The Minimalist Mom: How to Simply Parent Your Baby

That’s a baby getting a bath in a bucket in our kitchen sink. I wanted to try out one of those Tummy Tubs – a friend said her baby really enjoyed it – but $50 for a plastic bucket seemed a bit ridiculous. And you know, the baby may hate it. And, oh yeah, we already had a bucket at home that could basically do the same job.

I didn’t always think this way. In fact, with our first baby, the one that was quite colicky and didn’t sleep much, I looked to stuff to make life easier. This special swaddle would help or this stuffed singing lamb would soothe him to sleep. I bought a lot of stuff in search of making my life easier and my baby happier. None of it did what I hoped it would. The cure for my colicky baby and my deep exhaustion was simply time and asking for help. Nothing I could buy in a store or charge on a credit card.

That’s what my new book is about. The Minimalist Mom: How to Simply Parent Your Baby is about accepting the unpredictable nature of life with a baby and tailoring what you have and how you manage your new life to suit your needs. It’s always frustrated me that those traditional baby book tombs of check lists and must-haves never spoke about different needs for different lifestyles and that not all babies are the same. Those books never delved into real strategies for making life easier as a new parent. Those books never speak to examining your own lifestyle and your own priorities as you plan for life with a new baby. The dual working parent suburban family with a long commute by car and a baby in daycare has different needs than say a family with a parent staying home that lives in an urban center. And if you’re sending your child to a daycare you will have different needs than a family that has a nanny that comes to their home. If your stroller will mostly be stored in your car you probably don’t need the same stroller as the parents that want to jog on their rural roads or the parent that will use their stroller to haul the groceries home or even the family that is hoping to have a second baby soon after the first. If one parent works overnights you’re going to need a different schedule and division of household duties than a family with two parents that work 9-5 jobs. So many differences and yet those other baby books shell out the same advice for all of us. This book is different.

In The Minimalist Mom: How to Simply Parent Your Baby I show you how to:

• buy or borrow baby gear that you will actually use for your life and your baby
• save money on your gear and ideas for making single items multipurpose
• identify your schedule and household stumbling blocks and make plans before the baby arrives
• hone in on the things that really matter to you – be they family or friend time, education, a hobby – and how to incorporate them back into your life as new parents
• create more time in your schedule once the baby arrives
• get more sleep!

This is a book about making life a bit simpler and easier. Using the tenets of minimalism I take you through simplifying your routines and gear to help you enjoy and savor that first year with your baby. No matter if you live on a rural homestead or in the heart of the city. If you work full-time and have a one hour commute each way or you’re becoming a stay-at-home parent. If you’ve got money to spend or if you’re working with a small or nonexistent budget (yes, there are strategies for spending $0 on baby gear and clothing in this book!). In each section of the book I give examples of implementing a minimalist lifestyle to whatever degree you’re looking for. The ideas run the range from radical to modest and there’s something in here for every parent whether your goal is simply to clean out the guest bedroom before the baby arrives or you’re looking for strategies to live in a one bedroom apartment with one (or two) children.

Why? Because happier and calmer and less sleep deprived parents are happier people. And they deal with the stress of a new baby better. And that’s what I want for new parents who read this book. Less stress, more sleep. Less clutter, more love.

I really couldn’t have written this book without all the support and advice from readers over the years. It’s been almost six years since I started writing here and I have loved sharing and learning with all of you. The conversation here continues to inspire me and I know it has helped thousands of new parents navigate the often murky waters of life with a baby. Thank you all!

Finally, I would love your support with this new book. If you can share it with your local parents group, request it be stocked to your local library, gift it at your next baby shower or even buy a copy I would so greatly appreciate your support. If you have already purchased the book – THANK YOU! – and I would love your support in the form of an honest Amazon review. Small authors like me rely on word of mouth and online reviews to get our books noticed and you dear readers are my online village!