Suggestions for First Time Moms: What you really need.

scottijo2012

Hello all! So this is my first pregnancy and the first baby in my family since, well, me. (I know it's kinda crazy!) So when it comes to suggestions on things we need, my husband and I dont have very many places to turn. I was hoping to start this thread for suggestions in brands, products, and the things you need vs the things that are advertised! 

Right now both my parents and in laws have been asking what type of diapers and wipes we plan to use! We are doing research, but its challenging finding honest reviews and feedback! I would love hear from you all on your past experience on what works and what doesnt! Thank you all! 

birdiejo

For diapers I used Pampers swaddlers with my first. No complaints. I cloth diapered for like a year with my second but when we switched to regular diapers I did pampers and target brand. Wipes , I’ve tried lots of different types I generally just go for fragrance free or sensitive ones. 

Let us know all your questions and we’ll try to answer them! 

scottijo2012

@birdiejo Thank you! I really do appreciate any suggestions or feedback! 

hannahbananas11

@scottijo2012 diapers can be specific to each baby. My son got bad rashes with the Hello Bello, the Honest diapers were too narrow in the legs (he was chubby), and he had blowouts constantly with Pampers. But I have friends in my F19 group who love those brands and dislike other brands. I went with the Huggies Special Edition (their natural line) and those worked best for my kid, and still do. Get a box or two of one or two brands in size 1, not newborn, and otherwise ask for gift cards that’ll go toward diapers. That way you’re not stuck with three large boxes of diapers that you find out don’t work for your baby very well. That’s what happened to me. 😬 The hospital will provide you with endless diapers and wipes while there, and will probably send you home with some too, so you’ll have time to get more if you only start with one or two boxes to see what you like.
For wipes, I like the Huggies natural line, but never bought any that I disliked. They’re all good just different. Water Wipes are nice, too.

hannahbananas11

Also, we’ll be starting up threads of suggestions for specific items (strollers, feeding/nursing, sleep, etc) as we get a little farther along, so stay tuned for those! Hopefully those will help you and other first time moms figure out what to add to registries and such! In the “Read First” thread, we have a list of threads and a weekly or biweekly suggestions thread is mentioned. If you have something specific you’d like to cover, would you mind adding it to that discussion so we can be sure to include it? That would be helpful!

moguippy

Also, I highly suggest getting some second hand items (as long as you can disinfect them, but a lot of baby stuff is made so you can clean it because babies are messy). There’s nothing like buying a $200 mamaroo or baby carrier only to find out your kid hates it. I’m lucky where two of my SIL’s gave me a lot of their stuff, but we didn’t get a swing bc I had gotten a mamaroo and rock n play (now recalled) and he hated both of them and I ended up needing to get a swing anyway. The same goes for baby clothes, they grow soooo fast in the beginning that they will switch sizes in just a few weeks or months. We bought a few special outfits but just used handmedowns from SIL for everything else. 

As for diapers, that will depend on your baby. My DS didn’t get rashes from anything, but we didn’t like the smell of Huggies little snugglers when they were wet and didn’t like the way luvs ballooned up with just a tiny bit of pee. We prefer the Huggies naturals wipes because they are easier to just pull one at a time whereas the pampers when you pull it’s like a never ending stream of wipes. That’s just personal preference. We also only buy unscented wipes but again, that will probably be up to your baby’s butt. 

birdiejo

I got rid of most of my baby stuff because a friend of mine was pregnant and I wasn’t sure if I was going to have another baby for awhile so i have a running list of things I want for this one already. It’s a good distraction for me from the anxiety to look at pretty baby items. 😆

lena1024

I used pampers swaddlers for my first and plan to use them again. No complaints there. For wipes my favorite are the water wipes - because they re just water and nothing else. I use them til now with my 4yo when we’re out etc. 

shlecks

We are also a Pampers family and those will be my go to at least at first, until sizing up. We did use Luvs a lot for overnight because they seemed to be the most absorbent when lying down. But again, all babies will be different!

mdfarmchick

Diapers are hard to return. Tell your parents and ILs to just do gift cards. For all her faults, my MIL usually gifts us $800 in gift cards to Target ((I like to buy diapers there and get the spend $100, get a $25 gift card)) so we can buy diapers on our own terms. I agree with @hannahbananas11 that diapers can be very baby specific. I wanted to like Honest Company but my son was a king of blowing out of those in his car seat, and it turns out I like Pampers Pure for newborns and then switch to Huggies. Now that Huggies has a Special Edition line I’ll probably try those. Personally I don’t like the smell of Pampers but I have friends who hate how Huggies smell. Neither my SIL or I liked LUVs. Like @moguippy they seem to balloon with the smallest amount of pee.

I cloth diapered with my first and didn’t with my second but may with this one. We’ll see. 

All you really need for baby is a safe place to sleep ((my kids start off in a mini crib in our room but a bassinet or cosleeper or pack n play are all viable options)), some clothes ((I’m sure the grandparents will contribute to that stash—they can’t help themselves)), and a safe place to put them down during the day besides where they sleep ((for convenience... I don’t want to put the baby in the nursery every time I have to pee or switch the laundry)).

