Newborn must haves

My good friend Amy is about halfway through her pregnancy and keeps a great blog HERE – bookmark it if you want a funny new mommy-to-be blog to read. In a recent post, she challenged herself to only acquire what is absolutely necessary for the baby (read: maintain adult apartment and not plastic jungle) and not spend a fortune which is so easy to do if you're not careful. Amy has asked for feedback on what is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY and it got me thinking... There are so many things we have that aren’t imperative, but we basically use everything we have. If I had to cut down to only the literal MUST HAVES, what would they be? It’s different for all moms and babies I think, but here’s what I have learned with Lucy.

The CAN’T LIVE WITHOUTS:

• Crib and bassinet. If you have room to keep the crib next to your bed, then you can probably go straight to the crib on day 1. The first few weeks though, Lucy wanted a cozier place to sleep than the flat bassinet mattress, so she slept mostly in her Pack N Play bassinet which sinks like a hammock.
• Long-sleeved onesies with mitts. Newborn fingernails are so hard to clip or file and without the mitts your baby will look like Scarface in no time.
• Towels, wash cloths, baby soap. No two ways about it, you need all these things to clean your baby, and she should have her own so they don’t get mixed up with any harsher uses.
• Burp cloths. The cute ones are cute, but cloth-diaper ones are the best and most absorbent by far. Feeding is messy any way you do it, and there’s spit and spit up too.
• Swaddler. Oh how lovely it is when they sleep through the night. I owe it to Lucy’s Kiddopotamus.
• Carrier. You need your hands at some point, right?  We use the Bjorn, but I'm kind of super jealous of the Ergo.
• Car seat. Must have in order to bring the baby home. This should be new, and I think the Graco SnugRide has the highest safety ratings. It’s the one everyone recommended to us.
• Stroller. So many choices! We have the bugaboo frog and love it. But you can also get a Snap N Go for the car seat which is also great.
• Feeding stuff. Not sure what route you’re going, but pump, bottles, and/or nursing cover and nursing pads…
• Boppy pillow.  If you're nursing, you'll use this every time. Lucy also loved to sit in hers and uses it for the all important tummy time as well.
• 2 blankets. You can steal receiving blankets from the hospital which you definitely should do, however I would suggest adding one waffle blanket and one warmer blanket to the mix.
• Diapers, wipes, and Vasoline. The Vasoline especially for the first few days, because those meconium poops are like TAR. You’ll be scraping it off her bum if you don’t grease her up first.
• Dreft or other baby laundry detergent. Soft and the best part – it has new baby smell. SWOON.
• First aid kit. The one I have includes the aspirator, thermometer, hair brush, nail file – all that good stuff.
• Diaper Champ. This one is great because you don’t need the special liners, you can just use regular trash bags and I’ve never smelled it.
• Sleep positioner. So your baby doesn’t roll into the wrong position (although they can’t really roll)… Ours is on an incline which helps her digestion and I feel like it helps her not spit up. We use it in her stroller as well.

Of course you need clothes and little hats, etc. but Amy is HAVING A GIRL! Which means that everyone will go nuts buying clothes. Lucy has enough to last her until she’s 2 without me buying her a darn thing. She might have more clothes than she has days to wear them. Anyway – what am I forgetting? What couldn't you live without?


***** UPDATE: The FDA and CPSC no longer recommends the use of sleep positioners.