Dimmer switch, must have! We installed one with Al and I found it worked great for overnight feeds. Way better than a lamp. So before #2 has even arrived I made sure we installed one. And another must have on this topic is black out blinds. I like to sleep train baby to understand sleeping at night is pitch black and sleeping during the day is dark, but has some daylight peeking in. Blackout blinds make this so much easier.
Next item, Sleep Sheep. Or any white noise maker for that matter. Again I use it for sleep training, daytime sleeping is full of daytime noises but nighttime sleeping is the sound of rain or ocean provided by the Sheep. Al is almost 18 months and uses his sleep sheep every night. I have even watched him (on the video monitor) stand up in the middle of a nap or middle of the night, turn on his sleep sheep and lay back down and drift off to sleep. He knows what he likes!
Double electric breast pump. These bad boys are not cheap but it was a fundamental item that I used daily for at least 6 months. It was how I could allow Sandy to be a part of feeding our little guy, or how I could get a few hours to myself and ensure baby was still fed, and that I wasn't completely engorged. This pump is the greatest. I also got a steal of a deal by finding this unit on Kijiji. I know you're probably thinking "gross" that goes on your breasts. Duh, I definitely sterilized it! Honestly its a $400 item that was so essential to daily life, and I spent under $200. Renting is always a fantastic idea too, incase you aren't sure breastfeeding is for you, or might not work, that way you don't spend a ton of money only to not use it (like the lady I bought mine off of).
City Select Baby Jogger. This stroller has been a miracle on four wheels. It is a double stroller that can be used as a single or double, with either two seats or a seat and a bucket. It is fantastic for jogging, and I would know as I trained for an ultra marathon with it! Al and I ran with this bad boy 3 times a week for over 6 months and I have no complaints about it as a running stroller. It is simple to fold and take apart. We have bought a few accessories for it as well, including the snack tray, second seat, rain cover and travel bag. Honestly another pricey baby item but I LOVE it and would recommend this stroller to anyone considering having more than one child!
Wipe warmer. A silly little luxury item that isn't a necessity to life but for $20.00 at Costco I think it was great. If you woke up at 2:00am to go to the washroom and had to wipe your underside with a chilly wet cloth, Im pretty sure you would howl too! Why not make it more comfortable for the little one, and hopefully eliminate a few face showers in the process (mama's of boys, you know what kind of face showers I'm talking about).
Lastly the baby's sleepwear is so important (to me at least). During daily diaper changes you have all the time in the world to snap cute little outfits back together. At night it is a different story. Who wants to be aligning buttons and snaps at 3:00am in the semi-dark while one of you is screaming hungry and both of you are exhausted. That's what I thought. So my MUST HAVE baby sleepwear are sleepers with zippers, and sleepers with a scrunch bottom. Honestly a life saver! Quick change and get to the eating part with less tears and sleep disruption.
Here are a couple newborn brand names that are critical in the beginning, that I swear by.
Pampers, love em! And heres why, when you are changing bums, the flaps don't fold in. The competitor brand has a flimsier velcro strap and tend to fold in when they are used, resulting in poopy velcro straps. Yuck. Not pampers though.Desitin is my bum rash cream of choice. I tried many bum creams, but I swear by Desitin. Every mama has their favourite but this is mine. Ovol. For those tiny tummy aches from gas. Poor little guys, I find the Ovol definitely helps!
A couple more items, starting with the microwave sterilizer. Great for bottle fed baby or breastfed baby. You have so many items to sterilize, this makes the process quick and easy! And in your sleep deprived state you wont forgot about a pot of boiling water and all your items. The microwave will do its thing and wait for you to remember what you were in the middle of!
On the topic of sterilizing and sanitizing. Hand sanitizer. We keep one pump bottle beside the change table to keep hands clean post-bum change and pre-feed. clean hands are important.
Bath hammock is essential for newborn bathing. We also found it helpful to loosely wrap baby in a receiving blanket and unwrap body parts as it was necessary to wash them. This way baby stays warm and happy in the bath and you don't have to rush through the relaxing bath process.
Latchy-Catchy, made by a wonderful shop on Etsy. These bad boys warp around both doorhandles and cover the latch of the door. When you open and close the door it is silent! No worrying about opening the door quietly, simply push or pull and there is no noise. We love ours!
Carseat mirror is great for while you are driving. When baby starts to fuss you can simply glance into your mirror to see what is going on. Much safer than trying to twist around and becoming distracted while driving. Plus it is something extra for baby to look at as he gets older.
Glider Chair and Nursing pillow. Fundamental for comfortable feeding overnight. I think these two items were amazing for overnight feeds and I would not sacrifice them.
Lastly the video monitor. We did not have this with Al but decided to get this as it is a dual monitor, meaning I can see and hear both babies on one device! Brilliant. We have only used it in single camera mode but it has already been amazing. I cant believe we didn't have a video monitor from the start. Again not a life neccessity but I think its been an amazingly helpful luxury item. I did a lot of research to figure out which dual video monitor would be best and found this brand (Summer Infant) had the best reviews. We've been using ours for a few months and I love it!
So there you have it, my list of Must-Have Newborn Items.I know not all of these items are critical for the survival of a newborn but they are items that have helped me with the transition of a new little peanut in our home. I hope you find this list fun and humorous if not helpful!
*****
I have had a ton of inquiries about this blog post, in particular the latch-catchy's so here is a link to the shop on Etsy that makes these bad boys.
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