Thursday, October 13, 2011

An Apartment Baby

I live in a small space.  A small New York space (versus a small Canton, Ohio space).  When I someday transition from baby crazy to baby mama I will have to fit my baby into this small space.  I will also have to fit the baby's things into this small space.  Cue the suspenseful music...

 
I couldn't find any suspenseful music, but I did find the original movie trailer for Scream.  



The thought of making room for a crib in my teeny tiny apartment makes my brain hurt.  Square peg.  Round hole.  Impossible.  And, the crib is just one thing.  There are many other things that will need to find homes in my apartment too - bottles, clothes, diapers and some tons of other stuff...I don't know what exactly that other stuff is, but I know there's tons.


The round hole symbolizes my apartment and
the square hole symbolizes the baby stuff.  Deep.
(image here)


So, what does an apartment dweller do when she has a baby?  Where does all the baby stuff go?  WHERE?

Without the pressure of an impending due date, it's a good time to consider this dilemma.  My standard method of problem solving is to separate the things I can control from the things I can't control, then focus on the things I can control.  In this problem, I can't control the size of my apartment.  Unless, of course, I move.  Assuming that's not a feasible option (because it's not), let's continue.  The baby stuff is something I can control both in terms of how much and how big.  Thus, I'm going to focus on the baby stuff.  Step one: complete.

Step two: what is the baby stuff?  I've come full circle in a mere two paragraphs, one of which was only three short questions.  Hmmm.  My method for learning things about pregnancy and childbirth is consulting wikipedia and urbandictionary.com.  Unlike my problem solving method, this method is bad.  It failed just yesterday (read this and then this for the humorous details).

And so, I'm turning to YOU - What are the best baby stuff?  I'm not talking great, I'm talking BEST. What are things that were absolutely essential to the first year of your little one's life?  Give me your Top 5.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The boppy. It's a must. There are a lot of similar nursing pillows out there that probaby work just as well, but I went with the boppy on the recommendation of a friend and it's fantastic. A regular throw pillow won't work. And whether you're nursing or bottle feeding - it takes a while and your arms get tired. I should probably get commision from the Boppy people...HA.

Meghan said...

This is interesting. I actually visited someone's tiny apartment where she had a "baby room." She had converted her cozy reading area off the living room and made it a baby room. They put in big see through sliding doors and had a crib, changing table and rocking chair. It was actually the perfect amount of stuff.

I am in love with the Container Store. If you go there and even hire a consultant ($150.00 sometimes) they can make suggestions to maximize your space for a new addition.

The real question - is what if you have 2???

Meghan said...

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/toyStorage

That is their section on toy storage :)

Melissa said...

1) Something to sleep in (crib, bassinet, etc.)
2) Carrier (baby bjorn, something)
3) Stroller
4) Burp towels/receiving blankets
5) Baby toiletries - shampoo, condition, nail cipper, etc.

Beatrix said...

An assisted swaddle blanket - one that velcroes or zips - because swaddling with a regular blanket is tricky and because swaddling is the difference between sleep and NO sleep.

Chrissy said...

1. Somewhere for the baby to sleep.
2. A way to feed the baby (boob or bottle)
3. Diapers (cloth or disposable)
4. Clothing
5. Swaddle or receiving blankets.

These are without a doubt the five things I use every day. I don't think anything else I have I use daily. I think the more stuff you collect, the more you might use. But you would be amazed at how you can get by with very little. Or how much you can manipulate something you already own to complete the task at hand. I need to add car seat to the list even though i don't use that every day.

It totally depends on your plans. I find I don't need too many burp cloths (I have some really nice ones my cousin made for me), and I just use random washcloths or hand towels if I can't find one. But I think bottle fed babies might spit up more.

I have a Boppy. It's nice, but I don't use it everyday.

Also- it's not like you can't ever leave your apartment once the baby comes. You might want to hold off buying a bunch of stuff until you can assess your needs. A newborn does not need much aside from boob, diapers, place to sleep. I bought our stroller a couple of weeks after she was born. She is one month old and I have yet to use most of the baby stuff I've managed to collect.

Good luck!