[name_m]Hi[/name_m] all Momberries
I figured whats a better place to find out what other moms think are the necessities when it comes to having a newborn. I just found out Im pregnant a week ago and am ready to start looking into all baby stuff. Links and brands are welcome!
[name_f]TIA[/name_f]
Congrats on your pregnancy! Here is what I found to be necessary for when our little one was born.
[name_u]Baby[/name_u] Needs
1 Somewhere to sleep - be it a bassinet, crib, pack n play etc. We used the bassinet insert pack n play until [name_f]Isla[/name_f] was 5-6 months old. We liked that it was easy to move from room to room.
2 Diapers & wipes - cloth or disposables, whichever you prefer. We use disposables, but several of my friends did cloth and loved them.
3 Burp rags - a whole lot of them, we used them so much for our little one in the beginning.
4 Blankets for swaddling - Mine liked being swaddled and often spent a lot of time in a diaper with her swaddling on. However, some babies absolutely hate to be swaddled.
5 Bottles & cleaning brushes - for if formula feeding or pumping. I breast fed exclusively, however 2 weeks after birth I ended up with a kidney stone and was put on mediciation that I couldn’t nurse her during the 5 days, so having those few bottles were necessary. Thankfully she went back to breastfeeding immediately after those 5 days.
6 Something to wear - honestly [name_f]Isla[/name_f] either wore diapers or pjs the first 3 months of her life. I know a lot of those outfits are super cute, but I had no desire to try to wrangle them on so she wore pjs. Snap up or zip up, the zip up ones are especially great at night when changing diapers half asleep.
7 Diaper rash ointment - this is great to already have on hand for if baby needs it. I personally use Desitin, but many others are great too.
8 Somewhere to bathe baby - until their stump from their umbilical cord falls off you can sponge bath and then you can start giving baths. We used a baby bathtub, but to be perfectly honest it’s very space taking up and difficult to maneuver. I’ve seen the Blooming Bath baby bath that fits in the kitchen sink. When we have our next child I will be investing in one.
9 Nursing pillow - this came in handy not just when nursing or for formula feeling, but helped with tummy time. My daughter is 18 months and still uses it as her pillow, so wonderful investment. I suggest getting one that has a cover that can be removed for easy washing.
10 Rocker/bouncer or swing - different babies like different ones. Mine loved rocker/bouncer but not our swing.
For Mom -
1 A breastpump - if you plan on pumping or breastfeeding. I ended up with a manual one, but it sure did come in handy during my kidney stone issue to pump to keep my production up for when the medicine cleared my body.
2 Pads, pads and more pads (or the adult diapers) - you will need a large amount of these.
3 Witch hazel pads
4 Dermoplast pain relieving spray
5 Snacks - this one is super important, you will be needing energy, and having snacks handy is wonderful
6 Freezer meals - being able to cook a lot of freezer meals ahead of time can help with being able to eat even while being extremely busy. Also, where I’m from our friends and family sign up and do a meal train for the parents of the new baby, if they do this where you are it is wonderful and so helpful to not have to cook.
These are the things that I found vital to having a newborn. As she got older I liked the Bumbo, Jumperoo and a high chair were good to have, but were not needed immediately with a newborn.
Congrats on your pregnancy! Here is what I found to be necessary for when our little one was born.
[name_u]Baby[/name_u] Needs
1 Somewhere to sleep - be it a bassinet, crib, pack n play etc. We used the bassinet insert pack n play until [name_f]Isla[/name_f] was 5-6 months old. We liked that it was easy to move from room to room.
2 Diapers & wipes - cloth or disposables, whichever you prefer. We use disposables, but several of my friends did cloth and loved them.
3 Burp rags - a whole lot of them, we used them so much for our little one in the beginning.
4 Blankets for swaddling - Mine liked being swaddled and often spent a lot of time in a diaper with her swaddling on. However, some babies absolutely hate to be swaddled.
