Simplifying with a Baby

Welcome to the July edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - With Kids cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about keeping things simple with our kids. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

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As most of my readers know, we are expecting our fourth child in September.  I'm sort of having a case of deja vu this go round, as my pregnancy has been quite a bit similar to Sofiya's pregnancy.  My due dates for the two babies are less than two weeks  (and 7 years) apart.  I am pregnant in a new area, again.  For the first time since that first pregnancy, I am not surrounded by a community of friends.  I started feeling movement at the same time in the pregnancies - 12 weeks.  The two babies are/were both super wiggly.  Heck, we even drove to Missouri on Memorial Day weekend with both babies - once to move there and once to visit the friends and family we have there.

But one thing is vastly different with this baby.  With Sofi's pregnancy, I was scrambling to make sure I had everything I would "need" for a baby.  And I felt like I was very conservative with my list of needs at that point.  But the amount of "stuff" that I acquired then was exponentially more than the things that we have for this baby.

Sofi "needed" dozens of outfits for both warm and cold weather.  She "needed" a changing pad, a cradle, swaddling blankets, tons of receiving blankets.  She "needed" a crib with an adorable bedding set.  She "needed" two diaper stackers.  She "needed" a Diaper Genie, with several refills.  She "needed" a swing, a high chair, a bumbo, a bouncer chair, and a stroller.  She "needed" a Pack N Play.  She "needed" a dozen and a half bibs, several baby spoons, 4 or 5 sippy cups for daily use, a Magic Bullet blender, several ice cube trays, and dozens of plastic storage containers to hold her frozen baby food.  She "needed" dozens and dozens of plastic toys that I had bought at yard sales for a quarter each - or less.  She "needed" the correct developmental toys at the correct ages.  She "needed" two baby gyms.  She "needed" the baby bathtub.  She "needed" special oils, lotions, creams, balms, shampoos, and body washes.  She "needed" more disposable diapers and wipes - all the time.  She "needed" lots and lots of books.  It was really amazing how much that little baby "needed".

This baby, on the other hand, needs so little.  He has hand me down clothes from his two older brothers - enough clothes to last until laundry day every week.  We still have the crib, which we put in the side car position, next to our bed.  Mostly, the babies sleep in bed with us, but if I can slip him over into the crib, or lay partially in the crib myself, it gives us a bit more room in the bed.  But, the fancy bedding set is gone.  Instead there are homemade quilts and soft sheets.  The cradle, which my husband slept in as a baby, is often set up in the living room to give me a safe space to place the baby where the kids or dog won't trip over him if I need to run to the bathroom.  But I no longer see the need to have several sleeping areas staged for one baby.  The diaper stackers and Diaper Genie, with its infinite, expensive refills is gone; replaced by much more efficient cloth diaper pails that hold, between two of them, an entire load of diapers at one time.  The infinite disposable diapers and wipes are gone - replaced by cloth diapers and wipes that are a one time investment.  The changing pad, swaddling blankets, and most of the receiving blankets have moved on.  We still have a high chair, but the bouncy seat, Bumbo, and giant swing were replaced by one portable swing that is about 18" wide, 18" tall, and folds to about 4" deep.  I can use it when I want it and stash it when I don't.  We still own a stroller that is compact, light weight, and efficient.  Elliott has 2 sippies for daily use, and I should imagine the new baby will have something similar.  We have about 3 baby spoons.  I no longer make baby food ahead and freeze it. I simply make sure that when we get to that point, I make something each meal that the baby can have too.  If all else fails, there is almost always a jar of applesauce in the fridge.  We now have one small basket of baby toys.  If the baby is bored with those, he can check out some of the older kids' toys.  He doesn't need special developmental toys.  Instead of two baby gyms that take up several square feet of space each, we now have a small, handmade wooden baby gym that stands on any blanket I lay on the floor.  It takes up significantly less space, and is a beautiful addition to our home.  The baby bathtub disappeared before Sofi's first summer.  Instead, our babies bathe in sinks, regular tubs, or with a wash cloth.  We use only one shampoo and body wash combo, and if there is a dry spot or diaper rash issue, we use my own homemade ointment.  We have moved on the dozens and dozens of poorly written books that I amassed for Sofi and, instead, have a nice collection of well written books that we all love, but is far less extensive.  I will say that I own more carriers now than I did when Sofi was a baby, but I also have a wider variety of children to carry in them, as well.  Overall, I have simply come to discover that what we need is actually very little.  What someone else needs us to buy can be an overwhelming lot.

