New Baby Items I Did Without:
* Baby Wipe Warmer: My little one was born in the frigid temperatures of January and survived sans baby wipe warmer. A trick I learned from my mother-in-law: ball the baby wipe in your hand for a minute before applying.
* Diaper Genie: I might not really understand the full need behind this one because I cloth diaper Jasper 75% of the time, but I have not found it necessary. I received a small diaper genie from my sister (she had an extra) and once I realized I had to keep buying refills for that thing I forgot about it. We use a trashcan and just take any dirty diapers out when we leave the house daily.
* Changing Table and Perhaps a Changing Pad: I have never once used our changing table (for its purpose anyway!). Call me crazy, but the idea of changing a teeny newborn high off the ground (and sideways) frightened me, and now the idea of changing a wiggling toddler up there is equally terrifying! We use our bed or the floor in his nursery. Luckily, instead of actually purchasing a changing table we purchased a kitchen piece suitable for the purpose at an antique shop and painted it. It will look lovely one day in my dining room!
* Fancy Baby Bath Tub: I registered for an awesome baby bath tub (it had a Jacuzzi!) and I was excited to receive it. It is a very nice bathtub and I appreciate it, however it ended up not being very practical for us. It was a lot of work to get it all assembled and to fill the sprayer full of water for a short little baby bath. And then, we had to find a place to set the huge thing up to dry. A simple plastic bath tub that can be placed in your bath tub (or perhaps even just a sling) works wonderfully at a much lower cost.
*Glass bottles if your baby will be in daycare: I learned quickly this was a "no-no." Not allowed. Fortunately I did not have too many of them!
*Bottle Warmer: Our little guy will drink bottles cold. He loves milk that much! Your little one might, but if not and you want to save a few bucks, setting the bottle for a few minutes in hot water does the job too.
* Baby Wipe Warmer: My little one was born in the frigid temperatures of January and survived sans baby wipe warmer. A trick I learned from my mother-in-law: ball the baby wipe in your hand for a minute before applying.
* Diaper Genie: I might not really understand the full need behind this one because I cloth diaper Jasper 75% of the time, but I have not found it necessary. I received a small diaper genie from my sister (she had an extra) and once I realized I had to keep buying refills for that thing I forgot about it. We use a trashcan and just take any dirty diapers out when we leave the house daily.
* Changing Table and Perhaps a Changing Pad: I have never once used our changing table (for its purpose anyway!). Call me crazy, but the idea of changing a teeny newborn high off the ground (and sideways) frightened me, and now the idea of changing a wiggling toddler up there is equally terrifying! We use our bed or the floor in his nursery. Luckily, instead of actually purchasing a changing table we purchased a kitchen piece suitable for the purpose at an antique shop and painted it. It will look lovely one day in my dining room!
* Fancy Baby Bath Tub: I registered for an awesome baby bath tub (it had a Jacuzzi!) and I was excited to receive it. It is a very nice bathtub and I appreciate it, however it ended up not being very practical for us. It was a lot of work to get it all assembled and to fill the sprayer full of water for a short little baby bath. And then, we had to find a place to set the huge thing up to dry. A simple plastic bath tub that can be placed in your bath tub (or perhaps even just a sling) works wonderfully at a much lower cost.
*Glass bottles if your baby will be in daycare: I learned quickly this was a "no-no." Not allowed. Fortunately I did not have too many of them!
*Bottle Warmer: Our little guy will drink bottles cold. He loves milk that much! Your little one might, but if not and you want to save a few bucks, setting the bottle for a few minutes in hot water does the job too.
*Ear thermometer: Apparently these are not accurate for babes less than 6 months (I did not know that) and even now this thing can read all over the place. We just use our cheapo thermometer under the arm (and add a degree) and our pediatrician advises that a rectal temp (yikes!) is really the gold standard.
*Bumbo seat: A high chair does just fine. And if your babe is chunky like mine, his legs won't fit in there anyway. Jasper learned to sit up wonderfully without this seat. When we traveled with him and there was no high chair available he just sat on our laps.