Things I swear by: Aden and Anais Muslin swaddle blankets and a dream blanket. Both of my boys have ended up attached to their blankets and sleep with them still at 2.5 and 4.5, drag them all over the house and take them in the car. My second was a happy spitter and I found it easier to use the soft muslin swaddles for clean ups, but that will be preference. Tommee Tippee bottles end up being what both my kids go with. I did try a million bottles with both of them, especially my second and Tommee Tippee ended up being the winner both times. Comotomo was a second option. However to save expense when your 4 month old refuses the bottle you have, you can ask for 1 of every kind basically 😝😂 with my second a pack n play in the living spaces of my house was necessary to keep the baby safe from the toddler sometimes. I have found that strollers are very personal preference so what I love may not be practical for you. My kids were never huge fans of a swing, mamaroo or rocker. If you can borrow those things or buy used it will save expense if your baby doesn’t like them. 

cmoon3

My hospital uses Pampers swaddlers and wipes.  Once LO is out of newborn size we use Huggies size 1 as a transition until baby can wear Luvs size 1. I find that Luvs run big.
Lots of good advice here!

KLS123

Lucie's List is a good resource to start crafting a registry.
I'll mimic what others have said that diapers are really individual preference. Target and Amazon are much better about diaper returns/exchanges than other places so those are my go-to resources. A lot of brands have a subscribe-and-save option from monthly delivery on Amazon once you find a brand you want to stick with. You may need to changes brands again when you child becomes more mobile. We loved Earth's Best (bought on Amazon) until our son started crawling and then needed something that wouldn't rub his thighs and we switched to Cloud Island (bought at Target). 
We exclusively use water wipes at our house.

adorebel

@scottijo2012 if you ever consider cloth diapers, lmk! I spent a LOT of time researching them and maybe I could save you the effort.

Cats*in*space

After newborn phase we used Costco diapers and they are great.  And recently they have made them with super cute patterns.  My MOBY was one of my favorite things in the beginning.  And those taco rockers that I think they've since discontinued for safety issues - that was amazing.  

scottijo2012

@adorebel I haven't looked too much into them yet! I mentioned the idea to my husband, but he was less than enthused Haha. He isnt sure he can stomach cleaning them. 

babymamadimo

We were lucky that our son didn’t need a specific brand of diapers. We used whatever we were gifted and once we needed to start buying them we used the Costco Kirkland brand. That’s what he is still in. They are made by the same company as Huggies and ranked just as high as Honest diapers because they are made so well without the icky stuff.

the kick n play piano was a life saver for us. I exclusively pumped and bottle fed so it was a good distraction for him so I could pump without holding him.

adorebel

scottijo2012 said:

@adorebel I haven't looked too much into them yet! I mentioned the idea to my husband, but he was less than enthused Haha. He isnt sure he can stomach cleaning them. 

I get it. It's definitely harder than throwing them away, but it's not nearly as bad as most people think. You attach a sprayer to your toilet and spray solids off before dropping the diaper in a bin, and then you do diaper laundry twice a week. We had our first kid while we were students, so a big motivator for us was that it saved SO MUCH MONEY. If you have a washing machine at home and a box of Tide powder, you're gold. I'm hoping to get through diapering 2 kids on the $500 I spent on cloth diapers when my first was born. 

birdiejo

The cool thing about cloth diapers is they can retain a good amount of their value. I resold all of mine when I was done with them for very close to what I paid. 

s_montgomery

@scottijo2012 This isn't quite what you were asking for, but I wanted to add that (depending on what your relationships with your family members are like) you and your husband may want to talk about expectations and boundaries to set with family before the baby arrives. Birth plans, after birth visits, and not showing up without permission are a few ideas to discuss.
Adding to the conversation about diapers and wipes, I loved Pampers Swaddlers. The diapers have a smell and I love it. There are wipes that someone mentioned that if you pull one, you get the whole pack. It can be difficult to find a cheap pack of wipes that doesn't do that. I pull it until a second wipe comes out and then pull at the bottom of the wipe where it's stuck to the second wipe. That's solved the issue for me. I don't like perfumed wipes either.
I did a mix of cloth diapers and disposables. I use disposables when we are out of the house or on trips, and cloth at home or during short errands.
We started putting our child in her bed for every nap when we were home at 2 months old, without exception. Now her bed is the only place she will fall asleep in the house, even despite trying to co-sleep several times. I'm not sure if it's her personality or our training that did it. Just something to think about.

jumpy57

We cloth diapered our first and did Huggies/Costco the second time around because we had a different washing machine I didn't like. Might go back to cloth for this one. My BIL works for Kimberly Clark so that's why we chose Huggies/Costco but Pampers also worked fine. I wasn't a fan of honest or luvs but they did work ok. 

The product specific threads are usually pretty fun 😁