20 Must Have Newborn Essentials

After having done this twice, I felt like I should share with fellow mamas what I thought were some of the most important items to have when you brought that sweet little newborn home from the hospital. We are all in this together after all right? =) 

1 || Car seat

Not sure if it’s mandatory in all 50 states, but here in Texas, you aren’t allowed to leave the hospital unless you have a car seat. We chose one of the safest options for our first and we are now using it again! This one was highly rated and we absolutely love it! We even got the Nextfit Chicco for Aria once she graduated from this one.

2 || Nursing bras
Nursing bras aren’t the most exciting thing to buy because they are not the prettiest thing…I mean, you’re not going to find any at Victoria’s Secret if that’s where you were planning on buying them. BUT, let’s face it. They are going to get gross so it’s totally fine! I get mine from Target and Motherhood Maternity because they sometimes have the sale going on where you buy 3, and get one free. 

3 || Boppy and two covers

Many mamas get lucky and don’t really need this but if you’re planning on nursing and its your first baby, I highly recommend having this and also bringing it to the hospital. It helps so much in understand positioning of the baby and it helps a great deal to form a great latch in those first few weeks when figuring out this giant breastfeeding ordeal! I used it for the first three months with my daughter. With my second, I really thought I wouldn’t need it but these last few weeks have proven otherwise. It helps to position him while feeding since he’s got acid reflux. I noticed he also latched better if I used it vs not using it! And of course, this thing can get nasty so I suggest maybe getting another 2 covers for it so you can wash them.

4 || Onesies
Babies poop around the clock. AROUND. THE. CLOCK. You’ll be shocked as to how many diapers you’re changing, but luckily it does go down as they older… Thank God. And then once in a blue moon, you’ll get a giant blowout with poop all over their clothes. Or better yet, it’ll happen while you’re out somewhere (it happened to me on one of our first outings to Whole Foods…Awesome. ) and I guarantee you aren’t going to want to salvage it. I trashed that thing so fast and stuck my daughter in another outfit. So basically, now I have a stash of onesies (I recommend long sleeved ones for the winter) for my son so that if blowouts come my way, I can get rid of it. Trust me, it was a giant lesson learned.

5 || Diapers and Wipes
You’ll get sent home with some diapers but I would definitely have some newborns and size 1s on hand. More often that not, you’ll get sent home from the hospital with gauze that you’ll wet yourself to clean them. Once you get over that initial stage, you get to move onto wipes making life a thousand times easier! So I recommend having the sensitive, unscented wipes around to keep rashes at bay.

6 || Monitor
Eventually, you’re going to want to leave their side and go get a cup of coffee without worrying if they are waking up. BUT, you’re going to want to know if they are sleeping or up or what they are up to. Not to mention, having the constant worry of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). I highly recommend a monitor with a camera and not just audio. We like this one because it lets us split the screen so we can see both kiddos on one screen. Lets you zoom in and talk to the kiddos if need be. You can control it all from the screen and it rocks our world. It’s basically attached to my hip during naptimes and at night.

7 || BabyConnect App

If you plan on nursing, you may want to get an app and I highly recommend this one. Pediatrician visits become a giant questionnaire about how often you are feeding, how long each feed is, and on and on and on. Another topic you’ll get hounded on is bowel movements. What color is it? How often is it pee? How often is it poop? Who knew there were so many dimensions to poop and pee right? Either way this app lets you record all these things, including color! Ha. Also let’s you sync with your partner as well so if you can’t make it to the appoint or vice versa, your partner will be able to pull up all that info and be able to spit it all out for the pedi! It provides you with a ton of options to record milestones, how often you’re pumping, growth, play, and a plethora of other things you’d never imagine recording about a tiny human!

8 || Lanolin cream
Sooooo, nursing is a bitch. Let’s just be honest. It is hard work. A lot harder than I had ever imagined it was going to be. And along with it comes lots of pain at times, and that’s where this wonderful ointment comes in to help your nipples so you’re not crying in the middle of the night wondering what this child has done to your chest. Use it. Love it. IT ROCKS.

9 || Burp cloths
With my daughter, I rarely needed burp cloths but had a few for those occasional spit ups. This time around with my son, we are going through them like crazy since he has acid reflux and spits up quite a bit. These are my favorite because they are large and shape to your shoulder so well. Not to mention, they are incredibly soft and hold their softness after multiple washes.

