Baby Must Haves
Okay, we are 3 months into this parenting thing, so I officially feel like I can offer my opinion about all of the must haves, nice to haves, and not so necessary items for baby! I want to preface this with, these items are so different for everyone, so you have to see what works best for you! Also, I pinky promise, you don’t need that many things to keep a baby happy and healthy! Keep it simple!!
Must Haves
Noise Machine
Did you know that it sounds like a vacuum inside the womb at all times?! I was watching a newborn sleep training video and was shocked by this info! Because of this, babies sleep better with a constant noise. We have two of these! We had one in our room while baby girl slept in the bassinet in there and one in the nursery for naps during the day!
Sleep sack/swaddles
Studies show that newborns sleep better when they are wrapped in a way that their startle reflex won’t wake them up. There are so many different types of swaddle blankets and sleep sacks out there. we tried a couple different types and found that Edee’s favorite is this one! I love that it’s super easy to get on and off and that it makes diaper changes in the night super quick! We went with the small versus the newborn because she was a long baby and it was more comfortable for her!
Inverted Zipper Footies
This pajamas make like SOO much easier! When you are having to change a diaper in the middle of the night in the semi darkness you do not want to get a baby naked to do that! With these, you can unzip from the foot up, pull the legs out, change the diaper and hardly disturb the sleeping cherub!
Gripe Water
This one was a must have for us because Edee went through some serious tummy problems and major hiccup episodes! I also recommend Gas Relief if your little one has a problem tummy!
Swing/Bouncer
Okay, obviously you want to hold that sweet baby at all times. But sometimes you want to shower, or pee, or make a 4th cup of coffee while baby is awake. We were gifted this bouncer and she loved it! I actually now keep this one in the bathroom so she can hang out in there if I’m getting ready or doing laundry! We bought this swing when she was probable a month old and y’all it is our favorite thing! She loves the mobile and the music and I love that it goes in two different directions! Somedays she likes to swing side to side and watch out the window and other days she likes the back and forth motion!
Bottle Warmer
We decided to formula feed miss Edee. This bottle warmer makes night time feedings so much easier because I can prepare bottles ahead of time and warm them when she is ready! I pre make her middle of the night feeding and her 7 am feeding so we don’t have to mess with a hangry baby!
Nice to Haves
Car camera
We started with a mirror that went over the headrest, which worked fine enough, but Rhett found this camera that we love! It makes car rides less stressful for me, because I can keep an eye on her if I need to!
Video Monitor
So the reason this is on the nice to haves list and not the must haves is because you can 100% get the just audio monitors and they work great! We bought this Audio monitor for when we go to our families houses so she can nap soundly and we don’t have to worry about her. But if you can get one with the video, this is the one we got! We like it and it is so easy to use! We did a test run to make sure the signal reached form the nursery to our room, that way it wouldn’t go off in the middle of the night!
Wipe Warmer
This one is pretty self explanatory. Who wants cold wipes on your tushy in the middle of the night if you can help it, right?!
Not so Necessary
All the clothes
This may not be true all of the time, but we had Edee in the middle of the pandemic. So we didn’t get out of the house much in the first couple months! I felt like I had to put her in the newborn cutesy things had just so I could see them on her before she out grew them! We definitely lived in our footies and long sleeve onesies and soft pants!
Petal Bath
This didn’t work for us, but your baby may love it! Edee didn’t like being naked at all, so in order to give her a bat, she needed to be more “submerged”! We used this bath instead! Side note, she also didn’t care for the newborn hammock thing in this so we put her in the more reclined side with a warm wash cloth over her belly and bath time got much less painful!
Another thing that is obviously necessary is a car seat stroller. There are SOOO many options out there. We did extensive research, pushed all of them through the stores, and had many [heated] discussions about which would be best for us. We settled on the Graco Travel System, because I knew for sure I wanted one with the bassinet option. She loves the bassinet if we are going on a walk or working outside! Plus, then we could just get extra carseat bases Rhett’s truck and the grandparents vehicles!
Here a re few other things that made life easier for us!