So, a recap, just for fun:

Sofi: 2-3 dozen outfits changing pad cradle swaddling blankets several receiving blankets crib adorable bedding set 2 diaper stackers Diaper Genie and refills swing high chair bumbo bouncer chair stroller Pack N Play 18 bibs 7+ baby spoons 4 or 5 sippy cups Magic Bullet blender 5 ice cube trays 24 plastic storage containers dozens and dozens of plastic toys “correct developmental” toys 2 baby gyms baby bathtub oils lotions creams balms shampoos body washes 1800+ disposable diapers several packages of disposable wipes 100 books 3 ring slings 1 mei tai baby carrier 1 pouch carrier

New Baby: 10 outfits cradle 5 receiving blankets crib quilt crib sheets 2 large capacity diaper pails, no liners swing high chair stroller 6 bibs 3 baby spoons 2 sippy cups 8 baby toys 1 handmade baby gym shampoo\body wash combo 2 dozen cloth diapers 2 dozen cloth wipes 30 books 2 wraps 2 ring slings 1 Ergo baby carrier 1 mei tai baby carrier

I'm sure that in this general list, I've missed a few things, like baby nail clippers.  But in general, you can see that we have come to realize that there is actually very little that we need for a baby.  And it is a much more comfortable feeling to know that I can survive, and help a baby to grow and thrive - without worrying about how to pay for all of that extra stuff.

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Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating simple living and parenthood. We hope you will join us next month when we discuss celebrations!  

• Two Tactics for Simplifying with Twins - Organization doesn't come easily to Mercedes at Project Procrastinot, but here she shares what works for her.
• Balancing - Keeping a work life balance with children is really hard, in her post Balancing, sustainablemum explains how she found her balance after her children were born and how this is about to change again.
• Simplifying With a Baby - Kellie at Our Mindful Life is amused at the differences in what her first baby needed and what her fourth baby needs.
• How we simplify our family life - Lauren at Hobo Mama describes the unconventional ways her family keeps things loose and low-key.
• Flexible Structure - Joella at Fine and Fair shares how her family works to allow for flexibility in their routine to help keep things simple.
• Helping Kids Simplify- At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy discusses how she helps her kids keep things simple.

 

Baby Steps

Welcome to the April edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - Going Green cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about going green and environmentally friendly living. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

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When people come to our home, or talk to us about our lifestyle choices, they are often surprised by the amount of sustainability built into our lives.  What isn't sustainable in our home, we have goals of changing.  To be honest, we live at a level of sustainability that most people find intimidating, at least.  But what many people miss about our lifestyle is this:

We didn't always live this way.

Once upon a time, we were standard issue Americans, with a house full of plastic stuff we didn't use or need, trading up for "better", eating processed foods, using coupons to get cheap paper products, getting horrible gas mileage, and on, and on.  So, how did we get from standard issue to where we are now?

We made one baby step at a time.

Because that is the only way to make lasting changes.  We started out, once upon a time, eating salad with dinner every night.  We increased our vegetable consumption.  We didn't buy organic, we didn't worry about GMOs.  We didn't do microgreens.  We bought raw veggies at the regular grocery store, and we made a salad every night.  And it was a big step for us, at the time!  Slowly, from there, we made one change at a time, until we reached the place in our lives where we are now.