5 Bottles & cleaning brushes - for if formula feeding or pumping. I breast fed exclusively, however 2 weeks after birth I ended up with a kidney stone and was put on mediciation that I couldn’t nurse her during the 5 days, so having those few bottles were necessary. Thankfully she went back to breastfeeding immediately after those 5 days.
6 Something to wear - honestly [name_f]Isla[/name_f] either wore diapers or pjs the first 3 months of her life. I know a lot of those outfits are super cute, but I had no desire to try to wrangle them on so she wore pjs. Snap up or zip up, the zip up ones are especially great at night when changing diapers half asleep.
7 Diaper rash ointment - this is great to already have on hand for if baby needs it. I personally use Desitin, but many others are great too.
8 Somewhere to bathe baby - until their stump from their umbilical cord falls off you can sponge bath and then you can start giving baths. We used a baby bathtub, but to be perfectly honest it’s very space taking up and difficult to maneuver. I’ve seen the Blooming Bath baby bath that fits in the kitchen sink. When we have our next child I will be investing in one.
9 Nursing pillow - this came in handy not just when nursing or for formula feeling, but helped with tummy time. My daughter is 18 months and still uses it as her pillow, so wonderful investment. I suggest getting one that has a cover that can be removed for easy washing.
10 Rocker/bouncer or swing - different babies like different ones. Mine loved rocker/bouncer but not our swing.
For Mom -
1 A breastpump - if you plan on pumping or breastfeeding. I ended up with a manual one, but it sure did come in handy during my kidney stone issue to pump to keep my production up for when the medicine cleared my body.
2 Pads, pads and more pads (or the adult diapers) - you will need a large amount of these.
3 Witch hazel pads
4 Dermoplast pain relieving spray
5 Snacks - this one is super important, you will be needing energy, and having snacks handy is wonderful
6 Freezer meals - being able to cook a lot of freezer meals ahead of time can help with being able to eat even while being extremely busy. Also, where I’m from our friends and family sign up and do a meal train for the parents of the new baby, if they do this where you are it is wonderful and so helpful to not have to cook.
These are the things that I found vital to having a newborn. As she got older I liked the Bumbo, Jumperoo and a high chair were good to have, but were not needed immediately with a newborn.
for bedtime we use baby bundlers (no idea if that’s what they’re always called) they are babygrows with elastic bottoms so you can pull them up to change nappies. I cannot do poppers up at a 4 o’clock change after multiple wake ups!
Our son loved to break out of swaddlers so we used a pacifier clip to close it tight enough that he couldn’t undo it. I preferred a couple muslin swaddles.
If people buy you diapers at a shower, it may be wise to request them in size 3 because all babies will be in those for a long time whereas the quantities of the smaller sizes you need may vary greatly depending on the child’s size and growth pattern.
I second the above recommendation regarding Mamma stuff. [name_m]Add[/name_m] ice packs to that list if you deliver vaginally. Epsom salts for a sitz bath. The smelly ones are really nice and relaxing.
If you plan to breastfeed, it is good to have a manual pump for emergencies and also to help stimulate the breast so your milk comes in if baby has trouble latching at first. As for electric pumps, I tried the PISA, the freemie, and spectra s2…I think the S2 is definitely the best.
Nipple butter by [name_f]Earth[/name_f] mama angel baby! [name_m]Way[/name_m] better than lanolin imo.
We used dirty shirts as burp rags often so I didn’t find a great need for burp rags.
Our son loves the swing. A pack n play makes a great crib for about 6 months.
[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t bother with too many clothes for several reasons…you don’t know what season it will be when baby needs certain sizes, you figure out what works as you go, you will get many gifts and likely hand me downs. A swim diaper is nice to have handy, though.
Our biggest splurge was our travel system and I’m glad we did because I still love ours and we get so much use out of it. We got the [name_m]Chico[/name_m] [name_m]Bravo[/name_m] but a jogger travel system probably would have also worked well.
A diaper bag…we still almost always change him on the mat from the diaper bag.
You can get apps now to turn your phone and tablet into a baby monitor. Also the youtube kids app is pretty awesome.
