My Must Have Newborn Baby Products
When I was pregnant I devoured every blog post I could about must-have baby products. I had NO idea what to put on my registry and it helped me so much to hear from real moms what was working for them. I hate clutter, so I wanted to make sure everything we got was something that would be useful and necessary but I also wanted to make sure my baby had the bet of the best (mind you, that does not mean the most expensive!). After 30 days of Momhood, I have compiled my list of top baby products that have been a major lifesaver.
Dock-A-Tot | Both my mom and my husband laughed at me for insisting we needed a Dock-a-Tot, but I just knew we’d get a ton of use out of it. Wouldn’t you know it, it has become our number one most used baby item, and even my mom asks for “his boat” when she babysits. Newborns sleep a lot…like, A LOT and it doesn’t make sense to hold them while they sleep all day. The Dock-A-Tot is not approved for unsupervised sleep, but it is perfect for when we are working or watching TV to lay him in and let him snooze. The cover is removable so that we can wash it if he happens to have an accident on it (that’s only happened twice so far) and you can buy replacement covers if you want to switch it up (in hindsight, going with “Pristine White” wasn’t one of my best mom decisions). We use it so often that I am considering purchasing a second one so we can have one upstairs and one downstairs.
note: while there are some parents who use the Dock-A-Tot as an in-bed sleeper while co-sleeping, we do not. Grayson sleeps in his bassinet alone next to our bed at night and only sleeps in his Dock-A-Tot when he is being supervised.
Wipe Warmer | During our 4 day stay in the hospital after Gray was born, we grew to dread diaper changing time, because he would scream his head off the second a cold wipe touched his little butt. I mean, who can blame him? Is he a bit of a diva? Sure. But the wipe warmer has definitely made all of our lives easier. When I was researching items we would need for the baby registry, I found the wipe warmer on tons of lists of “Most Useless Baby Products”…well, agree to disagree because my babe LOVES the luxury of a good warm wipe and I can respect that he enjoys the finer things in life.
Itzy Ritzy Pacifiers and Loveys | I felt super guilty about using a pacifier when we first left the hospital. The nurses and lactation consultants had told us we shouldn’t use one until he was at least 4 weeks old so that it wouldn’t cause “nipple confusion” while he learned to breast feed. I remember waking up in the wee hours of the morning while we were still in the hospital and sneaking him a binky to soothe him while he cried. It worked and once he fell back to sleep, I shoved it back into a drawer and hoped I hadn’t permanently ruined him. In hindsight, that was dumb and as his mother I am entitled to give him a damn binky if I so choose! Now that he’s 4 weeks old, he has collected an assortment of pacifiers, but the Itzy Ritzy ones are his favorite. We got the llama lovey as a gift at our baby shower and he has really taken to it.
Hello Bello Diaper + Wipes Subscription | We got super spoiled at our Drive By Baby Shower with diapers, but after a couple weeks, I quickly realized we were going to need more… a LOT more. Being a first time mom, I was hella unprepared for just how many we’d need and stupidly thought I could just throw a pack of diapers in the cart during my weekly grocery shopping trip every Monday (stop laughing). After a close call where I almost needed to diaper my baby with leaves from the yard, I realized I had to figure out a way to make this easier. I came across The Hello Bello Diaper Subscription and IT. IS. LIFE CHANGING. For $65 per month you get 7 packs of diapers and 4 packs of wipes delivered to your door. I love that it’s one less thing for me to think about and that they just show up at my door. You can order in assorted sizes if your babe is on the cusp of moving into the next size and the best part… they come in the CUTEST prints. & if you’re going to be forced to clean up another human’s poop, you might as well be able to look at. Also, the big box the bundle comes in upcycles into something for your kiddos to play with. Our first box came in October and was a giant jack-o-lantern and it was SO cute.
Diaper Genie | It’s amazing the things you get excited about when you become a parent… including a diaper pail. If you’ve never used a diaper genie, it traps the diapers in a bag that keeps the smell at bay. This baby registry staple is a must-have item and this particular set comes with a year’s worth of refills which is a lifesaver considering how SOL you’d be if you ran out without having any backups.
My Brest Friend | I did a lot of research while I was pregnant into nursing pillows. One thing I didn’t realize was that breast feeding can really hurt your back without proper support. I had heard good things about the Boppy, but I was more impressed with the My Brest Friend. It has a velcro strap that allows you to wrap it around you and provides a table top for your baby to rest on while you nurse. The best part… it has a little pouch for snacks or a water bottle! (I also had no idea how thirsty breast feeding makes you!)
Carter’s Sleep Bags | You get a lot of advice from other moms when you become a mom for the first time. When it comes to baby’s sleepware, people have a lot of opinions on snaps vs zippers vs gowns, but I have found that my favorite thing to dress him in at night are Carter’s Sleep Bags. They’re made of fleece which keeps him nice and warm and zip at the bottom which makes middle-of-the night diaper changes a whole lot easier. Plus he looks adorable in them!
Hatch Rest | I’m not sure who likes the Hatch more- Jerry or the baby. We started using the Hatch the first night we brought him home and the following morning, Jerry said it was the best night sleep he had had in a long time. Now that could definitely be due to the fact that it was the first night he had slept in a real bed in 4 nights, but it could also be the Hatch’s soothing light and white noise. We have found that we all sleep best with the red light on and the rain sounds playing. I love that it can be controlled from my phone via the Hatch Sleep app and that you can set up schedules for it. It’s also great for middle of the night feedings. I just switch the light to white to provide just enough light to be able to see what I’m doing, but not enough to wake J up.
