Having a new baby is incredibly exciting! Especially if, as in my case, your new baby is a different gender than the babies you already have. After having three boys, we’re expecting a little girl, and oh my word does it make me want to go pink-crazy buying anything and everything available in pink, princess, unicorn, and ballet patterns!
That being said, I’m also trying to be practical. We are a family on a budget, and this is our fourth baby, so spending tons of money on brand new everything (that we probably won’t use anyways) just to get it in pink doesn’t work so well! So what are the things that you actually need for a new baby?
6 Things You Actually Need When You Have a Baby
Boppy Pillow and Cover(s)
If you know me personally, you’re probably not too shocked to see that this is listed first. I am absolutely in love with my boppy pillow. It makes breastfeeding so much easier, especially if you’ve had a cesarean.
Baby M practically lived on my boppy pillow on my lap for his first six months. He could happily nurse and nap, while I could get some work done and stay in bed! You’ll also want a cover, or a few. I usually like to have two or three so that I’m always safe when one is in the laundry.
Of course you can use a boppy without a cover, but the one time you do you’re pretty much guaranteed a blow out diaper. Trust me!
A Baby Carrier
Seriously, friends, I don’t know how I survived two kids under two without babywearing. I started with Baby M and I so wish I started earlier! We still use our carriers all the time with A-Man and Baby M, and we will with the new baby just as often.
I sometimes joke and say that any new baby will spend the first six months or so “tied to me” so I don’t lose them! Now, there are all sorts of carriers available, and you don’t need to get crazy into the babywearing world to find the right one for you (though I totally recommend it, babywearing is a great community)!
Some common options that parents love for little babies are stretchy wraps like mobys or mei teis. For bigger babies, buckle carriers like the Ergo are popular, and this one comes with an infant insert, so you can use it from as early as 7 lbs!
Diapers
Every new baby needs diapers. We use mostly cloth diapers, with the occasional break in disposables when I can’t keep up with the laundry need to. I’ll be writing a more in depth post about our newborn cloth diaper stash, but for the basics you’ll want at least 2 dozen pre-folds and 5 or 6 covers. That changes up a bit if you want to use all-in-ones or fitteds.
Side note, if all of this is gibberish to you and you’d like to see more posts about the ins and outs of cloth diapers, let me know! You can check out how one mom built her cloth diaper stash for $100 here. Of course, if you don’t want to try cloth, that’s totally fine!
Just make sure you stock up on diapers now! You do not want to send your hubby out to the store in the middle of the night because you suddenly ran out. It’s also a good idea to have some newborns and size ones available because you never know how big your baby will be!
Netflix/DVR
So, if you’re like most moms in this country you probably already have this, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Fill your DVR with all your guilty pleasure shows that you never get around to watching. Also, fill it with your kids’ favorite shows that you always feel guilty about them watching. Then throw away the guilt!
You will be exhausted, nursing, and pretty much a zombie all the time at the beginning. Use your DVR and Netflix to keep you awake during late night nursing sessions, and let the kids watch a movie while you take a quick nap.
Trust me, there’s a lot out there that would be worse than too much screen time. So take the time to catch up on your favorite shows without guilt. Trust me, I’m saving up Grey’s Anatomy episodes for this very purpose!
A Safe Car Seat
This one is a given, you can’t leave the hospital with your baby without a car seat. That said, there are a lot of choices for car seats these days!
Many families choose to start out in an infant carrier type seat so that they can carry the baby around inside the car seat. For our new baby, we’ve chosen to go straight to a convertible car seat. We babywear so often that having the infant seat doesn’t benefit us.
We’ve chosen to go with the Pria 70 With Tiny Fit because it will fit from birth even if she’s a preemie, and will fit until she’s ready for a booster. I love the idea of using one car seat for several years!
Meals and Snacks
Seriously, I can’t say this one enough. You do not want to drag a newborn through the grocery store, and you definitely won’t want to actually cook all the food you just bought when you get home. I have definitely lived through enough months of fast food and ordered pizza to tell you, that’s not what you want to do right after having a baby.
Take some time during your pregnancy to pre-make as many meals as you can. It may seem tough to use a few hours of your energy on a weekend, but trust me, when you’re eating real nutritious foods while trying to recover from childbirth and life with a newborn.
Also stock up on your favorite healthy snacks, so that when you’re stuck in your rocking chair nursing for hours and hours you’ll have something to keep you fed.
Now again, these are the things that I feel like people need when bringing home a new baby. Of course, this list would change if you don’t plan to breastfeed or you haven’t had kids before, but it’s definitely a good starting point! What do you think are the necessities when bringing home a new baby?
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A girl! Jealous! I have two boys. My first was such an easy baby, but is turning into a difficult toddler at times. My second has been a more challenging baby.
My guys are/were formula fed (unfortunately), so that complicates things in that you need bottles and stuff to wash them and all that. A white noise machine has saved my life with this little guy at night. Something for baby to sleep in is important. If we have another I’d love to get on of those cosleepers that pulls right up to the bed.
Otherwise, newborns are easy, and require very little. Honestly, if you aren’t taking them out of the house, you don’t even really need to dress them! Just swaddle them up. But then, I’m a lazy mom in that department. Fully dressed children only happens in the cold months. As for newborns, they might not let you sleep, but all they want to do is snuggle. My 7 month old is crawling and pulling himself up. The snuggle phase if over. It makes me miss those first few months.
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I totally understand that. My oldest two had to switch to formula (one at 6 weeks the other around 4 months) and it makes things so much harder! I *hate* cleaning bottles! My babies tend to sleep with me while they’re small and nursing around the clock, but I’ve seen lots of friends have success with the co-sleepers you’re talking about! Thanks for the great input!
Congratulations on your baby girl! I have 4 girls and a boy :) so we are full of pink :-) . I would highly recommend a 3-in-1 crib, a small swing, and a cloth sling. The cloth along was awesome and fast to use.
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Oh thank you, those are great tips! When we do get a crib, we definitely get the 3 in 1s. They end up saving so much money! We just put off buying the crib until the baby will actually use it. We co-sleep the first few months to make nursing easier. :)
Was really hopeful that this would be a helpful list…but things like Netflix and snacks?!? The rest are good to have (you don’t NEED a carrrier if you can carry a baby tho…) can someone point me to a list of MUST haves such as what’s in this list but without the extra things that aren’t actually needed?
Netflix and snacks are for your own sanity. And you do need a carrier when you also have a toddler or two who need to be pushed in a stroller or taken to the bathroom for the 5th time in an hour. I guess this list speaks more to the mothers of multiples.
Great post and very true! I do wish I found this article just before our daughter arrived, the amount of things we ended up buying mainly out of excitement that we didn’t need was pretty unreal lol. We ended up giving quite a lot away to charity but I guess lesson learned and hey, it was fun (apart from the spending part).