One of the first bits of advice I can give is to pace yourself. Only get what you need for the first few weeks. Trust, you will have PLENTY of time sitting around for 3 months buying stuff online. Or if you want to make your life difficult, you can venture out and buy stuff at a store. Either way, you will pick things up along the way that will help out but for the most part, a baby is pretty straight forward to take care of.
EAT, SLEEP, POOP......That's it.
When preparing for your poop princess/prince, you will need to evaluate how you want to raise your child. This will determine the amount of crap you end up getting.
- Are you going to be a bigger is better yuppy parent, that needs all the newest of everything?
- Are you going to be a crunchy parent, that only buys hippy stuff and shouts organic in every other sentence?
- Are you going to be the convenient parent, that just gets what everybody else gets?
These are just a few of the ways that your parenting style determines how you will raise your child. We are partially all three of them. We are mildly crunchy parents that try to keep as many chemicals off her tush as possible. We use biodegradable diapers and try to use natural products on her skin. But we also use disposable diapers for the convenience. And I am a bit of a yuppy with my $1200 stroller that I got on craigslist for $300.
Ok since I am sure most of you just scrolled down without reading to what looked like a list to see if it solidifies what you were already getting, here it is.
Diapers
First one is obviously going to be diapers. Now this is definitely one that will changed based on your parenting style. Some might choose to use cloth diapers and some disposable. When I was getting ready for Inga, I only bought a few packs of newborn diapers. Don't go crazy on newborn diapers because you have no idea how big your baby is. They might not even fit in them initially and then you would be stuck with lots of money in diapers hoping and praying that a friend gets pregnant soon so you have a great gift. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and my doctor basically told me I was going to have a giant heffer baby.......she was 8 pounds and fit in newborn diapers for a month. Diapers are an awesome thing to buy online so if you are noticing that they are still fitting buy some more packs online or join an autoship program. Amazon and Diapers.com have two good subscription services that give great deals. Saves time from loading up the car with the baby and then you get a nice present every once in a while from UPS.
For reference we use the Earth's Best Chlorine Free Diapers and we love them! She has never leaked out the bottom of the diaper and they are nice and thin. We originally wanted to do cloth diapers, but only if I was going to stay at home with her. It is a great investment and they are awesome, they just didn't work out with our hard water and my work situation.
Wipes
Next would be wipes. These will be your best friend and you will go through more than you can ever really imagine. These are another item that varies based on your parenting style. If you are crunchy at all, these would be the area you want to focus on. Try and get a wipe with the least amount of junk in them.
We use the DermaH20 Water Wipes and we feel they are the best. They are 99.9% water and just a splash of fruit extract. They can be used on her face and her hands without fear of her sucking the chemicals off. She has never had a diaper rash using these.
Butt Cream
Some parents put a diaper cream on their baby with every change and some only do when they are noticing a problem. Either way, this will be a good thing to have handy either in case or to use daily. You could get something like Desitin or if you are crunchy and want a zinc free you could opt for something more chemical-free.
We use the GroVia Magic Stick on her with every change. It uses different oils and beeswax. It creates a barrier just like a diaper cream would but it comes in a great stick for easy application and it smells really nice. Who wants to have to wipe their hands after every damn diaper change? That sounds like some seriously chapped dry hands.
Bodysuits/Shirts
We had both of these. You may only need a weeks worth of clothes at a time initially but if you are like me, you were probably given quite a bit of clothes. You will have time to do laundry because newborns sleep a hell of a lot more than you think. Inga spent almost all of her time in side snap t-shirts until her umbilical cord stump fell off. Wearing shirts keep it open to the air and it probably helps it dry up faster. The Gerber side snaps worked out, but the arms are really narrow and super long. So unless your baby has Angelina Jolie arms I would look elsewhere for side snap shirts.
Items Depending on Situation
Formula - More than likely you will have gotten samples in the mail of powdered formula. If not you can ask the hospital if they have any. Just don't take those premixed bottles. I can't imagine the preservatives in that and it smells weird. Inga wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. Even if you plan to pump or breastfeed, you might have the same situation as me where your milk did not come in and your child just wants to eat constantly. I had a complete meltdown the first night we were home because she just constantly wanted to eat, but there was not enough milk coming out so we had to supplement formula for a few days. My formula suggestion would be to get the Baby's Only DHA/ARA Organic Formula. It is expensive, but it is the best of a bad situation if formula is required.
Pump - Even if you plan to breastfeed exclusively, most insurance plans cover a really nice breast pump. They can help establish your milk supply or be used later if your dreams of being an all natural breastfeeding mother dwindle like mine. Also great to have when you go back to work. I exclusively pump and my suggestion would be to try the shields that come with the pump but get another size up just in case. It can feel like your nip is getting ripped off if they don't fit properly.
Nipple cream - Skip right past this Dads....this has nothing to do with you....
Buy it! Don't think about it, just buy it! I bought the Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter and it was really nice and definitely helped with sore nipples. Trust me, no matter what the lovely lactation consultant tells you, your nipples will hurt. Inga had a great latch and it still felt like she was releasing the wrath of a thousand bee stings every time she ate. I tried the Lansinoh and it was so thick it was impossible to work with so I don't really suggest that one until later on.
Bottles - Like the pump, I would buy some just to have in case you have to supplement some formula. We tried multiple kinds and the Dr.Browns just ended up working well for us. Not obnoxious to clean like everybody else says.
Pacifier - These can be lifesavers. Don't be a hero and think that you are never going to give your child a pacifier because you don't want them to be 3 with one in their mouth. Give it to them. Get some sleep, regain your sanity and get over it. You will have time when they are older and you have your wits about you to get it away from them. We use the MAM Newborn Pacifier. It came with the Target Baby Registry Gift and she just took to these.
Nail files - It is up to you if you want to buy the baby ones or just use the cheap emery boards. We used the baby ones for a while and recently made the switch. Inga has not worn mittens a day in her life and she has only scratched herself a handful of times. It heals super fast and it doesn't bother them. Just give them a manicure while they are taking a snooze. It is great for teaching them to sleep through anything.
Washcloths/Bibs - We use cheap velcro bibs for every time she eats. She eats breastmilk from a bottle and unless you want to put Shout! on every single item of clothing you are washing, use bibs or washcloths.
Body Wash/Shampoo - You can't give your baby a bath until the umbilical stump falls off, but you can give a good wipe down. We use Baby Mantra Body Wash & Shampoo and haven't had any issues. There is no soap in it so it doesn't suds up which makes it easy to work with. It is not a tear free soap but if you are looking for a tear free go the route of Aveeno rather than Johnson & Johnson if the crunchy side in you wants to come out.
Lotion - You might already have this at home, but we find Cetaphil lotion works the best. Inga had some baby acne on her face and kept getting rashes. I used the Cetaphil moisturizing lotion and it completely went away and it's really mild.
Swaddle blanket - More than likely, your hospital is going to give you one of these so I wouldn't even bother. But if you feel you need clothing options, you can get more. They usually give out the Halo SleepSack Swaddle and it certainly does the job. I wouldn't waste your time with the swaddle blankets other than to use them as what they are....blankets.
Please leave comments on any items that you feel I left out or items that you think made your life easier in those first few weeks home with your squawking dinosaur.
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