How much baby stuff do you need?

[Maza]

Last time I was minding I just had older toddlers and pre-schoolers. It has been a while since I have looked after babies and I got rid of a load of stuff, mainly because baby stuff is so big to store.

I have lots of toys, so no problems there, and I still have highchairs and pushchairs. I have just binned my travel cot as it looked like it had a bit of mildew on it sadly, so I'll need to replace that. I have all the bedding still.

The things I got rid of were the jumperoo type of thing (really handy for if I needed the loo or take something hot out of the oven etc), push along walker thing for cruising babies, baby gym (with dangling toys that they can grab), circular cushion thing to sit babies in on the floor, bouncy chair for smaller babies etc.

I've had a few enquiries for babies/11 months recently and so I do need to start thinking about what I need to replace and which items were just luxury items that although useful, are not really essential.

[Mouse]

When I have non-mobile babies here I like to make a play area for them so that the other children can see not to run over it and the baby! I put a non-slip mat down as a sign that that’s the baby’ area. The children are really good to stay off it.
I have a play gym that I can hang bits on and I have one of the inflatable circles for when they’re starting to sit up. I try to borrow a bouncy chair and push along walker as they’re often not used for long. I keep a first stage car seat or pushchair indoors to put them in if I’m going to the toilet etc.
I’ve never had a jumperoo or anything like that, but again, I’d probably see if I could borrow one rather than buy it. Or if I did buy it I’d get it second hand and sell it on again afterwards. I don’t really have the room to keep things like that permanently for the short time they’re used.

[Maza]

Oh I'll definitely be getting second hand. I always used to go to a couple of fantastic playgroups that had brilliant resources for all ages, and so we could get our weekly fix of all the added extras there, but of course we can't do that at the moment either.