Wanting healthy baby food doesn't make you a nut

Hear me out here..there is doing your best to give your baby healthy food and there is ONLY GIVING YOUR BABY ORGANIC LOCALLY GROWN SUSTAINABLE NON-GMO NO MSG (did I miss some) FOODS. 
I am not judging parents in either direction because everybody's lives are different. Some parents have multiple kids and a successful day consists of getting food in their belly and they are still alive by bedtime. There are also those parents who feel that giving their child anything that is packaged or processed is a sin and anybody that doesn't follow suit are terrible parents. 

I think many parents project or feel defensive when other parents do things differently from them and they believe that those other parents are judging them because they are not doing the same thing. We can call that a form of mom-shaming. It's a prevalent disease in the breastfeeding/formula world as well, but that can be a whole other post from me. 

I know I am weird and I know that I may do things a bit outside the box, but that is me and everybody is different and unique in their own way. We are all in this together and it takes a village to raise children breastfed, formula, lunchables, broccoli, and all. 
Phew, enough of being self-reflective and shit. *falls off soap-box*

My husband and I (mostly me, let's be honest) have decided that we want to try our best to make sure Inga gets the most natural and whole foods that we can possibly give her. Does that mean that she can't try cake with frosting on her birthday coming up or have some fruit juice with her lunch? No, but the difference is that the cake will be a carrot cake my mom will make with some homemade whipped frosting and the fruit juice is just orange juice with no extra sugar. 
That is key and that is the main thing we follow when choosing store bought food for our little nugget. What are the ingredients, can we actually pronounce them, and are they ingredients that we can buy in a store. My last blog post focuses on this a little bit when her daycare provider tried to get me to give her the food they feed the other kids. 

There are so many choices nowadays to give your baby a healthy meal made with whole foods and many household names are even jumping on the bandwagon.
Here are some of Inga's favorite food items that don't make us cringe when reading the ingredients. They are easy to get and not expensive at all!

1. Sprout Organic Foods pouches

I discovered these pouches when I was trying to find something for Inga that had whole grains in it since she was not having regular oatmeal. I found some pouches that were fruit and oatmeal, quinoa etc. They are so delicious and she LOVES them. The ingredients are all organic (meh don't really care) but the best part is that they are just regular foods with no presservatives or anything I can't pronounce. 
She really loves the Peach Berry Oatmeal & Quinoa, and the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal ones but she eats pretty much all of them. They are available at Diapers.com in packs of 5 for around $10.99 or you can buy some flavors at Walmart. I would definitely give these a try. 


2. Beech Nut Just Naturals jars - I was purchasing some diapers online and they sent a sample jar of Pear and Black Cherry to give a try. I was skeptical but when I had a look at the ingredients it was just that: pears and black cherries. There may be one or two that have a bit of lemon juice at the end of the ingredient list but they are just as their name says - Just Naturals.  Boy are they yummy. There are certainly some odd combinations (Pineapple, Pear and Avocado huh?) but they are really good. We tend to share it as she is eating it. They sell these on Diapers.com as well and Walmart for about a $1 a jar. 

The next few are not baby specific foods, but they are foods that Inga really likes. 
1. Simply Balanced White Cheddar Cheese Puffs - These are the Target brand that is replacing the Archer Farms brand I think. For some reason I cannot find these online anywhere but the ingredients are basically just a corn puff with real cheese on them. Here is a nice document from Target describing this brand and what they include and won't include in their foods. Oh and they are gluten free so my mom can touch them too haha. 

2. Mcvitie's Digestive Biscuits - If you have never had these, you need to go get some and try them. I grew up eating these anytime I went to Denmark to visit family and they are absolutely delish. Oh and I suppose Inga loves them too. They are really soft so they mush up really nicely when she eats them. The ingredients are not organic and they do have some sugar in them but there is no hydrogenated fats and no corn syrup. To be honest though, even if they did I would still buy them for her as she loves them. You can also try Hobnobs from the same brand and they have oats added as well. They are yummy too. 

