Somehow, in the last eighteen months, the number of items that our toddler ‘needs’ has grown exponentially. We’ve reached the dreaded point where it feels like there’s a Will area in every corner of the house. I so desperately want to be one of those parents who has little need for a multitude of baby items. Minimalism! And all that jazz.

Of course, I live in America, land of free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime. Also, land of first-time grandmothers who find the best darn things that make life SO MUCH EASIER. As I’ve been reflecting on Will’s stuff over running our home, I’ve also come to realize that there are so many things, large and small, that, while seemingly unnecessary, have made our lives so much easier. They might make yours a bit easier, too!

needed

1. Play yard: When Will outgrew napping and playing in his pack and play, we needed a space for him to safely play in a controlled way while we made dinner and the like. A play yard just like this worked so well for Will from about six to thirteen months old. He’s outgrown it now, but now we use it to keep Will away from other unsafe areas in the house.

2. Bath chair: As soon as William learned to stand (literally two weeks after he learned to crawl), he started doing so in the bathtub. Asking him to sit on his bottom, and lowering him to a sitting position worked really well…for another month. WhenWill was about 9 months old, it was game over. He would not sit in the tub any longer. After a few weeks of evening bath time battles, my mother in law brought us the ultimate item in the ‘didn’t know I needed but transformed my life’ category: a bath chair just like this. It suctions to the bottom of the tub, stays in place and keeps our kiddo on his bottom in the tub. I’m super sad because now that he’s such a big boy, he’s outgrowing the chair – I don’t know what we’ll do next!

ADVERTISEMENT

3. Umbrella stroller: I’ve talked about using this stroller when I traveled solo with Will when he was not quite a year old, but I had to talk myself into this stroller (and my husband) before we got it. We had a great stroller – I didn’t see why I needed another one. However, having two strollers – one for the car and one for the house; one that works with the infant seat and one that is so light I can maneuver it with one hand – has been indispensable.

4. Bibs that catch food: We were firm believers in our A&A bibs…until my mother bought one bib like this – silicone and with the ‘food catcher’ and my world was revolutionized. It’s now our most frequently used bib, which it can be because I can rinse food right off of it! Will loves that he can grab the fruit or pasta he’s accidentally dropped, and I think actually may have helped push his pincer grasp in early days.

5. Many toys – especially lots of balls and musical toys: Mr. Milk and I had this notion (and kind of still do?) that the kid doesn’t need many toys. Especially lots of toys of the same nature! For some strange reason though, having lots of little cars, balls, and toys that make noise music have an amazing impact on our son’s development. He likes grouping things by what they are, lining them up, play with them all at the same time. We do cycle toys out, but we have multiple cars, trains, balls, and chunky puzzles hanging around – and it’s absolutely necessary.

6. Kid’s table: Will received this for his first birthday and I never would have thought to get it for him myself. It’s been so useful – he colors at it, does puzzles while standing or sitting, and we store toys on top of it when we clean up for the night.

And two things that I actually would have been useful but we held out and didn’t get – but we will for baby #2!

7. Jogging stroller: This past summer, it was so tough to find time to go for a job AND get someone to watch Will, as I didn’t have a running stroller. He loves going on walks and I suspect this would be a very useful item if I’d like to continue to run and hang with my kid.

8. Video monitor: We must be some of the only people left in the world who use a sound-only monitor. While I suspect I would have had to learn to not obsessively watch Will sleep as a newborn, I also think having a video stream might have helped us know when to help Will sleep through the night earlier. We often would wait when he was fussing/crying but would choose an ill-timed entrance when we suspected he wasn’t going to go back to sleep alone. Often, he’d already be laying back down and probably would have gone back to sleep himself, but we didn’t know as we couldn’t see him! It’s not a golden bullet, but I still think it’s maybe silly to stand by sound-only when video options are so affordable and practical.

What about you? Anything you didn’t think you’d need but absolutely love?