Your Baby’s Home, Now What Do They NEED??
If you’re anything like me, when you were pregnant you were always on the internet and YouTube looking up newborn essentials. I might have watched like 20 videos that were all saying around the same things. But with her coming early and us not being ready, I figured out real quick what was truly a necessity.
Obviously, you need the essentials, diapers, wipes, clothes, blankets, and stuff like that. But when it comes to the other things, there are some things you shouldn’t skip on.
Pack-n-Play: This is magic! If you’re tight on money some pack-n-plays have bassinets and changing pads attached for one price. This is something that will last your kid for at least a year. You need somewhere safe to put them when you need to do stuff like shower. And for the early months, you can use it for whatever you want. Right now ours is in the living room and that’s where we change her diaper and store things like her body wrap or extra blankets and stuff. Especially if you’re staying somewhere with two floors, the pack-n-play will come in handy.
Burp cloths: Now I know you’re like duh, I was gonna get those anyway. Get more. When your baby comes, laundry is not something you will always remember to do. You need to double up on everything but quadruple up on burp cloths. You can wait on bibs until they really start to drool and eat but you need the burp clothes ASAP!
Humidifier: There are a lot of things that would be good to have for your newborns like a nightlight, swing, sound machine, and all that jazzy stuff. But in the beginning, none of that is necessary. A humidifier is necessary. Babies are too small to hold the mucus they create. When my daughter came home from the hospital spring was just starting. She had so much mucus she couldn’t breathe. Save yourself the trouble and get them a cool-mist humidifier.
Gripe Water: Get you some gripe water or gas drops! ASAP! (And some saline spray). That gas in their little tummy is nothing to play with. Me personally I use gripe water because it’s more natural and that’s just how me and my family choose to live. Whatever works is best though. It’s all safe for the baby and checks with your doctor before purchasing anything but gripe water is a lifesaver. Tummy time also works great too.
Vitamin E Oil/ Mineral oil: If your registry is up right now, you might have the different bath wash sets. Those are good and you def need a few but you really need vitamin E oil and mineral oil. Babies get acne, eczema, and cradle cap. If you are breastfeeding, breast milk is a big help but if not these oils will do the trick. After leaving the NICU my baby's skin was dry! She quickly developed eczema and the cradle cap came after. These things happen to full-term babies too and the oil seems to be one of the only things that work right now for us. Add it to your list, you won’t regret it.
Obviously every baby and family is different but in my short 3 months of being a mom, this is what I found to be helpful. I hope this helps you too.