I agree 100% with freezer meals and snacks. Freeze-ahead crock pot meals are fantastic and there are lots of recipes online. We made 30 so that we were set for the whole first month, and it was wonderful. For snacks I did lots of granola bars and apples. Easy, one-handed things. I would also suggest a large water bottle that you can operate one-handed – one of those ones with a flip-up straw, maybe. I was constantly starving and thirsty from breastfeeding. Still am, actually.
I also wanted to put out there that buying used is a great way to save money. You can find things for cheap that have been barely used because that baby hated it, or people were given two of something at a baby shower, or whatever. We got a crib and change table for 1/4 of the retail price and there isn’t a mark on them, a swing for $10, a Bumbo for $10. Used stuff is awesome.
A few things I would consider necessary:
Old towels. We spread these all across the couch where LO and I basically lived for the first month. Saved the couch from spit up, throw up, poop, leaking breastmilk, and postpartum bleeding leaks (tmi?). So easy to throw in the wash. [name_f]Tea[/name_f] towels are great for stuffing against one boob while you’re feeding on the other – I would just soak through breastpads at the beginning so the towels were great. We also used them instead of burp cloths.
Coconut oil. I used this for everything! Nipple cream, baby moisturiser, cradle cap exterminator.
A good carrier! This is something I did not invest in initially, and [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] wanted to be held constantly. We ended up getting an original [name_u]Baby[/name_u] [name_m]Bjorn[/name_m] two weeks in which was the cheap option and I do NOT recommend it. It wasn’t comfortable for me or her, and it’s not really great for baby’s hips/spine either. Plus, at four months old she’s almost outgrown it weight-wise (she’s a giant but still). We just got an Ergo Performance last week and I HIGHLY recommend it! [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]'s over 20 pounds now and it barely feels like she weighs anything when I wear it. Plus, Ergos are quite popular so you can often find them used like we did. A downside to the Ergo is that it’s not suitable for newborns without the newborn insert. We didn’t need to use the insert since [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]'s old/big enough to go without but I’ve read reviews saying it can be a bit tricky. I’ve also heard great things about the Emeibaby carrier but I haven’t used it myself.
A doorframe jumper. Okay, okay, this isn’t really a “newborn” thing but we were able to use ours from 3 months which is still pretty new. We have a Jolly Jumper. It is amazing. [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] thinks it’s the best thing since breastmilk and is so, so happy bouncing around in there. She’s also very safe, so I can walk around the house doing chores without worrying for a good 20 minutes or so.
Somewhere to put the baby down. We thought, “we don’t have much room, we’ll just use the bassinet and won’t bother with a swing or bouncer.” Wrong. [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] hated lying flat. So we ended up getting a swing, which she also hated, and a bouncer, which she loved. The swing was just a simple BrightStarts one, and the bouncer was handed down to us and I’m not sure what brand it is – it’s just some meshy material that goes over a metal frame. I highly recommend getting one that is very easy to clean! For us, the bouncer’s mesh slides off the metal frame and we can put it in the wash. I say this because we call the bouncer her “poop chair.” She does poosplosions in it constantly. It’s just a great angle for pooping I think.
A nice pram that’s suited to your needs. We were given a pram that had a bassinet and seat. She hated the bassinet because it was flat, and the seat wasn’t suitable for newborns. So we basically just had the [name_u]Baby[/name_u] [name_m]Bjorn[/name_m] carrier for taking her out the first month+ of her life which we both hated. We ended up getting a [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Jogger City [name_f]Mini[/name_f] which we [name_u]LOVE[/name_u]. Its seat has an adjustable recline so it’s suitable for newborns, it’s light, compact, easy to take into shops, sturdy enough for walks, easy to take on public transport, so easy to fold. My only complaint is that the basket is quite small and hard to get into. But your stroller needs might be different than mine so it’s definitely something to think about and research.
[name_u]Aden[/name_u] & [name_f]Anais[/name_f] swaddle blankets! These are awesome. We never actually swaddled [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] (it was too hot and we bedshare) but these are nice for swaddling larger babies especially as they’re quite big, and we use them as nursing covers / sun shades. Nice and light.