I still remember the day we brought our daughter home. For one, I was more than relieved “the hard” part was over. I mean I just spent the last 9 months growing a person and went through the act of pushing them out of my body with no major complications! What could be harder than that?
I’m going to be honest with you now, are you ready? You know all of that pre-baby prepping you did? From picking out the perfect bassinet, to the expensive monitor that is supposed to tell you everything is ah-ok? Now go ahead and throw all of that out the window.
When you bring your baby home for the first time, no matter how much you think you knew what to expect, you don’t. My advice to you is simply LET IT GO. Do what works for you and makes you feel comfortable. For me, it was bringing a twin mattress into my daughter’s room and sleeping right next to her crib while she slept. We started the night with her in the bassinet we had specially selected, but as soon as I laid her down she began crying. So we started night 1 in her crib.
You might be wondering now, great, so how in the heck do I know what I will need? Below I’ve compiled a condensed list of the ESSENTIALS I used everyday. Some of these are more self-intuitive than others. For example, I didn’t necessarily think I needed a microwave bottle steamer, but BOY do they save time! I can sterilize all bottles in two 5-minute rounds and BOOM; you’re done!
- Velcro swaddle
- Baby hat
- Bibs
- Boon grass-with twigs for hanging
- Bottle brush
- Bottles
- Bottle microwave sterilizer
- NoseFrida-the snot sucker
- Wipe warmer
- Bottle warmer
- Wipes
- Diapers
- Bag balm
- Burp cloth
- Infant swing
- Formula Dispenser (if not breast feeding)
- Pack n’ play with changing station
- Boppy Pillow
You will understand how valuable time is when you are short on sleep and want nothing more than a quick nap! These will be essential to making you the best Mom you can be, because lets be honest, no one like a grumpy, overly tired Momma. You’ll notice a few items in the list above that I have bolded. These are my absolute favorite items that I could not survive without those first few weeks.
The SwaddleMe Velcro Swaddle
What I like about this product:
- Easy to use Velcro wings designed to hug your baby
- No complicated baby blanket origami!
- Slit in the back to be able to swaddle your baby fastened in a car seat
- Machine washable fabric
- Fabric comes in both cotton and fleece for use during whatever season
- Swaddles come in a wide variety of colors
- Leg pouch provides ample room for babies hips to naturally stay open
- Multiple sizes allow your baby to be swaddled as long as they need
- Most importantly: IT GETS THE JOB DONE by muffling your babies natural startle reflex
Being a new mom is tough enough without trying to figure out how to swaddle your little one. My husband in particular could not swaddle her tight enough and she would always break free in minutes. Ironically enough, despite your little one “trying” to escape, they really do love being swaddled. Think about being in a snug warm womb your entire life and then being born into the cold wide world. You’d be pretty upset too!
Babies are born with what’s called a startle reflex. If you’ve ever been in a deep sleep and then jerked awake, then you have experienced some form of a newborn’s startle reflex, only it happens to them constantly while they sleep. You can understand why this could be very disruptive to their much-needed sleep. By swaddling your baby you help muffle the startle reflex and are allowing your baby to get
Enter in the Velcro, yes you read right VELCRO, SwaddleMe swaddles. These were a cinch to use and worked great at keeping my little one snug as a little bug all night long.
They come in a variety of colors and various fabric types depending on the season. They are machine washable, which is a must for any mom, but they also have a nice wide leg pouch. It is very import that you give your baby enough leg room so that they can sleep on their back with their hips open to prevent hip dysplasia.
Microwave Bottle Sterilizer
What I like about this product:
- It has high sides to prevent water spillage
- By being fully enclosed it sterilizes completely
- The sterilizer is large enough to hold up to 4 bottles and all of their parts
- I can finish an entire days worth of bottles (8 total) in 10 minutes (each steam cycle takes 5 minutes)
- You can use it with pretty much any brand of bottles, though the Dr. Brown’s bottles fit the best
- All sterilization is done in my microwave
- The container is dishwasher safe
- The system comes with a handy set of tongs that makes removing hot bottles easy and painless
- The inner insert sits above the water to allow for proper steaming
After your first few sleepless nights with your new little one you will begin to relish your mid-day nap. I know everyone’s heard this before, but it is 100% true; SLEEP WHEN THE BABY SLEEPS. If you’re lucky like I was, you can get at least an hour to an hour and a half nap during one of the baby’s mid-day naps.
I would typically wash bottles in the afternoon after I had already had a nap and while the baby was napping. Depending on how long your baby’s naps are you may be short on time to finish washing all those bottles! What I loved about tis sterilizer is that I could go get the baby if needed while the bottles were going through their 5-minute cycle in the microwave. I’d also like to point out that if you are in fact bottle-feeding then you will be washing bottles for at least the next year! Does that put this in perspective enough?
