The MUST HAVE List
(as in, these should be in your house before baby comes!)
- Diapers, clothes, car seat, and a place for baby to sleep are all obvious and therefore I'm putting them in one bullet so we can acknowledge them and move on.
- Boppy Pillow - Even if you're not breastfeeding, this is fantastic for holding baby because you can rest your arms on it. Joey fell asleep on it countless times while nursing (and still does) and I could still have my hands free to do things on the computer or knit without disrupting him or waking him up.
- Swing - OMG ours saved us countless hours of sleep. Even now, if Joey is cranky and fighting sleep, I can put him in the swing and he's out like a light. I've since learned that for newborns, the swings where baby is almost laying flat are best. Joey's swing doesn't recline that much and really we shouldn't have used it until he had better head control.
- Receiving blankets - We use these for anything and everything. We put them on the floor for tummy time, on the couch underneath him so that spit/pee/poop is caught before hitting the cushion, a way to soften a hard surface if we're changing him in public, keeping him warm, burp cloths, etc. These are awesome and while it is possible to have "too many", having 6 is a decent number.
- Nursing pads - Again, even if you're not breastfeeding these are handy. If you're not breastfeeding then invest $4-6 in a box of disposables (Nuk by Gerber makes a box of 60) and you probably won't use the whole box before you stop leaking. If you are, the disposables are nice because they're thin, but I really like the cloth ones because you don't run out, you just do laundry ;) For the same price as disposables you can buy a set of 6 cloth pads, or make you own (if you have that mythical surplus of receiving blankets).
- Swaddler - I would go so far as to say not only should you have SEVERAL of these in your house before baby comes, but pack one in your hospital bag! I had been given one at my shower and washed it and put it away, not realizing that Dan and I were going to be awful at re-swaddling Joey in the hospital blankets. The first night, Joey was up every hour for various things. The second night, friends had stopped by with presents, including a swaddler, so we broke it out and used it. Joey slept sooooo well in the swaddler. We even used it for a while at home to keep him warm. Eventually he didn't want it anymore and liked to stretch out, but this was another sleep-saver for us.
- Wipes in bulk - Babies never grow out of using wipes. Buy lots of them in big boxes when they're on sale or whatever (Amazon has a moms program and you can also do Subscribe-and-Save). Always always always have lots of wipes handy.
- Portable Changing Pad - I LOVE ours. A friend got it for us (the same one who got us the swaddler!) and it's actually the only one we received. It was definitely one of those things I hadn't thought about at all but ended up using it so much. It's now in my baby shower list of things I get other people. It's one that folds up but it also has 2 mesh pockets and a thin wipes case (you fill it yourself but that's no big deal) so there's room for wipes and diapers all in this compact, water-proof package. It's what ended up turning our couch into a diaper changing station, not to mention keeping nasty germs from who-knows-where on public changing tables away from Joey.
The Stuff-That's-Nice-To-Have-Already List
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| Ring sling |
- A Moby Wrap (or some other baby-carrier) - I love my Moby and my ring sling. I love wearing Joey, it's so easy and I'm probably losing weight faster because I'm carrying around an extra 15 pounds! Stairs are no problem when I'm wearing Joey.
- Baby bath tub - You really don't need one when you bring baby home, unless you have a major spitter. Even then, until the umbilical cord stub falls off, you're giving baby a sponge-bath. I was happy to already have this handy though, because I didn't have to figure out how to hold a slippery newborn with one hand and wash him with the other. Our bathtub had a newborn sling that held him out of the water, so that was awesome.
- Terrycloth Bath Friend - Joey's is a frog, you keep it wet with the warm water from the bath and that way baby stays warm. I think it's the reason that Joey does not hate bath time. Also saves baby from embarrassing bath time pictures ;)
- Teething Ring - Really, you can wet a washcloth, put it in a plastic bag, and stick it in the fridge. But I was glad we had been given a teething ring at my shower because there have been a couple nights where he wasn't cutting teeth but his gums were sore.
