I hope Continuum-Family.com doesn't mind me borrowing their picture to show them off. I recently purchased a pouch sling from them and I was extremely happy with their service and their product - not to mention they are fairly local to me. I didn't go for the designer sling, and instead went with everyday khaki sateen, but I did upgrade it with the padding along one side. I can't wait to use it. It's extremely similar to a polar fleece sling I made and used with my second baby, which was a tremendous upgrade from the nice Snugli I had for my first. I gave the polar fleece one to my sister-in-law who needed it (everyone needs a good baby sling), and the Snugli to my cousin, so I was very happy to find a low-cost, well-made sling like this. They even refunded the overcharge on shipping to me.
1. The sling. Every day when I pick up Annie from kindergarten I see a cute little couple lugging a massive car seat with a tiny baby in it. They set the seat on the ground, since it is so heavy and stand up and talk to the baby while they wait. The baby is always a happy, contented little thing, but it seems a bit silly to me to have it strapped into this contraption and talk to it from such a height. The sling above is a much simpler solution.
2. You don't need anything to give your baby a bath. If you have a sink you've got a bathtub, but what's even better is to just have a bath with the baby. Showering without a water sling is tricky because babies become incredibly slippery when wet, but sitting in the bath with some natural soap and a baby is pretty heavenly and easy. And free.
3. Side bed. The cheapest solution is to buy one of these very nice bassinet/playpens that can slide up against the bed if you aren't going to co-sleep. We have some sleep issues that make true co-sleeping dangerous, but having the baby right next to the bed is the next best thing.
4. Definitely cloth diapers. I knitted my wool covers and was very fortunate to be given some extra covers as well as some extra cloth diapers. My favorite cloth diapers are called
Indian prefolds, made of a thick Indian cotton. These are much different from some other kinds of prefolds that are made of a cheesecloth-like fabric that becomes ridiculously difficult to clean. We did buy a small bag of newborn disposables because my babies have really skinny legs, it's easier to keep that cord clean, and those first few poops are really nasty to clean out. So we have them for backup but cloth is what we're doing.
5. The diaper pail and nylon bags are also a necessity but how you obtain these could be as simple as the local second-hand or consignment store. I also simply bought my bum ointment because it is much cheaper to buy a regular old zinc ointment than to make one with essential oils. The higher the zinc content, the better. Same with wipes... its cheaper to buy natural wipes than to make them, and when you have a baby its tough to keep making up the spray when you've got so much other stuff to do.
6. Baby clothes. I went to my local second-hand store and spent $100 on a mountain of non-gender-specific, barely used baby clothes. Each one was about $1 and I now have enough clothes for the next 8 months (unless my baby is gigantic, which I doubt). Since we did not have an ultrasound we don't know if its a boy or a girl, so its been difficult to resist buy that cute little boy jacket, or the pink little dress. But I resisted, lol.
That's really, truly, all you need for a baby. I actually think its kind of funny when people say that they are waiting to have a baby because kids are so expensive. They cost money, but the cost is much less than eating out once a week.
Coming Next Year!
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