After speaking with a friend of mine regarding her pregnancy, she asked me if I could whip up a list of stuff I thought was helpful to have when baby arrived. Before I get into that list, let me just say that Ed and I took the minimalist/practical route with Lily (this means we didn't get her all the baby shit you see at Babies R Us lol) So, after giving it much thought this is what I came up with...
Sterilizer: The first month or so you'd want to sanitize your baby's bottles and your breast pump detachables. We received the baby bullet turbo steamer at our shower but if you're looking to not spend so much I found the Munchkin Steam Guard with great reviews.
Bottles: Ed wanted to use glass bottles but after the colic stage and various suggestions from others who've been around babies we went with Dr. Brown's bottles. They were great! We also used the Playtex ones with the liners as she got older. At about four months we transitioned her to the Nuk sippy cup because her bottles leaked so much in her crib and on her (she went to sleep with a bottle...I know, I know, bad mom). This sippy cup does not leak! We have been lucky to be using them still since she hasn't bitten through the soft nipple part! lol. And they have replacement spouts in case your little chomper does bite through it! (Ed Recommendation: Transition to sippies asap. They rock!)
Ointments: Stock up on ointment!! We favor Desitin and A&D ointment. A good substitute for A&D was the target brand ointment.
Burp cloths: Get lots of these! We used the Gerber cloth diapers as burp cloths because they were very absorbent! (Cost effective too!)
Diapers: Whether you're cloth diapering (which I know nothing about) or disposable diapering, make sure to stock up. We found that generic brand diapers like the Up&Up or Kirkland did the same, if not a better job at holding piss and poop. When Lily was a wee girl we stocked up on Costco's Huggies until size 4. Then we found that the Huggies 4s were super leaky so we switched to the Kirkland ones and they have been great. (2 Costco sized boxes (240 ish?) lasted us through the month).
Carriers: We found that having harness for dad and moby for mom was super helpful!
Bath time: We really liked having the sturdy bathtub that she is still using. We tried to switch it out for the inflatable ducky tub but she got freaked out. We're gonna try it again soon. We use the lavender baby stuff in the bath (we bathe her after din din) and use a mitt to scrub her about.
Diaper bag: We didn't go balls out on a diaper bag. We got a hiking backpack and used that instead. We still use the diaper bag we got from the hospital. Make sure to have extra pants, onesies, bibs, cloths, wipes and diapers in your bag. As baby gets older make sure to pack snacks like the food pouches and puffs
Wipes: Stock up on this as well!!! We have them everywhere! Bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, cars! We really like the Huggies brand! (Wipes are great for other things too: Cleaning, light dusting, spot cleaning the kid, cleaning yourself).
Lotion: Lily's skin had these dry patches in various places and using baby lotion or oil didn't help make these dry patches go away. Our doctor suggested we get Cetaphil for the dry skin. It works great too!!
Strollers: The one thing we did go balls out was on a jogging stroller. It came with the infant car seat and a base to put in the car. We got an extra base so we could use the car seat in both cars. As she grew out of the infant seat we got this one. And yes, we have one in each car lol. (Extra base is a must).
Diaper changing station: We didn't get a "diaper changing station" but we made "stations" throughout the house using plastic bins like this:
Baby toys: We found that Lily is a fan of board books. We also found that having a walker was helpful in having her "explore" her surroundings. We got her a jumper that you clip on the doorway but she wasn't a fan of "jumping" in place lol. Honestly, she has some toys but she didn't play much with them. They entertained her for a few minutes and then that was it. We just recently started seeing her really playing with the toys she has lol.
Other random stuff
Make sure you also have:
- onesies
- swaddling cloths
- receiving blankets
- bibs (we preferred the ones with the plastic lining on the back so her clothes didn't get wet)
- different pacifiers (you never know which one your kid will end up liking, if any)
- thermometer (we like the one you place on the temple but I think we might upgrade)
- nail clipper (their nails grow at super speeds and do it while baby sleeps)
- booger sucker (make sure to keep the one you get from the hospital because the ones I've purchased at the store are crap)
- beanies
- blankets
- children's tylenol
- gripe water and gas drops for the colic stage
- fill a zip lock bag with cotton balls soaked in alcohol to clean baby's belly button stump (we found it to be helpful to have one close to where we changed Lily and one in diaper bag).
- I like Lily smelling good when we go out so I use some baby cologne on her noggin to keep her smelling like a baby!!! LOVE it!!!
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