The Best Baby Gear We Never Bought

Having a baby doesn't have to be expensive, aside from the hospital bills. Five years, two girls and a boy later, we've gotten along just swimmingly without some of the common trappings of middle-class families. What baby gear did we live without? Lots--but we still managed to acquire more than we would have preferred.

What We Didn't Buy:

Baby monitor

The size and acoustics of our various houses and one apartment (along with high-volume children) meant we hardly missed having a monitor.

Changing table

Most of the time I just used a changing pad on the floor or end of the bed. I have also used the top of a dresser to set up a changing area.

Crib

We found it easier to have our kids sleep in a portable travel crib that we could take with us wherever we were. That way our tots didn't have to adjust to new beds. When a toddler grew too big for the travel bed, we moved her to a mattress on the floor. Not having a crib might seem a rather radical option to many families, but it worked fine for us.

Complete Nursery Set

We never bought nursery furniture. I did not even have a rocking chair for my first baby, though it was nice to have a rocker loaned to us for my second daughter. We did put up some Winnie the Pooh prints and a baby mobile, but that was about it for the baby's room.

Childproofing Supplies and Safety Gates

There are infinite inventions out there to assure parents that their children will be safe. In our opinion, it is better to have watchful eye and to train and "house-proof" the baby. Once they were mobile, we trained our kids not to touch unsafe things like electrical cords. We did take a few minimal steps, like taping over a certain outlet that we never used that was very near our daughter's bed. Instead of safety gates (which I hate bothering to take up and down or risk tripping over) we monitored our kids and closed doors. I have nothing against parents using gates, but we were able to manage without them.

Part of our "doing without" mentality came of necessity. Our first two children were born when we lived abroad; when we returned to America, we could not afford much beyond the most basic baby supplies. Now, when I go to a friend's house or see nursery furniture in a store display, I admire what I see as I would view a diamond bracelet. I am mostly thankful I that we didn't spend hundreds of dollars on non-essentials. Perhaps if we had stayed put when we started our family, we could have found or been given second-hand nursery items. While I occasionally wished for certain items, overall I have no regrets about the simpler path we've taken with baby gear.

Whether through choice or a tight budget, we believe simplicity to be a worthy goal. Living with less stuff helps us direct our attention to what matters most. Families in developing countries get along with minimal baby supplies, while still valuing their children. We can learn from their examples. Whatever kind of lifestyle a family chooses, parents will be happier if they focus less on stuff and more on what their baby needs most: mom and dad's loving attention.