Some very hot tips.

Rachel is one of the smartest people I know. 


Here are some of her pearls of wisdom in response to the email I sent out.

"Oh yes all the stuff kids come with. Its obvious but a lot of parents are dying to get rid of stuff so more you put the word out the more people will come to you. I would say friends and friends of friends is the best source."

Social media is pretty good for talking to friends-of-friends, so try the Facebook for shout-outs. Rachel also recommended som really good websites to help start checking things off the list, here are some of them:

"Gumtree and eBay were good for things like the cot, pram and bjorn" - the downside is that you have to pay, though not a lot for things. But what can get confusing in E-Bay is whether something is new or old, so just double-check closely to see if it's actually second-hand. I haven't bought anything from either of these yet but will keep you posted as to how it all goes. 

"We rented the car pod thing from the hospital" - there's heaps of information about restraints from the Government, and on the whole it looks as though it's pretty easy to hire them as you need them either from the hospital or the council. If you don't have a car (which we don't) and really need one, you can get them as add-ons from hire car companies or request one from a taxi. So don't bother buying one. 

Rachel also said, "People will buy you things. I told them not to but they still do. The best advice I got was be very specific around what you need otherwise you will end up with a bunch of teddies and clothes they never wear. Some things I have found a total god-send and would ask for as pressies. It's probably hard to get these used as the wear and tear on them is pretty heavy.
http://www.lovetodream.com.au/ - brilliant to keep baby swaddled and helps them sleep.
http://www.adenandanais.com/shop/classic.aspx (muslin cloths you can use for all kinds of things)
http://www.babybjorn.com.au/products/bouncers/ (man oh man this is a brilliant chair!)
The pram is also tricky used unless it is hardly used. They really go through a beating and you can end up spending more money on parts.We love our Mountain Buggy. My advice would be to ask for the pram for your grandparents and then get the bassinet fixture second hand (as they are only in that for a few mths).

Some pearlers for sure, though I reckon I will try and investigate the pram thing a bit more. Rachel also offered my a high chair, which though not on my list I reckon will probably be useful. 

The Buy Nothing New Kid.

The problem:

The Baby Products industry is going strong and proving to be a ray of sunshine in tough economic times. Over the five years through 2011-12, industry revenue is expected to grow 1.1% per annum  to be worth $4.38 billion. Cashed-up parents have been buying up big for their newborns, with only the best in mind. This attitude, combined with rising birth rates to older parents, has given rise to a new area of growth: high-end baby products (Ibis World Research 2010) 

That's basically $4.38 billion dollars worth of strollers, nappy change tables, toys, clothes, bassinets and other junk that is used at most for 3-6 months.

This junk uses energy, water and finite resources as it is made.  If it 'works' you'll probably need a bunch more coal-fired energy and water to power it and then when the kid is sick of it it will inevitably have to go somewhere.

The waste and energy associated with buying stuff for the kid when it is a baby doesn't take into account the environmental impact of adding another (Westerner) to the earth. This is also a little worrying.

In a study done by Paul Murtaugh & Michael Schlax called "Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals" it was found that even if you live a really sustainable life (drive a Prius, use Green Energy, are vegetarian, use energy-saving bulbs etc.) these efforts are effectively useless if you have a kid.

In fact Murtaugh & Schlax also found that the in developed countries, each child adds about 9441 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide to the carbon legacy of an average female currently alive - this is 5.7 times her lifetime emissions.  


The solution?


Well the first option is to sterilise yourself and/or use contraceptions. But if (for whatever reason and seriously probably not a great idea to take sex ed advice from a preggo) this is not an option then raise a kid who will be a decent human being and attempt to fix things.

Apparently this is harder to do than it sounds.

So use the only power that you really have as a parent (until they're old enough to work) - try not to buy the kid anything new. 

For as long as you can get away with it.

I don't know if this is possible, but I'm willing to give it a decent crack.

Will keep you posted.