Minimalism during pregnancy

By Kate 

A good friend of mine is pregnant (second time mum) and she recently joined a “Mums-to-be” facebook group.

“All the mummies in the mummy group are crazy! They have been talking about buying those really expensive baby carriers that cost at least a few hundred bucks! And not 1, but 2 or 3 of them because the designs are ‘nice’.”

I chuckled to myself. Sounds very similar to the experience I had when I joined a similar group two years ago when I was pregnant with Ally. The moms-to-be in the group were simply chatting about stuff. Buying this, buying that, buying everything. 

I can understand the excitement of a mum-to-be, or rather parent-to-be, and the urge to want to splurge and buy everything for your little one, regardless if they might be useful purchases or items that make no sense (yes, there are loads of them).

However, do you really need this?

Or rather, does the baby really need that?

A lot of items that are on the shelves these days are “created wants”. That is, a product marketed as such to create a perceive need for it.

Babies are simple creatures, they don’t need that many things.

Here are some tips on how to practice minimalism during pregnancy.

1. Do not overstock on stuff. You do not need that many baby prams, baby carriers or 10 tubes of nappy rash cream. Stock up only where required.
2. Talk to experienced mothers. For first time parents, it could be pretty daunting and you have no idea what you might need. Speak to friends or relatives who have a kid and hear from their experience. You will be surprised that everyone has a different practice. Hear from their experience and map out something that works for you.
3. Get a pregnancy checklist. Some websites and stores do provide a pregnancy checklist to guide parents-to-be. Use the list as an initial guide and you can pare down where necessary after doing your own research.
4. Declutter your house first. Having a baby means that it will come to a point where you will need to baby proof your house eventually. The best way to baby proof the house is to make it as empty as possible. Can you imagine your baby having to navigate through all those furniture and dangerous corners with sharp edges? Get rid of what you don’t need so that you won’t have to do it later.

Hope the above tips help. Do share your thoughts below.