What do you REALLY need for a baby / toddler?

A holiday would be my answer to that one!

No, but seriously, there is nothing more confusing than trying to prepare for one of the biggest life changes and everyone tells you about how their  binkee, boppy, tappee something has been a lifesaver and you really must get one because it makes life with a baby so much easier!

Then, you have said baby, he/ she becomes a toddler and all you do is spend your life picking up everything off the floor because its only apparent use is to send you completely insane.

If I had my chance to do it again I would limit my purchases (and borrows) to only the absolute essentials.  Especially now as I’m currently in the process of packing up all the baby stuff and moving it for the third time and I’m kinda wishing there wasn’t so much of it.

At the end of the day little people really don’t need much and the less you have the cleaner everything appears to be.  I don’t know about you but when my external surroundings appear less chaotic I feel more relaxed.

I’ve even found limiting the toys we have (and those Eamon can grab easily) makes life so much easier. This way he’ll actually play with them when I get things out rather than just having a great game of ‘pull everything out of the toy box’ before moving on to play with the bin or something.

At the moment the following things are really the only items that get daily use (I found these ones on the Dorel website).  Oh and the bin or course, I wasn’t kidding about that either, we have a rubbish obsession over here! Everything is ‘tip’, ‘rubbish’, and ‘my bin’!

1. Toddler Bed – This is essential in the vain hope that they might one day sleep in their own bed for the entire night.  Also the drawers are great to hide everything when you do a last minute clean before visitors arrive.

2. High Chair  – Do not be suckered into a high chair that has every gadget and gimmick. It will be covered in mush daily. You won’t remember to clean it before the mush becomes cement.  The simpler it is, the easier to clean.

3. Car Seat – Again, don’t worry about it being luxurious and soft. Go for washable. I know you think you won’t let your kids eat in the car, but it will have banana mashed in it daily.

4. Pram / Stroller – Do not subscribe to bigger is better. It’s not.  You’ll be cursing yourself when you can’t fit through the aisles in shopping centres or when you try to get into a cafe and get dirty looks after running over everyone’s toes. Also it’s helpful if it doesn’t take a Masters degree to be able to fold it down.

5. Outdoor toys – Okay… so not really an ‘essential’ but anything that encourages active play is a must in my book.  Especially with a boy who likes to move; lots of activity is needed if anyone is going to get any sleep, and that is an essential for me!

What do you think? Have I missed anything? What do we really need for a baby?

This post was written in partnership with Dorel, but all opinions are my own.