3. Greek Yogurt - Inga cannot get enough greek yogurt. If she sees us take the container out of the fridge those little legs start pumping and she starts pointing. She even loves just plain greek yogurt and my mom cooked up some blueberries to make a sauce and mix in. You could also mix in some of the Beech Nut Just Natural jars into the yogurt to give some flavor. We occasionally give her some of the flavored greek yogurt but since it does have lots of sugar we don't that often, which does not seem to bother her as long as it is yogurt. Greek Yogurt is something great to add to their diet because babies around a year old need about 15 grams of protein a day. Breastmilk, if they are getting about 20 ounces a day, is only about 8 grams of protein. A cheese stick can make this up, but a cheese stick every day can probably be a bit constipating so it's nice to mix it up. 

Here are a couple tips on picking out baby food. 
1. When reading ingredient labels for baby food, or any food for that matter, remember that the ingredients are listed in order from most used to least. So if you have a baby food pouch where the last ingredient is lemon juice, they probably added it to give a bit of tartness or acidity to offset something else. I tend to just glance at the first 3-5 ingredients in the list and if that isn't proceeded by a bunch of chemical names I am sure the food is pretty good. 
2. Another thing about reading the ingredient labels for baby food is to read what the flavor is for the food itself. I have found a lot of pouches (Plums and Ellas) where the flavors are something like pear, blueberry and spinach but the first ingredient is apple. Some companies use apple as just a filler item and that is ok to a fault. You don't want to give your child pouches, thinking they are getting a variety of fruits and vitamins from those fruits when the main first ingredient is apples in all of them. 

Just remember if you don't give them those bad foods then they won't know what they are missing. 
What are some foods that you feed your kids that are limited ingredients or healthy?

Starting Solids: Holy S*** Time Flies

Just as the title says...holy s*** time flies. Yeah I suppose when you are having fun or just busy. 
So this weekend we are starting solids...dun dun DUN!! I, for one, am beyond excited. It is something new to do with Inga and it changes up the routine. It also is another step in knowing that she is growing and we haven't ruined her yet. 
We made the decision to wait until she was 6 months old to start with solids. After doing some research I read that delaying solids can help curb allergies, among other things. Allergies run in my family. My dad had them and I have them. However, they are not food related but rather environmental. 
The longer you wait to introduce solids to your baby, the better their digestive system has to properly develop to handle those solid foods. 
A couple signs that your wee-one is ready for solids:
- Develops an interest in what you are eating or reaches for your food. We call that pulling a Big Roger, which is an inside joke, but cute either way. Inga tries to Big Rog us all the time. 
- They can sit up pretty much on their own in a high chair. You don't want them falling forward or wibbly wobbling all over the place. 

I will do another post with an update on how it is all going but here are some of the items that I got to prepare for Inga's venture in the great wide world of real food. 
We plan to do all the food ourselves so she won't have to endure Beef Barley Pea Dinner baby food from a jar...just...ugh. It doesn't seem all that hard and we only plan to do purees for a little while before she can start just eating regular food. 
But remember - FOOD IS FUN UNTIL THE AGE OF ONE :)

1. Mumi Bubi Starter Set - This came with 2 trays with curved bottoms so the cubes slide right out. Haven't used these yet, but plan to when she is eating stuff to freeze. 

2. IKEA baby bowls - For how flipping cheap they are, why the hell not. They are like $2 for 6 bowls. 

3. First Years Flatware - These are great and super cheap. She has been chewing on these for the past couple weeks so she doesn't choke. 

4. Stokke Tripp Trapp set - This was my crazy splurge. The high chair is ungodly expensive along with all the attachments for it. But of course I ended up getting a great deal on it and got the infant set and the tray for free. She has been sitting in this for a while now and just loves it. 

5. The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet - This is a great book, but its a little pointless in some aspects. I mean, do you really have to have an entire recipe for mashing up avocados? I am not kidding...the recipe is 1/2 of a ripe avocado. 

6. Tommee Tippee Easy Roll Bibs - These seem like they are going to be awesome. They are really soft and can roll up easily. Nice silicone for easy clean up to and the tray catches some of the yum yums, much to my puppies sadness I am sure. 

