one I didn't register for because I thought it was silly - the Moses basket. My son slept in that so well and anywhere in the house and we could put him to sleep in the kitchen and carry the basket to bed.

I will say that the freezable teethers are still in use at age 2 - as ice packs! I have a little climber and he's often getting little bumps and after he ices his boo-boos he starts chewing on the ice packs and I don't know what is in those gel things and I don't want him to put a whole ice cube in his mouth - so I give him teethers. I figure those should be the safest thing for him to chew on.

Maggie - posted on 01/24/2009

We've also tried to make it really clear to our friends and family that we don't want the plastic toys and things that our baby Will just doesn't need or isn't interested in or has too many of already. We sometimes will just try to take them back to Target if it is something they carry for a refund. They will let you do that twice a year without a receipt. We just keep reminding everyone how much the plastic toys right now contain phthalates and that they are endocrine disruptors, etc and that they aren't good for the baby and they seem to get it. We are really glad about the new regulations for toys taking effect this year, even though they could be more stringent, at least it is a first step. If all else fails we offer the plastic stuff for recycling, you never know.

Megyn - posted on 01/24/2009

Our son has a million relatives that give us tons of plastic toys and clothes he'll never wear. We usually just give it away to others in need or sell it to a re-sell shop. We are trying to tell relatives no more toys, but that doesn't happen. Goodwill & Craig's List all the way!

Katie - posted on 01/23/2009

Oh the bells and whistles - well, this is what I've learned. I made it very clear to all my friends and family that I do not want a bunch of plastic landfill in my living room - wood toys please! Of course I still got the plastic junk - so my theory is PASS IT ON! Reusing is the only option - yes, it will eventually end up in landfill... but at the very least, it will get a lot of use out of it.

Kasey - posted on 01/22/2009

The next time around, I definately would not bother with the Bumbo foam seat. I only used it for a two week period until my son could sit up on his own.  And I agree about the matching crib bedding set. What a waste of money that was! Just buy extra sheets instead. You shouldn't have all that stuff in the crib anyway. 

I have a friend with a son the same age as mine. We often exchange toys for a few weeks. Also, I've gotten in the habit of buying stuff used on Craigslist or Goodwill, then donating or selling them again when he outgrows them.

Margaret - posted on 01/21/2009

I found a community toy libraby where I live that let's me check out up to 5 toys for two weeks at a time. I love this option and it allows me to only buy (from ebay & trade me) the toys that she really likes and plays with.

I bought a second hand bumbo seat that I used as a baby chair, then for feeding before the highchair stage, and now keep in my car for use in restaurants without high chairs or even feeding my daughter when visiting friends and family.

Corey - posted on 01/21/2009

I got the water-mat, too -- never used it.



There is entirely too much stuff out there for babies, I agree. Otis doesn't play with 90% of the toys we have in the house for him. Last month, I bagged up six 30-gallon trash bags full of toys and took them to Goodwill. I've asked my parents and in-laws to focus less on spoiling him with toys and more on experiences that he'll remember (i.e. take him to the park, camping, creek walking, etc.). They seem open to it --



As for things I couldn't live without: freezable teethers, the Aquababy bath seat (because I did baths in the kitchen sink until he was 16-months old), the wipe warmer, and a bouncy seat (I used it as a seat for feeding Otis his first meals before he became stable enough for a highchair). If I had these 4 things, I could bathe the baby, feed the baby, lay him down for a rest, and help with teething pain -- everything else is just extra.



We did use the exersaucer for at least 3 months, but it, too, is a short-lived gadget.

Valerie - posted on 01/18/2009

Oh my goodness, when I registered for baby gifts I followed the guide that the store had and thought I needed everything.  Now I have 2 daughters and have found that I don't need half the stuff that I thought.  For one thing, I definitely did not need a bedding set (comforter, sheets, etc.)  Babies aren't supposed to sleep with comforters so why spend $99.00 or more for stuff they're not going to use?  I also thought I needed the biggest diaper bag possible so that I could stuff EVERYTHING into it.  Now I get away with as little as possible. :)