What Baby Furnitures Do You Really Need?

Let’s face it, when it comes to our first born we all tend to go a little overboard with all the cute little clothes and handy labor saving items you can buy nowadays. Not to mention a nursery full of baby furnitures from cribs to rocking chairs to play pens to highchairs to change tables to whatever! But how much of this do you really need?

On our recent family vacation to visit my wife’s parents we had the 5 month old Chloe sleeping soundly in a suitcase. Of course we didn’t travel with her in the case, but in the hotel room it was the safest place to put her so she wouldn’t fall out of bed or be trampled on by Search & Destroy, the 2 and 3 year old toddlers. We put some towels in the bottom of the case and some fresh clothes we didn’t need right away and she was snug as a bug in a rug as they say. I’m not suggesting you buy a Samsonite weekender instead of a Graco crib, but it shows how you can make do when you have to.

We didn’t have a change table and even at home with #5 we no longer use one. In fact our old one that saw us through #3 and #4 is in the shed awaiting conversion to a laying perch for our chickens. Either that or I have to spend an afternoon cleaning it up for the next garage sale. We change the baby on the bed and rather than bend over and break our backs we simply kneel on the carpet. It works for us and can save you a lot of money by not buying a change table. Mind you if you are serial breeders like us then buy one for #1 and buy a good one that will last. But also that will fold away between babies!

Do you need a highchair? We had one and it gave more service as a repository for anything and everything than a place for baby to sit and eat with us. We might have used it five or six times with #4 but now it is folded up in the shed next to the change table gathering dust. Something else for me to clean and sell off no doubt.

We do have a solid crib we bought off friends second hand and has served us well for #3,#4 and #5. We had #1 and #2 when we were living overseas and their cribs were donated to neighbors when we came home. We had to buy a crib for #3 and quite frankly the new prices of the durable and decent cribs were out of our budget. So we bought off friends whose two toddlers no longer needed the crib and it was a bargain. I have had to repair it in recent months but I think it will still be good for whoever we pass it on to. A good, safe crib is one item I think you do need, the rest are just luxuries but of course, they are nice to have and they can make life a lot easier. So buy wisely and well.

Perry Gamsby, a father of five girls, is a free lance writer and web content publisher based in Australia. He holds a Master of Arts in Writing as well as tertiary qualifications in teaching and small business management. He is currently writing for Cheap Baby Furniture and bases his cyber self at his personal safety web site, Perry Gamsby.com