One item that isn't there but I think will be fun and helpful is a printable calendar. I am going to write on the calendar what food she is having each day. We plan to introduce a new food every 3 days just to see if she has a reaction to anything. 

So these are the items that we got for starting solids. Since I am a FTM I am sure some of these are pointless but I got it all cheap so shutup. :)

What are some items that you used or are using for feeding your spawn? Leave a comment. 

 UPDATE: Check out my newest blog post for how our first day went and a video!

Are you Crunchy or Just Plain Crazy?

Being "crunchy" can be a good thing. You have made the decision to live a more natural lifestyle for yourself and your child. You try to keep as many chemicals away from your child that are not necessary and try to keep things more simple. It can also be completely and absolutely ridiculous. Have you ever heard of "Elimination Communication?" Oh you haven't?? Look it up. 

This post is just about Crunchy Products. I might do separate posts regarding a crunchy lifestyle with your child, but she is still a bit young. 

As I have stated in previous posts, we are fairly crunchy. I suppose you could say we are Crunch Lite. Diet Crunch. Crunch Zero. We made the decision to be crunchy because I have lots of skin sensitivities and allergies and she could possibly be the same. There was no, "Well I think this will make us better parents than you."

The main difference between a Crunchy parent and a Crazy Crunchy parent is whether or not you are willing to be realistic. A Crunchy Parent knows when convenience beats out being able to tell people that you are completely crunchy. 

There is an episode of South Park called Smug Alert where Kyle's dad buys a Prius and therefor thinks he is better than everybody else He had such a smugness about himself that he would bend over and smell his own farts. This is what Crazy Crunchy parents remind me of. They feel so pious and righteous that they chose this route and you didn't so that makes them better than you. They are what my dad and I like to call "Virtue Sluts." 

Being crunchy doesn't have to take a lot of time or money. It can be simple changes that can really make a difference. Instead of using the cheapest of something, read the ingredients and go with the better quality. Even though Johnson & Johnson is the go to brand for babies, there are many other options out there with more quality ingredients that don't break the bank. 

Johnson and Johnson Bedtime calming lotion:

Water, Mineral Oil, Glycerin, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Ceteareth-6, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Stearyl Alcohol, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Lotion:

Aloe barbadensis (organic aloe) leaf juice extract, Olea europaea (organic olive) oil, Aspalathus linearis (organic rooibos) extract, Calendula officinalis (organic calendula)flower extract, Olivoyl hydrolyzed oat protein, Cetearyl alcohol, Glyceryl oleate, Glyceryl stearate, Kosher vegetable glycerin, Vanilla planifolia (organic vanilla) fruit extract, Butyrospermum parkii (organic shea) butter, Citrus sinensis (organic sweet orange), Xanthan gum

Wouldn't you rather put the item on your baby where you can pronounce all of the ingredients? 

We use diapers that are made with fewer chemicals, perfumes, and dyes. We use Earth's Best and Bambo diapers. Bambo was named the greenest disposable and is completely hypoallergenic. These diapers are a little bit more money than regular Huggies or Pampers, but if there is one crunchy item you could spend money on, it would be diapers. 

We wanted to use cloth diapers, but only if I was going to be a stay at home mom. We barely remember to do our own laundry so I don't see washing diapers every 2 days realistic for us. I also couldn't find a daycare around here that allowed cloth diapers

either. Think about it, those diapers are on your babies bottom 24/7 so don't you want to keep as many chemicals away from soaking into your babies skin. Disposable diapers were invented only back in 1948, so what the heck did our grandparents use? Cloth diapers. Disposable diapers are for convenience and are not required to be able to raise a baby. At least that is the way I think about it. Cloth diapers weren't for us, but that didn't mean we weren't going to try and get the next best thing. 

Another item that we wanted to be as crunchy as possible on was our wipes. You are wiping these all over their bodies so we wanted to get something fairly chemical free. We use DermaH20 Water Wipes. They are made in Ireland and they are 99.9% water. Now a very crunchy parent might use cloth wipes with either bottled water or a solution of essential oils. We had planned to use cloth wipes for when she switches to solids and her poo is more firm, but the water wipes are just so great we don't really feel the need. We use the cloth wipes we bought for when we give her a bath. Etsy is a great place to find cloth wipes, if this is a route you want to take. 

