1. Newborn sized bodysuits. We only received 5 newborn sized bodysuits initially, and we had only purchased about 2 newborn things ourselves from the thrift store. We had gotten a lot of advice to skip buying newborn clothes since they grow so quickly, so jump straight to the 0-3 month clothes. Well, we had a little string bean baby and found she was swimming in her 0-3month outfits. She lived in her newborn sized Carter’s bodysuits since they fit her lean body so well. Grandma and Auntie even bought her some more newborn things since we were recycling the same 6 items over and over again. At the one month mark we’re still fitting in mostly newborn, and a select few 0-3 month outfits. I think we’ll still be in newborn for the next month as well.
2. A soft cotton robe for me, I got this particular one at Target. The first two weeks, I lived in this thing. When you’re breastfeeding a newborn on demand for the first month, you’re frequently topless, or exposing yourself. Having a robe was wonderful. It was soft against my sore nipples and it was easy to cover and uncover for quick feeding access.
3. Avent’s Soothie Pacifiers. These things are a life saver! At the three week mark we asked Emerson’s pediatrician about giving her a pacifier early since she would eat for twenty minutes and then just comfort nurse for another 40. I love nursing her, but being a human pacifier, especially at night, was taking it’s toll on me. He gave us the go-ahead and we stocked up on a few different type of pacifiers. These were the only ones she didn’t gag on. They are the best. It makes her so much happier in the car, and now Kyle can help put her to bed instead of it being all up to me, the human pacifier. Unfortunately, Oliver likes them too; we keep finding them with the nipple chewed off. Ollie! After about two weeks using these pacifiers she now will take other pacifiers as well.
4. Fisher Price’s Rock-N-Play. Around the end of week one, we found that Emerson slept much better, specifically longer and deeper, when she was at an incline. We had her sleep in her space-saving swing a few nights before we went out and bought the Rock-N-Play. This thing is awesome. She sleeps so well, and as a bonus we can rock her to sleep with little effort on our part. It’s so portable we can pack it up in a few seconds, and she’s able to be right next to me while I sleep in bed, similar to a co-sleeper but with the benefit of rocking and being at an incline.
5. Aden and Anais Swaddle Blankets. I had these on our registry but we never received them. Since they were a bit on the expensive side I opted for a cheaper version. Well, a neighbor ended up gifting these to us, and they are great! They are much bigger than the other cotton muslin swaddle blankets I ordered which makes a big difference with her not being able to wiggle out of these. They are super soft and cuddly. They are great for taking on the go and using as a nursing cover too since they’re pretty thin and light.
6. Boba Wrap. This is Kyle’s favorite baby item we own. He loves to wear Emmie around the house. If she’s fussy, we wrap her up and almost instantly she’s asleep. It calms her like you would not believe. If every other method of getting her to sleep has failed, we Boba her and sure enough, out like a light. As an added bonus, we can use both our hands when she’s wrapped up, but she’s still snuggling with us. The only downside to the Boba is that it gets pretty warm. We usually crank the AC while we wear her in the Boba to keep both of us cool.
7. Summer’s First Infant Snuzzler. With Emmie being such a peanut, she bounced around in her swing and her rock-n-play. In order to help her feel more secure in both, we use the infant snuzzler. Basically, it’s very similar to the infant inserts you find in carseats. It has head support and extra body support on the sides. We have it in her rock-n-play and she loves being snuggled up in her infant snuzzler.
8. Baby Jogger’s City Mini GT stroller with car seat bar. Since we have a dog, we started going on family walks a few days after bringing Emmie home. This stroller with carseat bar has been great! It makes going anywhere very easy since it folds flat with a simple pull of a strap. It has quick release wheels, and most importantly fits in the teeny tiny Prius trunk! It’s small enough that we feel comfortable taking it into stores and we don’t feel like we’ve got this gigantic stroller taking up the whole aisle.
9. & 10. Medela breast pump and Dr. Brown’s glass bottles. After introducing the pacifier with great success, we moved onto giving her a bottle once a day. I pump with my Medela pump, and Kyle gives her a bottle. We had a few different brands of bottles – and Emerson took all 4 brands with ease – but Kyle prefers the Dr. Brown’s bottles because she seems to get less air with them. We also prefer to store pumped milk in glass bottles vs. plastic. Dr. Brown’s is one of the only brands that still have glass available. The bottle has allowed Kyle to give me a few longer stretches of sleep on occasion, so it’s been very, very nice. It’s also nice to know that I could go somewhere and leave her home with Kyle for more than an hour.
2 Comments
I love this post! Being two weeks from induction, it gives me a wonderful heads-up about what to expect! Thankfully we have almost every item on your list…looks like I'll need to treat myself to a new robe! 😉 So glad things are going well with Emmie, she's adorable!
So glad this was helpful. Can't wait until you're holding your own little nugget of joy!