1. Boppy Pillow
If you’re nursing, a Boppy pillow is an absolutely must! I even wished I had one for upstairs and another for downstairs so we weren’t carting it back and forth. Total first world problems, I know, but it made nursing so much more comfortable for me. Especially in the early days when you feel like you’re nursing around the clock. And even if you’re not nursing, the Boppy is great for propping up your baby during tummy time or on a bed or couch where you want to keep them in one place and not roll away while you brush your teeth, use the bathroom, etc.
2. Dock-A-Tot
One sleep deprived night I ordered a Dock-A-Tot on a whim hoping the magical gift to infant sleeping I had seen all over Instagram wasn’t just a myth. Sure enough, it came and Liam loved it! While he did sleep a lot in his Rock ‘n Play, once he outgrew that we transitioned him to the Dock-A-Tot in a bassinet (I can’t find the exact bassinet we have but this is the closest I could find) and then to his crib in the Dock-A-Tot. Although, that transition was rather brief because I’m a little neurotic and was worried about him being in another room and suffocating. First time mom problems.
3. Ollie Swaddle
Swaddling was another thing I was so naive about. I thought surely I could just wrap him in a blanket and he’d be good. And in theory, people have been doing that for hundreds of years so obviously I could. But, thankfully, we’re in 2018 and they make swaddles like the Ollie Swaddle.
4. Binxy Baby Hammock
This an item that I haven’t personally used yet but am SO excited to try out. Especially now that I’ll have two kids, this will allow me to take both kids to the store and have Liam in the front part of the cart and I can put Little Miss in this hammock to hang out and relax while we shop while not taking up almost the whole cart with the infant carrier. I would consider this not a complete must for a first time Mom but definitely a must for subsequent children.
5. Onesies and sleepers (SO many!)
If this is your first child, you will underestimate the amount of laundry you’ll be doing. Kids spit up, have diaper blowouts, have your milk drench them, etc. and need to be changed all. the. time. Cute outfits are great and all but what you really need is a lot of good ole onesies and some zip-up sleepers. Don’t go messing around with button up onesies because they will drive you bananas in the middle of the night trying to snap all those buttons back together and you’re likely to do it wrong at least twice and not realize it until later. Speaking from experience here. As for onesies, the best thing I did to get a good amount of basic onesies in a range of sizes was have them out with fabric markers and stencils at my baby shower for people to decorate. People get super creative and if they get a blowout stain on them or whatever, you’re not upset that they just ruined that super nice onesie you got at Nordstrom. Reserve the nice outfits for special occasions and leave the basic ones for being around the house or running to the store. No one in Target or Kroger cares what your child is wearing. My Mother is also reading this wondering who I am but you learn a thing or two after having your first child!
6. Burp Cloths
Whether you bottle feed or breastfeed, these are an absolute necessity and you will need at least 10 to make your life easy…but probably more so you’re not constantly doing laundry. They can be used for so many things besides just spit up and I kept one in our diaper bag until Liam was around 16 months old (hello teething drool!). My favorites are the Aden and Anais burpy bibs because they’re huge and can also be snapped together to make a bib for your baby but they are a little pricier than others. I feel like the quality is totally worth the price though.
7. Baby Carrier/Wrap
This is another item that is absolutely necessary for survival. It’s inevitable for all babies to have days where they just want to be held and nothing else will do. Again, I ran out to Target on a desperate trip to be able to actually get things done but still keep my fussy baby happy. I had registered for a Moby wrap because it looked so easy to be able to wrap it up. Wrong! It could totally just be user error but I never got it right so since that was out I got a Baby Bjorn.
8. Pacifiers
I thought for sure Liam was going to use the Avent Soothie pacifiers and/or Wubanubs. Why? No clue. They give them to you to you in the hospital and my niece used them to clearly they’d work for my baby, right? Wrong. Despite what I thought, Liam wouldn’t really take one. Thankfully, I had been given a ton of other pacifiers as gifts at my shower so I had plenty to try out but it was serious trial and error. Finally, the pacifier Gods answered my prayers and we found that Liam liked the Avent Freeflow Pacifiers and he has stuck with those ever since. My biggest note here though is, you really have no idea what type of pacifier your baby will like so don’t buy a ton of any one type. It’s best to have a few on hand to try out until you find what style they like best. And who knows, they could be a thumb sucker or not take a paci at all!
9. The Nose Frida
I know it sounds gross but it’s seriously the only thing that truly works. I originally was in the thought process of, “That little blue bulb thingy has been working for years so clearly it’s just fine” but I was wrong. No snot will get in your mouth I promise you! But if your babe is seriously congested, nothing will help them as much as this will. Now getting them to actually sit still for it is a different story. You may feel like you’re torturing them trying to suck everything out but they’ll realize eventually you’re just trying to do them a solid. 🙂
10. Auto Rock ‘n Play
Don’t skimp and think you can get away with the regular Rock ‘n Play. It is absolutely 150% worth the extra money for the automatic one. It rocks your baby for you and has a sound machine attached to it. Liam slept in this thing for the first 4-5 months of his life. Cannot stress enough how amazing this is. We already have it ready to break out in our hall closet once this new baby makes her arrival.
