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Preparing to have a baby? Wondering if you can possibly keep or start a minimalist lifestyle with a newborn baby?
You’re in the right place.
First, I can tell you it is possible. In fact, while I dabbled before, having a baby was my catalyst for major decluttering and a lifestyle shift.
Below I share my best advice for parents (and future parents) for how to be minimalist with a newborn baby. Find advice about newborn essentials (and what you don’t need), baby room organization, and baby life hacks to stay sane as a newborn mom.
Some Advice for Staying Minimalist with Your Newborn Baby
Before we get into links with specific advice, let’s cover some general advice for baby planning the minimalist way.
1. Don’t add things to your registry just because you can.
Yes, others will buy it, and you won’t spend anything. But then you’ll be left dealing with all the stuff.
2. Don’t buy things too early.
I do think you should buy things for your newborn well in advance of your due date. You don’t want to be healing from childbirth and shopping for a bunch of stuff on day one at home.
However, you don’t need to register for things that a 6-month-old or 1-year-old needs like large strollers, a crib, larger clothes, bouncers, high chair and cutlery, teething solutions, and even shoes (they won’t be walking for a while!)
3. Ask for hand-me-downs first.
Here’s the thing with baby products: they’re only useful for a few months to a few years. People are constantly giving away gently-used baby items or selling them for cheap.
For bigger-ticket items likes cribs and newborn strollers, ask your friends with older kids what they still have. You can even do this for clothes. Newborns change sizes so quickly that every parent has leftover clothing items that have been worn only a few times.
4. Buy second-hand.
Similar to the above, parents are constantly off-loading gently-used items they can no longer use. While I really enjoyed “non-essential” things like the SNOO and the Doona (referenced in a list below), I definitely recommend checking out Facebook Marketplace and Buy Nothing groups before buying these full price.
5. Don’t buy “baby” branded things when normal things work fine.
Examples: tiny towels and robes with hoods, diaper bags (any bag works!), humidifiers, laundry detergent, hampers, and so on.
Think – would it be unsafe or impractical to use the version of the item you already have? If not, don’t buy the special baby one.
6. Tell friends and family you want to stay minimal.
Well-meaning relatives and friends may be excited for your little one and want to buy you things. As I said in a post about gift-giving and receiving as a minimalist, it’s best to tell people what you want.
Use a registry for the things that will actually be useful. Tell anyone who asks you’d love to have them chip in for a more expensive item rather than buy you lots of smaller, cheaper items that you don’t really need.
Now that you’re in the mindset of minimalism with a newborn baby, let’s jump to the specific advice!
How to Be Minimalist with a Newborn Baby: What is Truly “Essential”?
SO many things these days are marketed as “newborn essentials” or “newborn must haves.” And if you’re a first-time parent, it’s hard to know what you’ll actually need. You tend to buy everything branded “baby necessities” because you’re worried about not having everything you need when the time comes. I know I certainly fell into that trap.
Check out this post on what is truly “essential” for a newborn baby to learn from my mistakes.
It includes a comprehensive (but short!) list of the real baby essentials, including hygiene, sleep, feeding, health/safety, and getting around.
I also included a list of baby items that I would not classify as essential products for a newborn baby. But, these made my life much easier and are worth considering.
And finally, I provide a list of baby things you’ll commonly see on registries which you can skip cluttering your home with.
What to Pack in a Diaper Bag for a Newborn Baby
If you’re a future mom or dad with limited newborn baby experience, you might very well wonder what you actually need to put in a diaper bag those first few months.
You hear horror stories about non-stop spit-up and diaper blow-outs and may assume you need to cart your entire nursery to the park or a restaurant.
In this post on what to pack in a diaper bag for a newborn baby, I share a comprehensive list (and a printable!) of newborn essentials for an outing.
Learn exactly what you need – and what you don’t – so you can travel light but prepared with your little one.
How to Organize Newborn Baby Clothes
Here’s the thing about a newborn baby: she’ll go through so many clothes in just a few months.
As you prepare for baby’s arrival, you’re probably thinking about baby room organization. You may have seen nurseries bursting with hundreds of toys and clothes and wondered if clutter is inevitable once you have a baby.
It’s not! You just have to be thoughtful about what you buy and how you organize it. Since babies change sizes so often, the key is to keep baby items moving. Organizing them by size helps you quickly donate or sell what no longer fits on a regular basis.
In this post about how to organize newborn clothes, I share suggestions for how many of each baby item you need, plus simple advice for how to buy and organize clothes that will make life as easy as possible during the chaotic newborn phase.
Newborn Travel Essentials that Make Flying with Baby Painless
Even if you’re an experienced traveler, flying with a newborn baby will be a new and daunting experience. Whether you’re bringing baby to meet relatives far away or you simply want to keep your traveler lifestyle as you transition into parenthood, there’s a good chance you’ll want to take your newborn on a plane.
This post on airplane travel essentials for flying with your newborn baby explains exactly what you need to know before you fly. (Do you have to pay to check a car seat? What documentation do you need for your newborn baby? Can you carry milk through security?)
It also provides a comprehensive list of lifesaving products that helped me travel smoothly through airports and hotels with my newborn during his first few months.
A lot is advertised as “airport essentials” for flying with baby, but most is a waste of money that will become clutter. This (much shorter) list from a parent who’s done it will point out what’s worth the money.
How to Travel Light with Kids: What Do You Need to Travel with a Baby?
From the newborn stage through toddlerdom, part of the reason taking a trip with a baby seems daunting is considering all the stuff you’ll need to bring. Plus, so many products have popped up promising to make the whole airplane ordeal easier with a little one. If you’re not thoughtful about it, you’ll end up carting several suitcases with you for even a short trip.
This post about what you actually need to travel with a baby clarifies what’s truly essential versus what you can leave home. It also includes general tips for flying with your little one as well as tips and advice for traveling lighter with a little one (from newborn baby or toddler) in tow.
Most importantly, it includes a comprehensive packing list for your newborn – clothes, food, hygiene, first aid, sleep, entertainment, getting around, and documents. All the thinking is done for you, so you can focus on enjoying your trip.
Mom Burnout: How to Conquer It and Start Thriving
This post is a bit different from those above. The previously linked posts focus primarily on baby items – all the stuff that will start cluttering your home once your newborn baby arrives if you aren’t careful.
In contrast, this post about how to conquer mom burnout is about how to stay sane as you transition to motherhood. As you excitedly prepare for your newborn baby, you may not be planning much for that. But trust me – you’ll need at least some of these tips.
A few are related to a minimalist lifestyle. After all, the less you have, the less you need to clean and care for. That helps more than you can imagine when it comes to mom burnout.
Others are tips for pain points I’ve seen come up over and over in every mom I know (plus the common complaints I see from moms on social media). If you’re a future mom, I can say with certainty that you’ll encounter some of these in the coming years. And this advice can make life so much easier and more enjoyable.
What Do You Think?
If you have kids, how did you stay or become minimalist? And if you’re preparing for a newborn baby, how do you plan to keep up a minimalist lifestyle? I’d love to hear anything that’s worked for you in the comments!
You May Also Like…
How to Get Inspired to Start Living a Minimalist Life This Year
Minimalist Christmas: How to Handle Gifts as a Minimalist
The Ultimate Carry-On Packing List for International Travel
How to Travel Light Like a Minimalist
How to Become a Minimalist When Your Partner Isn’t
Minimalist Mindset: How to Go Beyond Decluttering and Become a Minimalist