A big ticket crunchy item would be diaper cream. Desitin is like a crazy crunchy parent's nightmare. They might run away screaming if you come towards them with it. The reason they respond like this is the Zinc Oxide. The Zinc Oxide is what repels the moisture from your babies bottom therefore keeping diaper rash either at bay or resolving it. Apparently there have been studies stating that some chemicals can soak into the babies skin. It also is very hard to wash off so Crunchy parents that use cloth diapers can't use Zinc Oxide as it makes the diapers non-absorbent. 

We didn't really care about the Zinc oxide so much as just the chemicals in general. We use the Grovia Magic Stick. I mention this in my Newborn Essentials Post and I have to say that everybody that has used it mentions how ingenious it is as a product. Use it every diaper change and she is 4 months old and never had diaper rash. 

Laundry detergent is another area where you can crunchify your life. If you are concerned about allergies or if your baby has sensitive skin this would be an area to focus on. We use a biodegradable and hypoallergenic laundry soap and it actually works really well. We use Charlies Soap for all of her laundry loads. Rockin' Green is also another great laundry detergent specifically made for cloth diapers, but can be used for baby clothes in general. It is a bit more expensive and this is the detergent that a Crazy crunchy parent would say in a smug tone," Oh...you don't use Rockin' Green? That's unfortunate." 

There are also some items that you really can't go partially crunchy on. They are pretty much all or nothing. 

Breastmilk - I might do an entirely separate post on breastmilk, but this is definitely an item that is crunchtastic. I am proud pumper and I will pump until I can pump no more! Formula is not the same and those that say it is are naive. This is probably one of the few items that we are Crazy Crunchy about and don't mind saying it. 

Bottles - All bottles are legally supposed to be BPA free now so unless you want to be crazy crunchy and use like glass or steel bottles, you should be good to go. 

Clothes - Ooooh this is Organic cotton..that means it's better right? Psch I don't know but I do know an organic cotton onesie on Amazon is like $30. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Vaccines - It is entirely your prerogative on whether or not to give your child vaccines and this is quite a controversial crunchy topic. I don't have a dog in this horse race so I don't have much to say about it. All I know is that Jenny McCarthy waged a whole vaccine war using her "autistic" son who she just came out and said was never autistic...

Leave a comment on some of the items that you use that make you crunchy!

Alternatives to Baby Girl Clothing

Tulle and pink and sparkle oh my!
Anybody that knows me knows that you are not likely to see me in anything sparkly, pink, or generally very girly. I tend to gravitate towards a more neutral boring style of clothing.

If sweatshirts and jeans constitute a "style." This isn't a bashing of all those adorable girls that are dressed very girly, but rather just giving my experience with dressing my daughter and some tips if you are the same way. 
I had made the decision early on in my pregnancy that I wanted to dress Inga as my little hipster baby and try to stay away from the Disney characters and overtly girly items. Being as tall as I am, I can't always dress in the styles that I would prefer to wear, simply because they don't fit. I wanted her to look like a little adult or have clothes that could span different outfits and styles. This came as a surprise to many and was answered with scoffs and eye rolls. "But she is a girl! She has to wear pink!" Who says.....?
Some would just choose to ignore me and would instead buy me something super girly and pink just because they thought it was cute. 
"Muhaha now she has to wear pink and sparkles!" 
*sigh* Don't get me wrong. If somebody is going to GIVE me clothing for free from their baby, I will more than likely have her wear it, but why would you buy something for me that is what I already said I don't really want her to wear? Would you buy a clothing item for a friend that you knew they didn't like, but YOU liked to see them in it? Not if you expect them to ever wear it....
I just find black ballet flats with cuffed jeans to be more adorable on a baby/toddler than pink ruffle butt leggings, a tulle skirt, and pink sparkle boots. To each their own. 

