i feel like the last 6 months have been quite a blur. i wouldn't say that they have flown by (i know a lot of people think that when they have a new baby, that just hasn't really been my experience) but they have kinda all run together. so my goal is to document as many things as i can so that i can remember them. i think i realized too late that the early days are a blur, but this is my goal going forward!
i think it is starting to sink in that malachi is half way to a year! crazy! so i wanted to share what some of my favorite newborn "baby items." my 0-3 month essential list if you will. and then my favorite things for the 3-6 month stage. the point is so that i can remember but also so that it might help anyone trying to wade through the endless amounts of baby products out there. the essentials are not so numerous after all!
i think you'll realize the things you "need" to have is really not as much as you think you "need" to have. it's so easy to get caught up and think you need all of these new things for your baby but the reality is that if they have love and food they really will be just fine. all of the other stuff is sometimes nice but really not necessary. and honestly some of the stuff is just plain unnecessary and will just clutter up your house. so take these as suggestions of what worked for us. sure, we have more stuff than this but when all is said and done these are the most important things.
0-3 months
1. a good place for baby to sleep near you at night
this makes feedings in the night 10x easier. jeff and i opted not to get a bassinet and got a pack and play with a bassinet feature. it kind of acts as a two-in-one for us because even now we will continue to use the playpen even though he has outgrown the bassinet part. here is the one we have -
2. lots and lots of diapers
i was so blessed to be given a TON of diapers. especially newborn and sized one diapers. i wanted to cloth diaper eventually with malachi (and do now!) but i could not have handled cloth diapers right away. there are so many things to adjust to with a new baby, diapers should not be one of them. i never would have thought i would have used all of the diapers i was given but surprisingly enough i did use almost all of them. so buy more than you think you will ever need! (or hope for generous friends and family that will gift you diapers!) newborn size and size one will get you through a few months, so these are the two sizes i see as most important to have a lot of. by the time you get out of those sizes you will have a better view of how many diapers your baby will go through in a day and how quickly they will move to the next size. then you can decide how much you want to stock up on the bigger sizes.
3. newborn sized clothes
call me stupid or naive or whatever but for some reason while i was pregnant i was convinced that we were going to have a big baby, like an 8 or 9 pound baby. and so i did not buy one peice of clothing in newborn size. everything i bought was 0-3 month size, thinking this would be what we needed with such a big baby. well, malachi came and he was a healthy size but definetly not that big. so all of those clothes were just swimming on him. thankfully we had wonderful friends and family that gave us some newborn sized clothes that he wore for several weeks. next time i will know to have some newborn size on hand! :)
4. sheets, waterproof pads and blankets
malachi was not a spitter-upper and i am soooo thankful for that. he only really threw up a couple of times in the first month, but when he did - oh my, watch out! i found it super helpful to have several waterproof pads on hand to put under him when he slept and then be able to change if i needed to in the middle of the night. there was one night i remember when he went through three sheets and three water proof pads and had to be changed three times. it was a rough night! but it just goes to show that you might need more than two sheets ;) i loved the play yard sheets from target - i think they fit better than the graco ones, and way cheaper!
also, for the first several weeks we swaddled malachi in receiving blankets, which also needed to be changed often. so having several of those on hand will be helpful. plus, flannel receiving blankets are so useful for so many things! we still use them daily for one thing or another. and so cute, aren't they?!?!
not all babies like pacis or will take one but malachi loves his! we realized early on that its a comfort thing for him when he's going to sleep and reduces the crying a lot. the MAM brand are our favorites. the key is to find one your baby likes. pacis come in lots of different shapes and babies will not like all of them but when they like one they usually love it.
this is a really important essential because you can't leave the hospital without it! we wanted a carseat that wasn't too big or bulky or heavy because you're going to be carrying it a lot over the first several months. we are so pleased with the one we got. we weren't really looking for a "travel system" at first but my family gifted this to us and we couldn't be happier.
and the stroller is a huge bonus! we love that it's all-terrain and it has gotten a ton of use over these last few months! we can't wait till it gets warm again and can use it more!
7. don't forget about mama!
what i mean by that is, don't forget about your mama stuff and to have that ready before the baby comes too!
- some good quality nursing bras or tanks if you're planning to nurse (i love the glamourmom brand!)
- good sleeping bras! these were invaluable to me for the first two weeks and honestly i didn't know i needed them until malachi came. they are also great for when you're just around the house. i wish i would have had them in the hospital quite frankly. my favorite is Medela's Comfort bra.
- plans to rest and not do too much for atleast a week - have meals lined up and get as much rest as you can. not only is this important for your recovery but it is also essential to build up your milk supply and to establish good breastfeeding.
these are some of my favorite items for the newborn stage and tomorrow i will post about my favorite items for the next stage - 3-6 mos.
what are some of your favorite 0-3 month items?!?!
Swing, burp cloths, nursing pads for when baby starts sleeping through the night!!, socks/hats, swaddles, sponge bath mat to lay baby in when he can't sit up... I could think of so many :)
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