At various times, we have made many changes.  Some of them were:

trading in our gas guzzlers for cars with better mileage
trading in houses with lots of extra room for snug little houses
trading in disposable diapers and wipes for cloth diapers and wipes
trading in paper towels and tissues for cloth wipes and hankies
trading in plastic wrap, plastic baggies, aluminum foil and other disposable kitchen products for reusable containers
trading in plastic toys for cloth, wood and metal toys
trading in plastic in our clothing (polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, acetate) for natural (biodegradable) fibers
trading in plastic in our home for glass, metal and wood
trading in conventional foods for organic
trading in processed foods for mostly made from scratch foods
trading in commercial cleaners for plant based soaps and water, baking soda and vinegar
trading in commercial laundry soap for soap we make ourselves, using environmentally friendly products
trading in fabric softener for drier balls
trading in 100% heated drier use for using the clothesline as often as possible
trading in traditional light bulbs for CFLs
trading in a lot of our toilet paper use for cloth wipes
trading in disposable feminine care items for reusable cloth products
trading in battery operated items for non-battery operated items whenever possible
trading in standard batteries for reusable batteries in the battery operated items we kept
trading in the big trash can for a small trash can and a recycle bin (our family of 5 uses about 1 standard kitchen bag of trash per week)
trading in throwing food scraps in the garbage for a compost heap
trading in buying new for buying used whenever possible
trading in one time use products for reusable products whenever possible
trading in traditional toiletries for plant based and less toxic toiletries
trading in gardening and household chemicals for non-chemical options
trading in the formula option for breastfeeding

And I'm sure there are many more trades we made along the way.  These changes were made over the course of about a decade, by the way.  Some changes were made in tandem, but the majority were made one at a time.  We made a change until we were comfortable that it was a habit, and we could do it without concentrating on it anymore.  Then we worked on a new change.  And this is how we continue to become more green, every day.  Because the only way to make lasting, meaningful changes, is to make them one baby step at a time.

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  Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating eco-friendly living solutions into their everyday lives. We hope you will join us next month, as the Simply Living Blog Carnival focuses on Daily Lives!

 

 

• Green Renovating: A Lot, A Little, Not So Much - Laura at Authentic Parenting ponders about the many things that have an impact on eco-friendly renovating
• Growing Native in My Flower Beds - Destany at They Are All of Me takes the guilt out of her flower habit by switching from high maintenance flowers to native plants which not only lessens her gardening load, but also benefits the local wild life.
• Baby Steps - Kellie at Our Mindful Life shares how her family became more sustainable, one step at a time.
• A Greener Holiday - Sara from Family Organic discusses the overwhelming amount of "stuff" that comes with every holiday and talks about how to simplify instead.
• Forcibly Green--Obligatory Organic - Survivor at Surviving Mexico talks about her family's evolution from passive to active green and sustainable living.
• Giving It Away - Juliet Kemp of Twisting Vines writes about the role of Freecycle, the giant karmic lending library, in her simple and green living.
• Simply Sustainable - Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children discusses her family's attempts to live in harmony with the earth by living simply and more sustainably.
• How Does Your Yarden Grow - Alisha at Cinnamon&Sassafras writes about an ongoing permaculture project, converting her grass lawn into a mower-free paradise.
• Green? - Is it about ticking the boxes? sustainablemum shares her thoughts on what being green means in her life.
• Using Cloth Products To Reduce Household Waste - Angela from Earth Mama's World shares how her family replaced many disposable household products with cloth to reduce their household waste.
• Going Green in Baby Steps - Joella of Fine and Fair shares some small, easy steps to gradually reduce your environmental impact.
• Are You Ready To Play Outside?! - Alex from AN Portraits writes about gardening, and playing in the dirt, and how it's O.K. to get dirty, play in the dirt, play with worms, for both adults and kids.
• Lavender and Tea Tree Oil Laundry Booster - At Natural Parents Network, Megan from The Boho Mama shares an all-natural way to freshen laundry.