You might think that it’s just because we are having our 3rd baby that we are inclined to be minimalist. We may know better what we need, true, in actuality– we have been minimalist since having our first baby. Here’s a bit about why and how.
Why?
When we were pregnant with Jasmin we lived in Miami in a small, one-bedroom apartment. I loooved that little place! It did make me feel super claustrophobic during my pregnancy, so I spent much time clearing our space.
Moving in with my husband meant we had to reduce both of our belongings so we can live comfortably together. Learning how to share such a small space, so fresh in our marriage, was a bit of a trial to say the least! But that’s another story! It helped to make sure we had our own things organized so then we can make space for baby Jasmin.
Another big thing for us while nesting was having the minimal needs met for baby. She would be breastfed so no need for bottles and formula and all that extra baggage. She would be diaper free, so we owned verrrry few cloth diapers. We would co-sleep, so we didn’t own a crib, or any “cosleeping” device.
We had a stroller, a baby wrap, a baby tub (because our home didn’t have a tub), a baby potty, a baby chair for her meals, and that’s pretty much it!
Even our dining table had to go!
What did we add?
So yes we removed many things, so what did we add to all that free space?
Pretty much we added a rug, a coffee table and a few toys.
And we were way more picky about toys. She mostly had wooden toys, and we spent much of our time out of the apartment.
We would go for walks, take the bus to work part time at a Waldorf-inspired Daycare and wait for daddy to get home to run errands– like visiting the Chiropractor 1-2 times a week.
Minimalists in Panama
Talk about living small!
In our little room in Panama we packed only what could fit in 3 suitcases and a backpack! Just a few books, a few of Jas favorite plush toys, a few of our clothes, a Berkey water filter and a Vitamix blender was all we moved with.
Check out our blog post about our life in Panama and how minimalism suited us so well because of where we lived.
With 2 children and another move
Even though we now have 2 children and live in a MUCH bigger space. We knew we wanted to minimize the clutter, the furniture spending, and the cleanup. So when we moved in we bought mostly everything secondhand, stuck to our minimalism, and we considered everything we bought in this way :
- Can the children hurt themselves?
- Do we need it, or want it?
- Will it be easy to clean?
- Is it comfortable?
- Can we resell it after we move?
And this is pretty much how we pick everything, except toys of course. Toys are an exception.
Toys
When they get a new toy, we throw out the old.
Do not keep broken toys or if they have lost parts.
If they’re not playing with it often it goes bye bye.
We have toy purges at least once a month.
Nesting with baby 3
I hope you’re seeing the pattern by now and can see why it is much( easier at this point to be minimalist.
1. We pretty much already know what we will end up using and not using. So we can reduce clutter that way.
2. Embrace second hand items!
3. Don’t just keep something because it’s cute, will your really use it? Or will it sit in a closet forever?
4. Babywearing, cloth diapering, cosleeping: all are good for you and baby, reduce waste, reduce costs, and reduce clutter.
5. It’s ok to say no to peoples gifts, or let them know exaaactly what you’d like to be gifted.
Hope this helps.
HAPPY NESTING!
Photo credit: http://babyandchild.ae
Jenny Pena
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