10 New Mom & Baby Must Haves, that I promise you haven’t thought of!
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Preparing for Newborn life!
This is a list of must haves that you may not have even thought of as you prepare to bring home your newborn!
Hey mama! Having a new baby can be pretty overwhelming. I was that mom who didn’t think she needed or wanted a baby shower. It was a lot to plan or think of things I needed. My sisters convinced me to do one, and I was so grateful for the push as we had a really great start to our newborn experience. I did the research and thought my registry was fairly extensive, and for the most part my guests stuck to the registry when it came to gifts. However, we still had things left over that we decided to purchase for ourselves, but after that I thought we were set. Until the baby was here. That’s when I’d notice day by day something that would make our lives easier, or realize I still needed something I had completely forgotten to ask for or grab before the baby was here, so I ended up hastily ordering a majority of these things. I’m here to save you the hassle!
The List!
• Electrolytes packets for Postpartum recovery & Breastfeeding
• Plug-in night lights for the whole house
• Ink Pads for precious memories
• vitamin D drops for BF babies
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Be sure to add these to your registry or just go ahead and order now to save you the trouble later! (you’ll be so glad you saved yourself the time later) Some of these things you wouldn’t think to put on a baby registry, and they still qualify for the discount, so don’t overlook them! BONUS HACK: Once you qualify for the amazon completion discount and are adding those last-minute items DO NOT FORGET to add everything you buy to your registry first. You wouldn’t believe what qualifies for the discounts!
1. Electrolytes for PP recovery & BF
As thirsty as I felt when pregnant I think it tripled postpartum. I was exclusively breastfeeding for the first time, and having these LMNT electrolyte packets sooner would’ve saved me a lot of headaches. Literally! You’re basically in pro athlete mode as a new mom, so you need to hydrate like one mama!
2. Plug in night lights for the whole house
If you don’t already have plug in nightlights like these, you need them. In every room! The living room, the hall, bedroom, nursery, bathroom and kitchen. With a newborn always asleep, especially at night, you want to keep everything dark so as not to wake them. But when you’re wandering through the house to get from room to room in the middle of the night, whether it be to get a bottle, go check on baby, grab that burp cloth you left in the other room, you’re going to notice quickly turning on and off every light on the way isn’t going to work! I also find these are so helpful to help ME stay in that sort of sleepy phase when I need to get up and go to the bathroom or refill my water in the middle of the night.
3. Halo Sleep Sacks
Safe sleep was a priority for me from the beginning, but I had no idea what sleep gear to get. I had some muslin blankets on our registry and later I ordered some of the fancy swaddles recommended by our L&D nurse and while they were so soft and CUTE, my little escape artist thumb sucker never kept his arms in any of them. Luckily, we had also been given a Halo sleep sack by the hospital on behalf of a SIDS prevention charity. This was the literal only swaddling sleep sack my baby wouldn’t break out of entirely and was still perfect when transitioning out of the swaddling. This is recommended at first signs of rolling, or 8 weeks, whichever comes first. Side note: I highly recommend doing this earlier than later, because the earlier you break the need the sooner they sleep better without swaddling!
We ended up buying a few more Halo Sacks to use, mostly because he kept peeing through diapers, until we found the right diaper brand for him. LOL. That’s a whole other can of worms when it comes to baby troubleshooting. But buying just one or two sleep sacks will do!
4. Ink Pads for precious memories!
So, my personal reason for this addition to the list is actually pretty funny, looking back on it. However, these truly come in handy for so many cute things when your baby is little. You can add their “Signature” to cards or give keepsake footprints to grandparents. But I ended up buying these ink pads to make a new keepsake birth certificate after I ruined ours. Postpartum moms need to be kept away from things like this until they get a nap! Ahh, precious memories.
5. Bassinet sheets
We had baby #1 in the bassinet for the first 4 months of life and I had it set up for weeks before our son was even here. But for whatever reason it did not occur to me when looking at it that there were no sheets on it until we got home. I got these soft and cute sheets that sort of went with the color scheme of our room which was a bonus!
6. Over the Door organizer
This is such a versatile space saver. We have used it for so many different things, but the one stop for all the “little” things was absolutely necessary. We kept things soaps and lotions, wash cloths, burp clothes, bibs, socks, baby meds, and extra crib sheets. It was perfect for us and keeps it all in one place. It’s even adjusted as the baby grew to include things like the cute little shoes! I never put shoes on him when he was tiny but now that he’s walking all his slippers and shoes are in there!
7. Vitamin D Drops for exclusively breastfed babies
If you plan to breastfeed chances are your pediatrician will recommend vitamin D drops for the baby. Ours didn’t at first, and I ended up asking at a follow up appointment prompted only from a friend mentioning it, and they did recommend I get them after all. Either they really didn’t know they had forgotten to tell us, or sleep deprivation strikes again! So, I hurriedly bought some on the way home and ordered these for the future. Vitamin D is not passed through breastmilk very well, even if you take a supplement, so a supplement for baby is considered necessary by most pediatricians.
2 MUST READS for the
Mommy to be!
8. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
I recommend this to all mothers, whether you’ve birthed a human before or are a new mama to be, you need this book. It will truly change your outlook on childbirth and prepare you in ways you have never thought of. I personally hate hearing people giving me their horror stories, saying “you’ll be begging for an epidural”. It’s just scary! Personally, my fear of the needle was greater than my fear of birth pain. But I was just terrified by all the unknowns. This book calmed all of my fears and I was truly so empowered to take control of my birth plan and experience. I had the power to choose every single part of my labor, and this book was the beginning to realizing that. I’m even rereading it as I’m pregnant with baby number 2!
9. Cribsheet by Emily Oster
New moms I’m talking to you, even if you aren’t reader BUY THIS BOOK NOW! I had it on my registry, but I ordered it for myself after my shower and wished I’d just gotten it for myself earlier on. It is the easiest read and touches on so many topics and short and simple explanation on the research related to baby from pregnancy to birth through the toddler phase. It’s just so awesome, and I can’t recommend it to new moms enough.
10. Couch organizer caddy
This is a MUST. When I first got home, I realized for the first time it bothered me we had no coffee table to set things down on. I personally didn’t like the idea of getting one with our sectional shaped the way it was, it would be even harder to maneuver around. So, I had to think of a place to put all of the stuff I now needed close by. Trust me when you’re holding a newborn to feed them 45 minutes out of every 2-3 hours you don’t want to have to be getting up and down for everything, or even for a sip of water that’s somehow so far away over on the coffee table. I first opted for some tv trays. My mom brought a few over and that worked somewhat, but I found my husband still somehow placed everything on them still too far out of reach when I’d ask him to bring things to me. Bless his heart. This organizer puts everything right next to you, can be used in bed or on the couch, and will make life so much easier. Especially early postpartum when you simply need to be resting on one of those two for days or even weeks. Side note: YOU DESERVE to rest, so don’t rush or don’t push yourself too soon, I promise you the house will be clean again one day.
I think these items were absolutely essential in our newborn phase experience in particular. We all deserve an enjoyable experience with our newborns, and anything that can make your day to day just a little bit easier is a win! The earlier you can have your routine and find your go to’s, the faster you figure things out and it all truly does become easier.