I’ll be honest. At first I didn’t think I needed to sterilize my child’s bottles. I mean this was the 1980’s where you always had a pot of water boiling to clean all those nipples and bottles in. However, I am a slight germ freak and wanted to make sure my baby’s bottles were thoroughly cleaned without a lot of effort. This sterilizer most certainly got the job done and I use it everyday.
NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator
What I like about this product:
- This product works DRAMATICALLY better than the bulb sucker they give you at the hospital
- The disposable filter prevents any nasty snot making its way into your mouth
- It is easy to clean with the same bottle pipe cleaner brush
For whatever reason, when babies are born they have a lot of “stuff” to get out, i.e. their first poop, known as meconium, and just a lot of fluid in general. For almost the first 2 months I had to unclog my little one’s nose every single day just so she was able to drink her bottle.
The pointed nozzle allows for a concentration of the suction where you need it, while the disposable filter filters keep those booger germs away from your mouth. I know it seems gross, believe me, at first I thought there was no way you could get me to use this thing. Funny enough when my husband and I were walking around the baby store registering for items and we were considering whether or not we needed the NoseFrida, (see my post about what you actually need to register for here) we had two moms come over and tell us how amazing this product was and to 100% register for it. Well I can tell you they were right!
After my daughter turned 2 months the residual stuffiness seemed to vanish and I haven’t had to really use the NoseFrida that much. However, if you are one of the unfortunate ones to have a sick infant then this gadget is a must have!
Infant Swing: Graco Duet Oasis
What I like about this product:
- The swing rotates in TWO directions! This was the biggest selling feature for us as some babies prefer to be rocked back and forth and others from side to side
- It has a wall power adapter meaning it will rock forever!
- This swing has 6 different speeds depending on how much motion your little one prefers
- It has 10-sound and vibration feature that even mimics a car ride! So there’s sure to be a setting that will soothe your little one.
- The padding is machine washable, but we just put a car seat piddle pad just in case she had a blow out!
- The seat surrounds your baby with comfortable fabric making it an ideal napping spot
- The rocker is removable, meaning you can take it around the house with you and still rock your baby wherever you are *it is quite heavy though with even a newborn in it so I never ended up taking it upstairs with me
- The canopy has the ability to hang toys from, which is great for visual stimulation for your newborn
- The 5-point harness keeps your baby safe from rolling out of the swing. Obviously you don’t have to worry about this as a newborn, but believe me they are still squirmy!
- This swing can support infants up to 30 lbs! Meaning you will be able to use it long enough to get more than your monies worth
This swing saved me and my husband’s sanity! Babies go through phases just like anyone else and our daughter decided at one point that she would only nap during the day in this swing and no where else and needed constant movement.
If you don’t want your arms to fall off, and you would like to have some freedom while your baby naps, then you NEED an infant swing. Preferably one that has a wall adapter plug that will rock as long as you need it to.
In case you don’t already know babies can also be very particular. What I mean by that is some babies only like to be rocked one direction, while others like to be rocked in the opposite direction. Not to mention if you happen to have a second baby that likes to be rocked in the opposite direction of your first! What is a parent to do? Well this is why this swing, in my opinion, is more than worth the investment because it swings BOTH directions! There were also many times where just changing up the direction of the movement got our little one to calm down again.
Formula Dispensers
What I like about this product:
- 3 separate compartments allow for easy formula measurement on the go or to take upstairs with you at night! No trips downstairs to the kitchen needed!
- Can also be used as a convenient snack holder when your little one starts solids
- Allows you to pour powder formula quickly and with no mess
- Dishwasher safe and BPA free
This item makes my top 5 list because it was so handy during those nighttime feedings. I unfortunately was not able to breastfeed so we started our daughter on formula in the hospital. Every 3 hours like clockwork day and night she would wake up starving! I say starving based on the fact that she was screaming at the top of her lungs. So when it came to getting her bottle ready we had the water pre-measured in the assembled bottles and had the formula ready to go in this dispenser.
Another things I like about these is that they are perfect for the diaper bag on the go. You don’t have to worry about lugging around a container of formula and of course the brand we chose did not come in those handy portable sticks of formula. I also love knowing that as we graduate to snack time with real food these will be very handy!
Like I said earlier, there is no perfect way to be a mom. If you love your child with all your heart and take care of them with that same love they will be just fine. I hope this post helps you understand more of what you will really use everyday with your newborn!
This post contains affiliate links meaning I am paid a small commission on items you may buy. All opinions are my own.
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