- Toys - Newborns don't play with toys, obviously. Joey wasn't really interested in them until around 3 months. They were good to have in the house to introduce him to them and figure out just when he was ready to play with them. Although, anything can be a toy, so if your house has stuff in it that's not sharp or poisonous, you're pretty much set in this department.
- The next size diapers - At least one package of the next size up. This was very helpful in determining which size to buy when we were running out and Joey was close to the next size. Newborn size is almost useless. We used them at the hospital and they were fine there, but pretty much once we got home he was wearing Size 1s because of how much he was peeing/pooping. We had a pack of Size 2s in reserve and when I wondered if he was ready to wear them, I put one on and less than an hour later he had a MASSIVE blowout that would have been sooo much worse in a Size 1. That determined he was ready for 2s ;) We also have a pack of 3s that he's just about ready to fit into, but we have a whole box of 2s to use up first. Not to mention all my new cloth diapers. I'm glad we've got One Size cloth diapers though because next baby will have none of this "use up all the 2s quick" nonsense.
- Baby soap and shampoo - I was super happy that we got a bunch of lotion, soap, and shampoo at my baby shower. The first time I went to give Joey a bath, I had everything I needed already in the bathroom ready to go.
Stuff I Love Having
- Doorway Bouncy Chair - Joey loves this thing! I can put him in it and he entertains himself for twenty minutes or more!
- Bumbo - This is a soft chair where you can put babies who can't sit up by themselves. I leave it in my car and it's great to use at restaurants if we get a booth. I can put the chair on the booth and put Joey in the chair. I do keep a close eye on him to make sure he's not moving too much to move the seat.
- Baby Monitor - It seems silly in our small house, especially because currently Joey's crib sits right outside our bedroom door. However, nights are soooo much easier when I can get him and feed him before he's fully awake. The monitor helps me hear his little grunts and fusses long before they turn into full-fledged crying.
- Stroller - I haven't used ours much. It doesn't recline very far, so it's not great for babies with poor head control. I do prefer to just throw on my Moby or sling and get in and out while I'm running errands. I did use it recently though and was happy to have a place to sit Joey down that I could easily get him in and out of, as opposed to just on the floor and bending down to get him. I also see this being really handy when he's an active toddler and I need to strap him down while I'm shopping.
Stuff I Haven't Used or Could Live Without
- Wipe Warmer - I'm not knocking you if you've got one and swear by it, I just don't see the point. Unless you live somewhere in frigid temperatures and the wipes are freezing to each other, they warm up in your hand and as you're using them.
- Bottle Warmer - I don't give Joey bottles, he probably wouldn't take them from me anyway. We don't have a bottle warmer and have no plans on getting one. I could see these being useful for parents of multiples, definitely. For us, Dan just uses a cup with really warm water and swirls the bottle around. If you start warming the bottle when you first pick up on baby's hunger cues, you're finished by the time he starts fussing that he's hungry.
- Changing Table Pad - I admit, I bought one. It spent the first 4 months of Joey's life still in the plastic pushed off to the side in his room. Now that I've finally cleared a space on his dresser, I've opened it and set up a diaper changing station in there. I anticipate using it once we move his crib in there for the winter, but I have yet to actually change him on it. I could probably live without it. This was one of the things I purchased not really knowing that we'd end up just changing Joey on the couch the majority of the time.
- Tummy Time Mat - Here's the deal with the mat I bought: it was cheaper than other ones out there and I picked it because it's cute. Had I actually been thinking, I would have checked our local consignment shop first AND purchased one that Joey could play with on his back as well (some have hanging thingys). Joey only just recently began enjoying being on his stomach and interacting with toys. I could have saved the $20 and thrown a blanket down with toys from the baby shower, 'cause that's what I do when we're out of the house anyway.
If I think of anything else I'll add it later but this is a pretty solid list.
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