10 || Diaper rash cream
Some babies get lucky and only get diaper rash once in a while, whereas some are prone to this horrible rash on their cute little bums. I’ve used a couple of different ones, but the one that works like magic is Buttpaste. This stuff cures my kiddos bums within hours if not less. I definitely recommend having some around because when they are first born, they get this horrible tar-like poop called meconium which can sometimes cause a little bit of irritation. We use this cream and it would make the redness disappear quickly. 

11 || Aden and anais/ ollie

These are amazing!!! They are wonderful for swaddling, a car seat cover, a blanket, and a myriad of other uses!! We love ours and the best part is after hundreds of washes, they are still just as soft and still remain perfect! 

Because I brought up swaddling, I also wanted to talk about the Ollie Swaddle. Swaddling can be a game changer to get your baby to be calm or sleep, and sometimes it’s hard to get it perfect with just a square blanket. This thing is amazing since you can get your baby in a burrito without all the craziness. It’s idiot proof and the material is wonderful! I didn’t have it with my first and wish I did! It puts my newborn to sleep and I love how uncomplicated it is! The other swaddle blanket that we were pretty obsessed with was the miracle blanket.

12 || Rock and play

This contraption is amazing. My daughter slept in this next to me for 6 weeks so if she got fussy I would just reach my hand out and rock it and she would fall back asleep! Helps to be able to move it around the house while they are sleeping since moving a crib or giant pack and play isn’t necessarily the most mobile thing and this thing is so light. Folds up easy as well so if you plan on going to a friend’s house or something, pops right in the trunk! Last but not least, it keeps them at a slant so if they do have any spit up or acid reflux, it helps to soothe that sweet babe which has been great for my son!

13 || Hand Sanitizer
You’re bound to have visitors over to see that new little bundle. Keep some hand sanitizer handy so you can just hand it to them right before they hold your new baby.

14 || Breast Pump
This isn’t at the top of my list because many women can get away without having to pump. The first time around that I had a baby, I needed to use it to help my milk come in so I needed it the minute I got back from the hospital. This time around, I’m producing more than my son needs so I use the pump to help empty my breasts and that way I have a freezer stash for when we go out! Also, check with your insurance to see if you can get one for free because that’s how I got my Medela.

15 || Pacifiers
Many parents are against pacis. I completely understand both sides, but my daughter loved it and it helped soothe her at night and at naps so we went with that route. I noticed if I didn’t give it to her, she was looking at sucking her thumb or fingers, and I thought about how it’ll obviously be easier to take a paci from her later versus her hand! My son hasn’t really been a fan thus far, but he’ll take it here and there, and it helps if in the situation where I’m out somewhere and he’s screaming, the paci will occasionally calm him down. I will say that we had to try out a few brands to see which worked the best with our daughter so keep that in mind if you try to give your baby a pacifier.

16 || Swing
OK. I looooove our swing. We used it for only god knows how long with our first and our son loves it just the same! Plus this isn’t a battery powered one…it plugs into the wall which I highly recommend given that you don’t want this thing to be out of batteries when you need it the most! EEEK.

17 || Bath sling
After those first few weeks of giving the baby sponge baths, you’re going to want to have something to bathe them in. A lot of people have a sink that works with their kiddo, whereas we didn’t have one that would work well so we had to get one of these sling type bath things to use in order to submerge him into water.

18 || Solly wrap

I love soft wraps and I know a lot of mamas have a hard time with it. But once you figure it out, it will rock your world! I watched this video twice and have mastered it! Trust me, if I can figure it out in 15 seconds with a little toddler who is bugging me for a snack, you can do it too! It’s how I run all errands cuz I stick my newborn in the wrap and get my toddler into the cart. Easy peasy! Still not convinced? I recommend the Ergo or a baby carrier of some sort because it will save your life at some point if your baby likes to be held constantly and all you wanna do is eat a bowl of cereal! 

19 || Vaseline (petroleum jelly)
So this was a recent addition to this list for me because I had a boy this time around. It helped with his to have this on hand if you plan on doing a circumcision since you have to constantly apply vaseline.

20 || Water Bottle
Water will be your best friend. Especially if you are nursing. I chug so much water throughout the day it is ridiculous. So go ahead and get yourself a fancy water bottle or some type of container because you will need to stay hydrated through it all. For some people, having a fancy water bottle makes them want to drink water. So hey, do whatever works for you but get that H2O in your system!

Hope this helps you new mamas out there to prepare for bringing that sweet little bundle of joy home, and to make your life a smidge easier at home! =)

XO,

Alfa