More, more, more, and more baby stuff.

[Neuroticfather1]

It seems endless, the amount of stuff for our baby... playpen, bouncy toys, sleepers, co-sleepers, car seats, clothes, clothes, and more clothes! Baby girl is a month old and has outgrown most of the newborn outfits already. I've always been a minimalist, and my spouse knows how much my blood boils every time she brings home more garbage that I view as useless. Its important to note that her mother is a hoarder, and pushes her to take things with her every time we visit. I end up cleaning, rearranging, and playing life size Tetris in our storage rooms and closets. Is this the fate of all fathers????? Are we sentenced to a life of dealing with shiiiiiiii stuff?? If so, I'm considering disappearing into the woods naked and living off the land. Please help.

[vicky.j]

Well, i am a mother but i can feel a father's feelings. You are saying little similar with my husband. He also doesn't like to buy so many things. When i ask him to buy new things and bring those to our home, he feels disturbed. I know this is happened for several reason: Firstly, the extra and unnecessary things needs a space in house or even when we are shifting our house. Those can be damped and useless and finally we have to throw those into dustbin. That's why i don't buy any unnecessary things. So my husband is now happy also save some bucks.

In case of a new born baby, i must tell you that the little one needs the more stuff than a elder one. Your daughter need more clothes, nappies, diapers, powder, cream, lotion, oil, perambulator, walker, feeding kits and lots more. And the things will be useless very quickly with the age of your baby, specially the cloths. So don't bother in this matter at least. Its your own blood so enjoy spending time with her.

[dontknow]

No - you're not doomed. Eventually (and rather quickly) your child will outgrow most of the things you are referring to. That being said, the start up costs/things associated with a child is immense but can be easily controlled. Many of the stuff sold and marketed to new parents aren't necessary but that's up to each parent/couple to decide. This will not end with baby hood - it keeps going and going and going.....

Fortunately my wife kept her sanity and declared herself that most things were passing fads and not worth the expense. Do not read the trend lists, etc... Like anything else, it's there to make you think you need the stuff - you don't.

Things that a kids life depends on get the best / safest you can afford.

That doesn't mean you need to spend much more than 150.00 on a stroller. We had one and used it exclusively until our child was done with strollers. No additional umbrella strollers, high end stroller, etc..... Ours ended up selling on CL for $50.00 after 4 years of continual use.

We used perhaps a costlier set of bottles (Born Free) but felt they were worth it. We purchased Britax Car Seats. We felt the safety was worth the extra cost.

Some other pertinent things are needed for assistance in child development - coordination, mind building, etc... but then again many items duplicate or overlap and we kept it in-check.

All of this stuff has since been passed along and thankfully most of it was obtained in the way of gifts.

But, new stuff is going to filter in as your child ages while the other stuff phases out.

Good luck - you're up against a lot in these days with the must have lists, etc...

[JetFalcon]

For expensive stuff that can be passed down, like strollers/car seats, could you save a bunch if you're willing to go on craigslist? I'm sure there are many people trying to get rid of baby stuff because of dad's like OP. And the buyer could benefit by lowballing and maybe the seller will agree just to get rid of stuff.