What You Need and Don’t Need for a Newborn Baby

As I’m writing this, Logan is already 10 weeks old! By now we have figured out what we need for a newborn (and don’t need!), so hopefully our experience will help other first time moms. When we were putting together our baby registry, I relied a lot on blogs and personal reviews for guidance. I thought putting together a baby registry would be fun, but it was actually pretty time consuming (lots of research!) and stressful (lots of decisions!). As a first time mom it’s so hard to know what you’ll need for your baby! How are you supposed to know what features you want in a stroller when you’ve never needed one before?! It’s a whole new world of products and it takes a lot of trial and error to see which work best for your little bundle of joy. There have been a lot of Target and Amazon orders/returns since Logan was born, but here are the items we’ve used and loved these first few months:

Fan. We live in Florida, so I’m always trying to keep him cool when we go on walks, run errands, etc. This fan can easily be attached to his stroller, car seat… really anything! It’s so portable and versatile.

Swaddles. We tried a handful of swaddles and found that we liked these velcro ones the best. He recently started to outgrow his 0-3 size though, so I purchased the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle and really like that too.

Burp Cloths. I like that these burp cloths are large and thick. When I have it over my shoulder it covers almost my whole chest, which is nice because he will move his head side to side and you never know where the spit up is going to be coming from. Plus they are thick, so they absorb it well.

My Brest Friend. I use this for every feeding! It clips around your back so it’s very supportive. It’s the one our lactation consultant at the hospital used, too, so I felt like we made a good choice.

Diaper Bag. I like the look of this diaper backpack because it’s stylish, but neutral enough that my husband can also carry it. There are also a lot of great pockets, including an insulated area for bottles.

Nail File. This thing is a life saver! Using baby clippers sounds scary, so I like that we can gently file down any sharp or long nails with this electric file. It doesn’t phase him at all—I’ve even done a few nails while breastfeeding him and he doesn’t even notice.

Hatch Sound Machine. We have this on every time he sleeps! It looks nice and also has great functions, like being able to control it from my phone. This comes in handy now that he’s in his crib. If I forget to turn it back on for nap time I can do so from my phone rather than going in and disturbing him.

Footie Pajamas with Reverse Zipper. The reverse zipper is a must! It makes diaper changes so much easier since you don’t have to take the pajamas all the way off. Plus zippers are much quicker than snaps or buttons.

Tub. We original got the Angelcare seat, which goes directly in your bath tab, but I ended up purchasing this tub as well. Rob uses the Angelcare, but when I bathe him I like that I can put this one on a counter. It doesn’t hurt my back as much since I’m not bending over at an awkward angle and reaching to pick him up and wash him. It has three stages, so we’ll be able to use it for a while. You’ll also want baby wash & shampoo, washcloths and a towel for bath time.

Bouncer. We didn’t really have a good place to set him down other than our mamaRoo, so I purchased this when he was about a month old. It took a little while for him to like it, but now I can set him in there while I do things around the house and he’ll just sit there babbling to himself, hitting the toys and kicking his legs. Plus it’s lightweight, so I can easily move it from room to room. It also vibrates and is easy to clean, which we learned the hard way (major blowout).

Car Seat & Stroller. This is a pretty obvious one. We found this set on Black Friday and couldn’t beat the price. Plus it looks stylish and I like how it grows with the baby. I originally wanted the UPPAbaby Vista, but my husband is a little more reasonable and frugal than I am. And honestly $1,000 is a lot for a stroller. I’m sure you get what you pay for, but this one works fine too. My only complaint is that the bassinet isn’t completely level. He tilts a little bit, so I put a weight in there sometimes to balance it out.

Bottles. We had a friend gift us this brand and they seemed nice, so we registered for more. He sure seems to like them! We had to introduce a bottle to him pretty early on because he lost a significant amount of his birth weight (16%) and our pediatrician recommended that we supplement with an ounce of formula or pumped breast milk after every feeding. These supposedly closely mimic breastfeeding, and thankfully introducing a bottle didn’t cause any issues with nursing.

Lovevery Play Gym. I love how stylish and functional this play gym is! I use it for tummy time, but also put him on his back and let him look at the cards and toys clipped to it. What I found to be really helpful is that it comes with a book that has activities based on their age. For example, it comes with some cards that have black and white designs since the high contrast helps develop and strengthen their vision. You can have them lay on their side looking at them, clip them to the bars, or move them back and forth and have the baby “track” it with their eyes/head. Without this I wouldn’t really know how to “play” with him right now.

Bassinet. We got the Halo bassinet without the vibrating setting or any fancy functions because I was worried those soothing mechanisms would make it hard to move him into his crib. He slept in it for two months and we have no complaints! It has a water resistant mattress cover, which was nice since he would spit up or pee through his diaper sometimes. It got washed quite often!

Changing Pad. This one is great because it’s so easy to clean! I didn’t want one that had cloth covers since that would require more laundry. You can easily wipe this one down. Plus I like the minimalist look of it and how it can be placed right on top of his dresser.

Diaper Pail. I was drawn to this one because of the look and great reviews. It seems to work well so far! It might be nice to have a foot pedal to open it, but sliding the handle to open it has been fine, too. I also love that is doesn’t require any special bags or inserts.

Dishwasher Basket. This is handy for washing bottle and pump parts!

Monitor. A monitor is also a must-have. We started with the Infant Optics one, which I loved except that the range wouldn’t reach from our nursery to our bedroom (and we do not have a big house!). We recently bought this one and it has all the same features and works well so far (also much cheaper!).

Peepee Teepees. My sister got these airplane patterned Peepee Teepees for us when we found out we were having a boy, which I thought were cute and funny, but didn’t think we’d get much use out of it. However, I use them every diaper change! It has decreased the number of times I’ve been peed on for sure.

Things you don’t need for a newborn baby:

Owlet. I was adamant about how I wanted this to reduce my stress, but we haven’t really used it. Oops! Expensive lesson learned. The first time I tried it the alarm went off that his oxygen level was low (I think because we didn’t put the sock on tight enough) and that kind of scared me. Plus, I’m not really as nervous about it as I thought I’d be.

Mittens. I registered for these because it seemed like it would be a good way to keep Logan from scratching his face, but this hasn’t been an issue. Plus we keep his nails filed, so they aren’t sharp.

A lot of clothes. We honestly kept him in just a diaper most of the time (at least the first month since he needed diaper changes more frequently and would spit up more and get clothes messy). Plus, he would fall asleep while nursing a lot, so having him less comfortable kept him awake and actively feeding. My husband would tell you you only need like 2 onesies, but I think a few more are necessary since it’s fun to dress them in cute outfits for pictures ;)

What would you say are your must-have baby items? Let me know in the comments!