Baby Must-Haves

Recently there has been an influx of pregnant people in my life which has Daniel asking about when WE are going to start thinking about having another baby which gives me some anxiety at this point. Financially we need to be in a better place and we are enjoying Jack so much that it seems strange to have another right now. That’s a conversation for next year.

Mom bragging alert: He is exactly 18 months today and I am asking myself where did the time go? Cliché I know. At his Montessori school they moved him up to the 2-year-old class because he wasn’t being challenged enough in the baby class and he’s doing so well with his fork and sipping from a real cup. I am not ready to pack up his spill proof sippy cups at home just yet because well, I want him to stay my baby forever, but I know I should be mirroring what he’s learning in school. His babbling (and real words!) are so gosh darn cute and he said “I love you” for the first time yesterday (it did really happen! Marissa was there!) and I just want to enjoy it. So basically Jack is freaking wonderful and I am such a proud mommy and I am going to end this rant now and get back to what this post is really about…

So with all these pregger people around me some have asked for suggestions on gear and I can now look back and have a clear mind on what we DEFINITELY needed in the first year. You guys ready?

Receiving blankets – we used these for EVERYTHING the first 9 months. Jack was small enough to be swaddled by them (until he was about 4 months and we stopped swaddling him anyway) and we had them around the house for things like throw up, spit up, to use as a blanket, or whatever!

Swaddling blankets – Aden and Anais are the softest and best to swaddle with. They were oversized so we could make sure he was super tightly hugged and they were light enough that he wasn’t overheating. Big must!

Bottles – even if you plan to exclusively breast feed I still recommend you having some bottles. I liked the glass because I was worried about the plastic stuff and all that that Jack could be ingesting, but after he was about 4 or 5 months I switched to plastic because it was lighter for him to hold. I am partial to Avent. I read soooooo much about colicky babies so I literally got every brand of bottle imaginable and I didn’t even open a lot of the boxes. I think if you have a problem then you go and figure it out.

——–ok also side note, check the brand of the bottles that you want and see how long they suggest to use each nipple for the right flow. For the advent bottles I think they had a newborn one, a month old one, a 3 month old and a 6 month old? I would suggest registering for the nipples you need in the first few months.

Bottle brush – ESSENTIAL!

Baby tub – get one that is infant to toddler! We bought one that had a net thing and then no seat area (like this one) and it was awful. He was too big for the infant net, but couldn’t sit up on his own in just a tub so I went out and bought one of these where he could sit back and it wasn’t a disaster to try and hold a wet baby and get the soap and the shampoo… Trust me make those months 4-6 a lot easier by getting one of these where he can just transition from the net to the nice seat.

Thermometer – We have the ear one and I wish we had a forehead one. The ear one comes with the covers to keep everything sanitary, but when they run out you have to order more and God forbid you have forgotten and baby is running a fever! I ran to the store hoping to find some more, but it was a no go. I would rather know that my baby was for sure running a fever instead of trusting my hand. It makes it easier to say ok, he’s only at 100 so we don’t need to worry yet.

Pack-n-play or bassinet (for your room). “Infants should sleep in the same bedroom as their parents for at least the first six months of their lives to minimize the risk of sleep-related deaths, according to new guidelines from U.S. pediatricians.” You could put a crib in your room, but that wasn’t an option for us so we needed something portable and smaller than a crib so we could keep an eye (more like ear) out on little man.

Organic crib mattress –That was one of my weird things that I need for Jack. I didn’t want him breathing in flame retardants and weird chemicals. It really is better for your baby to do organic stuff – clothes, sheets, anything. I am not a crazy organic person either and I can tell you that not all of Jack’s clothes, sheets, and blankets are organic, but the mattress is a big deal and so is buying Zero VOC paint. OK, my organic rant is over, but just trust me, organic is better for all of us, let alone your baby.

Are you having a baby soon? Have you had a baby ever? What are your top picks? There are things that aren’t even on our radar because of lots of factors such as technology and money. Of course it’s the law to buy car seats and strollers are a whole other post, but these are some essentials that I don’t think I could have survived without the first year. I’d love to hear your feedback too!