My New Baby Must Haves:
* Lots of clothes for the little babe: Lots, and I mean LOTS of, onsies and pajamas. We probably changed Jasper two times a night due to leaks and spit up for the first few months of his life. And, forget about jammies that button up or snap. Zipper ones are the way to go. Who wants to fumble with lots of snaps at 3:00 a.m.? Also-try not to buy sizes too far ahead for your little one, you do not know how big or small they will be. Jasper is at the top of his height and weight percentiles and always wears clothes much bigger than his age. Because of this he has several adorable outfits that he never got to wear.
* A Jumper Roo (or something similar--preferably one that allows for jumping--more fun!): Jasper got in this for the first time at about four months old and it was wonderful! My husband and I could actually make dinner together and he would entertain himself in it for 30 minutes plus!
* A humidifier: Jasper frequently has a stuffy nose and we do notice it gets worse when we get lazy about running the humidifier for a night or two. Sometimes we add drops of eucalyptus to help with congestion or lavender for those nights he does not sleep as well. Before using essential oils with baby check out the safety of them. There is a particular kind of eucalyptus to use with young children (smithii I believe). If you are in Greensboro, Loving Scents is an excellent resource.
*If co-sleeping: I loved my Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. This first time mama had to be with her little one all night when he was brand new! And, he is actually still sleeping with us, but that is another story! Not only was he sleeping right near me (yet out of the way) but it gave us lots of storage space for extra clothes, diapers, etc. in our room.
* A really good diaper or skin balm (without potentially harmful ingredients like BHA): our fave is the Nurturing Balm made by Episencial. We used this for the occasional bouts of diaper rash (it cleared it up quickly!) and on the little dry patches of skin Jasper gets in the winter.
*If cloth diapering: Lots of cloth diapers and a good detergent to wash them in. We started when we had 20 in our stash and now we have close to 30. Our brand faves are Bum Genius and Katie-O, both with snaps, one size fits all. We use Charlies Soap (local) to wash them in. Don't be scared about cloth diapering, it's super easy and I'll write more about it later!
Carrier/ sling: We have the Ergo baby carrier and love it, however I'm not convinced it is the best one out there. We much preferred baby wearing (and still do) verses pushing Jasper around in a stroller. I also used the Ergo around the house while he napped in there so I could do a few simple household tasks.
Bottle rack (or extra drying rack) and drying mats: Washing and drying bottles has consumed the past year of my life. Go ahead and devote the counter space now. Now it has become lots of sippy cup and toy washing and its great having lots of space to dry them.
I did some research and asked some fellow mamas what they had to have with their little ones and what they could live without. Feel free to comment and share your answers too!
Mama #1: Had to have her Swaddle Me wraps. I must admit, while a blanket can do the trick, we loved these with Jasper (plus they were extra warmth). She could have done without her Boppy. I am on the fence here, I definitely used this a lot initially while nursing Jasper, but could a regular pillow have done the trick? Maybe!
Mama #2: Had to have a video baby monitor and could have done without the matching baby bedding set (bumpers, blanket, comforter etc.). Agreed about the bedding set. We just decorated the nursery with random finds and quilts we were gifted.
Mama #3: Could have done without the wipes warmer and diaper genie and had to have a really good humidifier. She mentioned the humidifier helped their little one get several more hours of sleep at night when she had a cold.
I agree 100% that a Jumperoo is a must have! My little girl loved it from about 4-8 months, and even though that may seem like a short period of time it was well worth it. My Boppy was another must have, but I know of others who prefer the My Breast Friend. I could have done without the Swaddle Me wraps. I found that I preferred the Aden+Anais muslin swaddle blankets. I found that in the beginning the only real necessities for a baby were clothing, diapers, blanket, a place to sleep, and something to eat. Plenty of other things can make life easier, but you can do without.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment kaw614! I agree with your statement on "the real necessities," we have been tricked into thinking we need so many 'things' for baby!
DeleteThanks for the comment kaw614! I agree with your statement on "the real necessities," we have been tricked into thinking we need so many 'things' for baby!
Delete