I don't see why a baby can't be stylish and cute but not look like a sparkle monster threw up on them. 
Here are some tips if you have the same idea as me regarding dressing your baby.


1. Don't ignore the boys section. For some super girly moms, this may be hard. There are some great neutral finds in the boys section that could look great on your daughter. I have gotten quite a few different  items that are technically boy clothes. Who says that blue, grey, and black are only for boys. I personally love seeing Inga in grey. That is kind of my go-to color for her. It looks great and you are able to give her a pop of another color with fun socks or head band. Here are some great boy finds I recently got. You could get a button shirt that is way too big for her and have her wear it as a shirt dress with some leggings. Just tie a ribbon or head band around the waist for a belt. ADORABLE!


2. Clearance! I have recently discovered the awesomeness of buying clearance for next year. I bought her an adorable pea-coat for $13 for next winter as well as some other sweaters that I just was not willing to pay more than $7 for. I am super cheap in general and will never buy clothing at full price. The nice thing about wanting to dress Inga differently is that most don't share my opinion so a lot of it ends up on clearance. Buying in clearance also ties into my next idea of buying for multiple outfits or repurposing. 

3. Buy for multiple outfits/Repurposing. The button shirt from the boys section is a great example of repurposing. Toddler sized shirts can be adorable dresses for younger babies. The key is to get pieces that can be used in multiple outfits. Most times, baby clothes come in a full outfit with pants and top. And usually they just go with each other. I don't think Disney character ruffle pants go with a plain yellow cardigan. It just leaves you limited. Try to buy simple items and you will see how you are able to use them in many different outfits. I bought solid color leggings and jeggings that she can wear with practically any top no matter the color or design. I bought lots of sweatshirts for her to wear instead of constantly living in footie pajamas because sweatshirts can be dressed up with a pair of jeggings and little fur boots. Footies can't. This is also a great way to save money and keep the wardrobe smaller since you are able to have pieces span multiple outfits. 

4. Pink can be cute and stylish. I know, I know, I said I don't like pink. Let me be a bit more specific. I don't like pink that is accompanied with flowers, hearts, glitter, butterflies galore. Using pink as the focal color can be really adorable, but when it is pink with glitter purple flowers, with a phrase about princesses and lace bottom leggings, it just takes away from how gorgeous your baby is. Everybody should be staring at your daughter's beautiful face, not her spastic outfit. Try a cute pink cardigan with a white onesie and black leggings or jeggings. Maybe a grey sweatshirt and jeans with pink socks. 

5. Headbands can make the outfit. Some of the outfits I have put together for Inga could make it difficult for some to know that she is a girl. Head bands can solve that issue but for crying out loud, she doesn't have to have a head band that makes it look like she has a weird growth on the side of her head. It goes back to what I said before. Everybody should be looking at your gorgeous daughter's face and not the sparkly flower the size of a basketball on her dome. Head wraps are absolutely adorable and beyond stylish. You can pick a cute pattern and have that be the accent in her outfit. She could wear a cute light pink polka dot head wrap with a simple solid colored sweater or cardigan and pants. Here are a couple Etsy sites that have head wraps and bows that I absolutely LOVE! 

Go to Little Winter Shop on Etsy to get head wraps just like the one on this little adorable nugget here! Oh gosh I can't stand it!

Go to AndySachs4 on Etsy for more head wraps. I bought some from here and they are really nice quality!




6. Holidays don't have to mean dresses. If you live in a cold weather state like me in Minnesota, you wonder why people would ever subject their baby to having to wear a dress in the cold. We tried doing a dress on Inga and that damn tutu was all up in her business constantly. I changed her into a cute grey sweater with white stars on it. Perfection. Why spend $20+ on a dress that she will only be able to wear once, and instead get her cute pieces that she can wear all winter? Saves you money and also gives her wardrobe some legs.

What are some of your tips and opinions on dressing little girls? Leave some comments. 

The REAL Newborn Essentials

First things first. Every parent will feel that they need an item more than another parent. These are the items that we felt we needed and it's on you if you feel you need more. 
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.