New Baby Must Haves

As my baby girl is approaching her 4th month of life, I started reflecting on the items that were the biggest help to us.  This is my list of items that I found helpful:

The Halo SleepSack Swaddle and Summer Infant Swaddlepods - baby girl loves and needs a good swaddle.

Onesies and/or Kimono shirts.  Make changing the 10+ diapers a day a breeze.  Outfits are cute, but I don't find myself putting them on her much, unless we go out.  Which didn't happen often in those early weeks.  Plus I can't seem to get on board with the onesie and pants.  It always looks strange to me.  I didn't find myself using sleepers too often either in the beginning.  The snap ones take forever to snap shut.  So if you go the sleeper route, get the zipper kind.  I use them more now that she's older and I am working on establishing a bedtime routine for her.

Carter's or Gerber brand clothes.  These by far fit her the best.

An infant chair or bouncer to sit baby down in.

Moby wrap for a little babe (though you can use it up to 35 lbs) and an Ergo Baby carrier for 12+ pounds. 

Bottles that vent.  We use Dr. Brown's.  

Medela steam bags.  They make sanitizing bottles, pacis, breast pump equipment a breeze.

A bustier that zips closed for those pumping sessions.  And speaking of bras, I pretty much live in my nursing sleep bras.

Lansinoh nursing pads.  They feel softer to me than Medela.

Medela lanolin.  It goes on much easier than Lansinoh.

Diapers -- if you want to buy big brand, Huggies Little Snugglers and Huggies Baby Dry dipes are the way to go.  If you want the store brand route, Target's brand Up & Up are ones I like.

A video monitor.  It's definitely not necessary, but it brought me comfort when I could see that my baby was OK.  And a small, cheap monitor for on the go.

A stroller cart.  The travel systems are too bulky in my opinion.  I have a jogging stroller for when I go out for walks, or jogging, or to the zoo.  But I found the stroller cart to be the perfect, compact solution for shopping trips.

A car seat base.  And I don't recommend a car seat that goes over 30 lbs.  I have the Graco Snugride 35 and while it's a great seat, it's super heavy and will only get more heavy as the babe gets bigger.

A small diaper clutch for quick trips.  I use the Ju Ju Be, Be Quick.

Our baby did not want to sleep by herself, so we invested in the Summer Infant Rest Assured co-sleeper.  With it we used a rolled blanket that we wrapped around her lower body so she felt snuggled.  After a couple of nights with that set up, she was much better at sleeping in her own bed.  It's also nice and small and portable for on the go.

A boppy pillow, or My Brest friend for nursing.

An exersaucer.  We put her in one of these just the other day for the first time and she loved it!

A floor gym.  It was the only thing I could put her down on and get a little bit of time from her to get things done.  She outgrew it pretty quick though, or got bored with it. 

Fuzzi Bunz burp cloths are awesome.  I just got some the other day.  One side is a super absorbent fleece, the other side cotton.  They put the prefold diapers (which I like a lot) to shame.

JJCole Bundle Me.  This was great for keeping my winter baby warm in the car and cut out the need for a bunting, coat, and / or blankets.

I keep a small tote of essentials in my car.  Just in case I get stranded or forgot something.  In the beginning I had diapers, wipes, a nursing cover, a hand pump, nursing pads, burp cloth, blanket, baby first aid kit, pacifier, diaper rash ointment, and a swaddle blanket.  I've made some changes as the little miss has changed her needs.

That's all I can think of right now!  Obviously items will vary from mom to mom and baby to baby, but these were things we liked!